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Cuban Missile Crisis Film Archive
Teacher's notes
Curriculum relevance
England
The programme will have relevance to the KS3 History Study Unit "A World
Study after 1900". It will also be of use in GCSE Modern World History courses
Wales
The programme may be relevant to the KS3 History Study Unit "A World Study
after 1900". It will also be of use in GCSE Modern World History courses
Scotland
The programme may be relevant to aspects of the 5-14 curriculum, particularly
The Twentieth Century. It is relevant to S Grade History Unit II, International
Cooperation and Conflict (Context B, 1890s-1920s)
Northern Ireland
The programme may be relevant to the KS3 History Study Unit "A World Study
after 1900". It will also be of use in GCSE Modern World History Syllabuses
Aims of the programme
This programme has a purpose and structure which is slightly different to the
majority of narrative-based schools history TV programmes. Its primary focus is
on newsreel and government information films around the time of the Cuban
Missile Crisis. Just like any other historical source, moving image sources reveal
a huge amount about the authors of the films and the times in which they were
seen by mass audiences. However, footage such as this is usually seen by
students as part of an historical documentary in which it provides a visual
context for a story written and narrated by a filmmaker.
So, the main aim of this programme is to provide an opportunity to help teachers
to help students see moving images as a primary source material, and to apply
the same critical skills to these sources as they do to more familiar sources such
as extracts from official documents, newspaper articles, cartoons, photographs
etc.
Using the programme
The programme is designed to be as flexible as possible. It should be easy to fit
it into any programme of work which covers the Cuban Crisis. Teachers need to
decide on the emphasis they wish to give:



It can be used as a guide to help a narrative of the crisis unfold
It could be used to prompt students to suggest what might be coming next
It could be used to test an idea, for example, that Kennedy was highly
successful in handling the crisis
Programme outline and commentary
Section 1: The Crisis Builds
Time
Commentary
Clip 1
Key features of clip
Activity ideas
Time
Commentary
Clip 2
Key features of clip
00.13
America was already within range of Soviet
nuclear missiles based in the USSR. Why then did
missiles in Cuba upset Kennedy so much? An
American documentary made just after the crisis
helps us to see these events the way Americans
saw them
00.31
One Week in October
US Defence Department documentary 1964
This clip shows a section of the film which uses a
rostrum camera to pan across the famous intelligence
photographs which show the missiles and other
installations on Cuba.
00.53 Beagle bombers being built
00.55 Different types of missiles
01.10 Range of missiles
This clip is an ideal opportunity to have a bit of fun
with a game like ‘attentive observation’. Ask students
to watch the clip without telling them what they have
to do. Then get them into pairs and ask them to
recount the sequence of images and events described
in the film. Some students might like to try and retell
the action (with or without the American accent!). As
well as being fun, this activity gets students to identify
the key concerns being presented to Americans, which
leads nicely to the next clip
01.17
This next clip from a government information
film also helps us to understand American
attitude. It might look funny but think about how
programmes like this might influence American
reactions to the discovery of missiles in Cuba
01.33
Duck and Cover
Public Information film 1951
This clip starts with the wonderful sequence involving
Burt the Turtle and then moves on to some very
earnest and unintentionally hilarious advice on defence
against nuclear weapons.
01.34 Burt the Turtle song
02.18 Credits giving the provenance of the clips
02.44 The instructional part of the clip
Activity ideas
Start by getting the students into the clip by asking
them to list the different dangers and pieces of advice
provided the clip.
Now put the main focus of the intention of the clip. Do
students think the main aims was:
 To provide helpful advice?
 To make Americans aware that they faced a
nuclear threat?
 To justify government civil defence programmes
Finally, ask students consider the main question of
how a diet of programmes like this might affect
Americans when they saw clips like Clip 1
Time
Commentary
03.02
On the 22 October 1962, Kennedy made a live TV
broadcast to the nation about the crisis. This clip
from a film of that famous broadcast helps us
understand the tension of the moment and
illustrates the way that Kennedy used television
in his handling of the crisis
Clip 3
03.22
Kennedy’s address to the nation
Film of television broadcast 22 October 1962
This extract comes from a film about the Cuban Crisis.
This particular extract shows the opening of Kennedy’s
broadcast in which he told Americans what was
happening.
04.10 Missiles revealed
Kennedy had a reputation as a highly media-aware
politician and was arguably the first politician to really
make use of TV. Ask students to say whether they
think this clip supports that view.
Key features of clip
Activity ideas
In addition, remind students of Burt the Turtle and ask
them to imagine they were Americans seeing this
broadcast coming "out of the blue".
Section 2: Kennedy in Action
Time
Commentary
Clip 4
Key features of clip
Activity ideas
04.33
The Cuban Missile Crisis enhanced Kennedy’s
reputation as a great leader. This was partly a
result of the fact that Kennedy was one of the
earliest politicians to use television effectively. A
different extract from his broadcast on October
22nd, shows how he presented his policies on
Cuba to the American people
04.54
Kennedy’s address to the nation
Film of television broadcast 22 October 1962
In this extract, Kennedy goes to great lengths to set
out the moral, political and diplomatic justifications for
the actions he has decided to take on Cuba.
Listen carefully for the long list of procedures followed,
organisations consulted, long-standing policies
respected and just plain "rightness" of the US position.
This clip is ideally suited to use as a "text". Kennedy’s
choice of words, tone and language are extremely
carefully crafted. Ask students:
 Whether they think this speech was delivered offthe-cuff or whether it was carefully crafted
 What sections or extracts led them to this
conclusion
Time
Commentary
Clip 5
Key features of clip
05.56
Kennedy’s actions still cause argument today.
Was he firm or was he reckless? Another part of
the broadcast might help you decide. Study his
language carefully, for example his use of the
terms "quarantine" and "blockade"
06.11
Kennedy’s address to the nation
Film of television broadcast 22 October 1962
This clip obviously follows on from Clip 4 and sets out
the actions Kennedy has decided to take
06.15 Quarantine is announced and explained. Here
Kennedy uses the terms "blockade" and "quarantine"
to differentiate US actions from Soviet actions in 1948
06.49 Increased surveillance of Cuba is announced and
justified. Also announced and justified is the large
military build-up and barely veiled threat to invade
Cuba
07.30 Announcement that any missile attack from
Activity ideas
Time
Commentary
Clip 6
Clip 7
Key features of clip 6
Key features of clip 7
Activity ideas
Cuba would trigger all out nuclear war between USA
and USSR
Perhaps the critical contextual element relating to this
clip is the existence of US nuclear missiles in Turkey.
However, there is also the extreme tension of 1961
over the Berlin Wall. Having reminded students of
these contexts, ask students to consider each of the
three main announcements in terms of whether they
felt Kennedy was firm or reckless. You could draw a
line on the board showing a continuum from firm to
reckless, or even get students up off their seats and
get them to line up on a continuum
07.51
Admirers of Kennedy argued that during the
crisis he got the balance of toughness and
negotiation just right. The next two extracts can
help us test this view .The first is from a
newsreel at the time and the second is from a
Defence Department documentary made a few
years later
08.12
08.31
This clip shows US Marines being sent to reinforce the
US naval base in Guantanamao Bay. The forces are
substantial and of course were minimal compared to
the huge invasion forces being assembled in Florida
This clip shows US Ambassador to the UN Adlai
Stevenson pressing Soviet Ambassador Zorin to say
whether or not there were missiles on Cuba
Ask students to consider what light each clip sheds on
the central question – at face value
Now ask them to consider this question in the context
of the provenance of each clip. Both are American, so
clearly there may be some kind of "agenda". The
content of each clip is also revealing, for example the
portrayal of the US as acting purely defensively in Clip
6.
Finally, ask students to consider whether the US would
have scaled down its military activity if the diplomatic
processes had not gone its way. Clip 5 could be cross
referenced in this context
Section 3: Winners or losers
Time
Commentary
Clip 8
Key features of clip
Activity ideas
09.07
There is no doubt that the Cuban Missile Crisis
was serious - but did people know just how
serious this was at the time? How useful is this
next extract from an American documentary?
09.18
One Week in October
US Defence Department documentary 1964
This clip describes the frantic atmosphere in the US as
the crisis unfolded
09.27 Interviews with Americans on the street
10.01 Americans seeing the value of civil defence
shelters
10.12 Americans panic-buying goods
This clip poses some interesting questions. It seems
relatively straight, so get students to compare the
commentary with the visual images shown and see if
they can spot any evidence of "spin".
You could then remind them of the provenance of the
clip – what was the aim of the US Defence Department
in making such a film, two years after the event?
Could it be to justify to the public the high levels of
military spending? See what students think of this
assertion
Time
Commentary
Clip 9
Clip 10
Key features of Clip 9
Key features of Clip 10
10.32
Was 1962 a victory for Kennedy, soviet leader
Khrushchev, for both or neither? These next two
extracts suggest it was an American victory, but
study the tone, style and content carefully and a
slightly more complex picture emerges
10.51
One Week in October
US Defence Department documentary 1964
11.21
Blockade Lifted
Newsreel 20 November 1962
This clip shows a White House spokesman reading a
press release from Kennedy. The tone here is
extremely important. There is none of the
triumphalism which might be expected in such a
situation. The text also talks in very positive terms
about the rule of Khrushchev
This clip shows a press briefing given by Kennedy
Activity ideas
himself. For most of the clip Kennedy proceeds in an
assured manner to detail the various concessions
gained from the Soviets and announces the end of the
US blockade. He also reminds his audience of the
seriousness of the crisis. Perhaps the most interesting
element of this clip is the very muted (positively buried
in fact) way in which the US guarantees not to invade
Cuba. This occurs at 12.08
Bobby Kennedy (JFK’s brother and a key politician in
the US) claimed that Kennedy insisted there should be
no triumphalism. Tell students this and then get them
to compare the style and tone of the two clips – do
they feel one is more triumphal than the other?
Get the students to watch the two clips again and list
the points which each side seems to have gained. Ask
the students to factor in:
 the fact that the clips are American
 the fact that maintaining the Castro regime in
Cuba was arguably Khrushchev’s top priority
.. and then ask them to assess who they think gained
most
Time
Commentary
Clip 11
Key features of clip
Activity ideas
12.57
Finally did the crisis leave any lessons for the
future? Think about the provenance of this clip
as well as its content and ask yourself what it
suggests about the prospects for peace
13.12
One Week in October
US Defence Department documentary 1964
This clip shows the end credits (start to 13.23) and
final footnote (13.24 to end) of the One Week in
October film. It is the juxtaposition of these two
elements which students should be prompted towards
– as in Clip 8 we see a warning to Americans which
may be caught up in a Defence Department protecting
its budget
Ask students to watch the extract through and then
remind them of the discussions on Clip 8. Tell them
there is a connection here and ask them to suggest
what it might be