Re: Zapruder Film Discussion
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:38 pm
Thom,Are you saying that LIFE Magazine AND Zapruder and cooperated with the government in the alteration of the film? If so, is there any shred of witness testimony or evidence to this effect? When do you think this co-operation took place?Josiah Thompson posts the timetable of events here.NOVEMBER 22, 19638:00 amAbraham Zapruder arrives at the offices of Jennifer Juniors. Marilyn Sitzman and Lillian Rogers persuade him to retrieve his 8 mm. movie camera from his home.11:30 amZapruder returns to his office after retrieving his camera.12:30 pmZapruder films the assassination from a pedestal in Dealey Plaza.12:45 pmZapruder returns to his office and locks the camera in his safe.1:30 pmReporter Harry McCormick takes Secret Service Agent Forrest Sorrels to Zapruder's office. Emotionally upset, Zapruder agrees to furnish Sorrels with a copy of his film - if Sorrels will agree that the copy is only for use by the Secret Service and that it would not be shown or given to any media. Sorrels agrees.1:45 pmTogether with Zapruder's partner, Irwin Schwartz, Sorrels, McCormick and Zapruder drive to Dallas Morning News. Since they can't process the film, they walk to WFAA-TV. Zapruder is interviewed live; Schwartz is photographed with the camera.2:15 pmA police car takes Sorrels, Schwartz, Zapruder and McCormick to the Kodak plant. Zapruder makes arrangements for the processing of the film. Phil Willis meets Sorrels at the Kodak plant and also agrees to furnish the Secret Service with copies of his 35 mm. slides. Sorrels gets a phone call and leaves for Dallas Police Headquarters.3:15 pm (est.)The processed film is shown to fifteen to eighteen people. To have copies made, Zapruder must take camera original to Jamieson Company.4:00 pm (est.)Zapruder has three (3) copies made by the Jamieson Company. He requests affidavit that no more copies were made.4:30 pm (est.)Zapruder returns to Kodak plant with the original and three (3) copies. He has the three (3) copies processed and requests affidavits from Kodak personnel that only three (3) copies were processed.AfternoonRichard Stolley and Tommy Thompson of LIFE fly in from Los Angeles. LIFE stringers Patsy Swank and Holland McCombs learn that Zapruder has film of the assassination. Forrest Sorrels receives two of the three first generation copies and assures Zapruder they will be used only for official purposes by the Secret Service.EveningStolley sets up offices in the Adolphus Hotel and begins calling Zapruder's home at fifteen minute intervals. Zapruder, shaken by the day's events, drives aimlessly around Dallas.9:55 pmSecret Service Agent Max Phillips sends one of the two copies to Secret Service Chief Rowley in Washington, D.C. In an accompanying note, Phillips says that "Mr. Zapruder is in custody of the 'master' film."11:00 pm Stolley reaches Zapruder at home and asks to come out and view the film. Zapruder declines. They agree to meet the next morning at 9:00am at Zapruder's office.NOVEMBER 23 8:00 amStolley is waiting at Zapruder's office when Zapruder arrives. The film is screened for Stolley. Stolley agrees that LIFE will pay Zapruder $50,000 in two installments for print rights to the film. Stolley leaves with the original and perhaps the remaining copy. The original is sent to Chicago where the LIFE editorial staff has assembled to prepare the new issue to be on the newsstands the following Tuesday, November 26th. During the preparation of black and white copies, the original is broken in several places by photo technicians. Splices are made.At some time this weekend, a copy of the film is sent to New York where it is viewed by C.D. Jackson, publisher of LIFE. Jackson decides to acquire all rights to the film and so instructs Stolley.EveningSince copies cannot be made in Dallas, Gordon Shanklin, FBI SAIC in Dallas, is instructed to send the copy the FBI obtained from Sorrels by commercial flight to Washington, D.C. Shanklin does so, at the same time requesting that the FBI Lab make three, second-generation copies, one for Washington and two for the Dallas Field Office.NOVEMBER 24Zapruder may have screened the film for Forrest Sorrels and other law enforcement agents.NOVEMBER 25 MorningStolley meets with Zapruder in the offices of Zapruder's lawyer. The negotiations end with LIFE purchasing world-wide rights to the film for $150,000.During these negotiations, Dan Rather is shown the film. He neglects to make an immediate bid but elects to check with New York first. During a radio broadcast with Richard C. Hottelet and Hughes Rudd, Rather describes the film which he has "just returned from seeing." Later that day, Rather describes his viewing of the film on the CBS Evening News. Rather could only have seen this film at this time if Zapruder had retained one copy and provided Stolley with only the original the previous Saturday.NOVEMBER 26 MorningLIFE begins newsstand distribution of the November 29th issue. At the same time, various LIFE editors order up prints of the film for viewing in their offices. I was shown one of these in October 1966. Since control was lax, bootleg copies began to circulate.What emerges from this chronology is a single important fact:At no time during this hectic weekend did the original of the film ever leave the custody and control of Abraham Zapruder and LIFE magazine.The opposition will say that if you have no positive evidence of this, then you are asking them to prove a negative (I.e. asking them to prove that Zapruder didn't co-operate at some specific time with the alteration of the master and all of the copies, which isn't a fair debating tactic, because no one can prove a negative. Jim