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==Cast==
==Cast==
{{columns-list|2|
* [[William Devane]] as President [[John F. Kennedy]]
* [[William Devane]] as President [[John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Martin Sheen]] as [[United States Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]]
* [[Martin Sheen]] as [[United States Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]]
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* [[Peter Donat]] as [[British Ambassador to the United States]] [[David Ormsby-Gore]]
* [[Peter Donat]] as [[British Ambassador to the United States]] [[David Ormsby-Gore]]
* [[Thayer David]] as uncredited narrator
* [[Thayer David]] as uncredited narrator
}}


==Awards==
==Awards==

Revision as of 06:57, 5 November 2015

The Missiles of October
DVD cover for the film
GenreDocudrama
Written byStanley R. Greenberg
Directed byAnthony Page
StarringWilliam Devane
Martin Sheen
Howard Da Silva
Ralph Bellamy
Country of originUSA
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersRobert Berger
Herbert Brodkin
Running time150 mins
Original release
NetworkABC
Release18 December 1974

The Missiles of October is a 1974 docudrama made-for-television play about the Cuban Missile Crisis. The title evokes the book The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman about the missteps among the great powers and the failed chances to give an opponent a graceful way out, which led to the First World War. The teleplay introduced William Devane as John F. Kennedy and cast Martin Sheen as United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The script is based on Robert Kennedy's book Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Production notes

Staged as a two and a half hour television play, the production eschews physical action and detailed sets and wardrobes, in favor of emphasis on dialogue and emotions. It depicts how the world came close to the brink of, and eventually stepped away from global thermonuclear war, highlighting the roles of President John F Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F Kennedy, Premier Nikita Khrushchev, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson, and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson in the crisis.

The Missiles of October gave the US general public its first look behind the scenes at the inner workings, disagreements, and ultimate consensus of Kennedy's administration to blockade Cuba, rather than attempt to invade to dislodge the just-discovered, only partially completed Soviet nuclear missile emplacements in Cuba. It details US attempts to give the Soviets room to negotiate without appearing to capitulate, and also periodically depicts Khrushchev reporting progress of the events to his Communist Party cohorts.

The play was directed by Anthony Page with writing credits given to Stanley R. Greenberg and Robert Kennedy.

Cast

2

Awards

Technical Director Ernie Buttelman won the 1975 Emmy Award for outstanding achievement. There were several other Emmy nominations, including outstanding drama or comedy special; outstanding supporting actor in a comedy or drama special for Belamy; and outstanding writing in an original teleplay for Greenberg. That same year Greenberg won the Humanitas Prize in the 90-minute category.

In 1997 the play won a Producers Guild of America Hall of Fame award.

See also