Oswald's Trigger Films: The Manchurian Candidate, We Were Strangers, Suddenly? (Paperback)

by John Loken (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This penetrating investigation ... is very important." -- Prof. Joan Gaughan

"Very persuasive" -- Prof. W.D. Rubinstein

"explores ... these movies ... in more detail than I've ever seen. I always thought they played some role." -- Dr. Diane Holloway, author, The Mind of Oswald

Product Description
This study examines three presidential assassination films in their relation to the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy. They have long been neglected as potential factors in Lee Oswald's motivation. The study presents some major revelations. Oswald was definitely very aware of The Manchurian Candidate, from reviews, advertisements, and his daily walks and bus rides right past a Dallas theater (the Palace, on Elm near Ervay) where it played for one month in late 1962. It then played for a second month at other Dallas theaters, including the Texas, near his apartment. Since Oswald's wife Marina later reported that he went to movies alone during the same period, it seems probable that he even saw the film. Within weeks thereafter he bought his fateful rifle, a near-twin of the one featured in the film. In April 1963 he used the rifle when trying to assassinate General Edwin Walker, a nationally-prominent Dallas conservative. The attempt failed, but emboldened Oswald in his militant Marxism. Then, in October 1963, only days after learning that President Kennedy would soon visit Dallas, Oswald definitely saw another presidential assassination film, We Were Strangers (1949). He saw it on television and even watched it twice on the same weekend, October 12-13. Dallas TV guides prove that it was broadcast twice, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, during hours when Oswald had access to a television and was known to watch it. Moreover, his widow Marina reported in December that he had seen the film twice. Finally, Oswald did not see a third presidential assassination film, Suddenly (1954, starring Frank Sinatra) in autumn 1963, despite some claims to the contrary, but he was also influenced by it, at least indirectly. In sum, this study strongly supports the lone assassin conclusion about Oswald by adding significant copycat factors to it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 81 pages
• Publisher: Falcon Books (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964889730
• ISBN-13: 978-0964889736
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,022,885 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Copycat Thesis, September 23, 2002

By	taoman (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

When one first learns of the thesis of this book, it seems pretty far-fetched: Oswald was influenced to murder Kenndy by the films he watched? Surely a man as disturbed as Oswald, who had already attempted a local Texas assassination, wouldn't need any more to jump to a larger target.

And yet, John Loken surprises. He makes a very convincing case for these movies being the inspiration for Oswald's desperate act of becoming infamous. He follows every thread he can find and doesn't spare us the details, whether they are ultimately convincing or obscured by time. It's a quick read (and priced as one) yet still contains supporting footnotes and photos of newspaper clippings. All in all, an unexpected idea fleshed out by facts. Well worth the read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written Analysis, November 22, 2002

By	William T. Parnell (Sherman, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Establishing a motive for Lee Harvey Oswald in the assassination of JFK has always been a goal of those who promote the lone assassin view of that event. John Loken's "Oswald's Trigger Films: The Manchurian Candidate, We Were Strangers, Suddenly?" does not prove such motive of course. It does show, if one accepts the well-reasoned premise, that Oswald could have been "triggered" to act, at least in part, by films with a powerful visual impact.

The author shows that Oswald almost certainly did see the film We Were Strangers (with its subject of a revolution in Cuba involving an assassination plot) very shortly before the assassination. Further, Loken breaks new ground by proving that The Manchurian Candidate (starring Frank Sinatra and involving programmed assassins) was playing in Dallas for two months in late 1962. Oswald would have certainly known of the film through his reading of Time magazine (which he subscribed to) and newspapers, and had access to two theaters that ran the film.

Loken presents evidence that Oswald did not see the film Suddenly, another Sinatra thriller. This is unfortunate since that film with its images of an assassin at a window, a scoped rifle, and a dark limousine had the most potential for a psychological trigger. Still, Loken shows that Oswald may have been indirectly influenced by this movie's powerful imagery.

Today, we accept the fact that motion pictures can influence a person to commit a violent act (John Hinckley and the Columbine killers are two examples). Oswald's Trigger Films is a thought provoking and well-written look at Lee Harvey Oswald and three films that may have had a similar sway.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Simple but Important Contribution, June 6, 2003

By	Craig C. Tafel (Shanghai, China (formerly of Chicago)) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A quick, clear read, Loken's investigation provides a compelling look into this surprisingly sparsely considered area among the body of written work about JFK's assassination. The strength of Loken's thesis lies in the fact that he does not try to reach too far with or make careless assertions about the information he has uncovered. It's definitely worth a read, and its brevity allows for multiple ones.

Kudos to John Loken for his fine bit of research about this important area of assassination research. His book should added to those mythical "must read" lists of JFK assassination books which, oddly enough, seem to be conspicuously lacking any balance in terms of books that support the "lone gunman" theory. Oswald's Trigger Films provides one example of work that seems to be interested in providing objective, reasoned evidence and allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions about it.