The Denove Collection

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During the 1960 presidential campaign, filmmaker Jack Denove was asked to produce campaign commercials and programming for candidate John F. Kennedy. Using hand-held 16mm cameras and a mobile video unit, Denove filmed or video-taped every speech and public appearance, designed commercials, and produced special fifteen and thirty minute programs around specific themes such as urban problems, medical care of the aged, and revitalizing American prestige. This marked the first time television was used in a presidential campaign to this extent. Included in the collection are Kennedy's speech before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, in which he addressed the issue of his Roman Catholic religious beliefs; COFFEE WITH THE KENNEDYS, a call-in show which included footage from home movies; and NAVY LOG, a television dramatization of the PT-109 incident highlighting Kennedy's heroic actions during World War II.Donated to the UCLA Film and Television Archive by the Denove family, the collection contains all the footage Denove shot during the campaign, including completed product, negatives, trims and outs, unedited footage, stock shots, crowd shots, and airport arrivals.