Never-before-seen footage of JFK's motorcade post-assassination auctioned for ₹1.15cr
An 8mm color home film showing former United States President John F. Kennedy's motorcade racing to a hospital after he was shot was sold for a whopping $137,500 (₹1,15,11,300) on Saturday. The film had been with the family of the late Dale Carpenter Sr. since he shot it on November 22, 1963. The auction house, RR Auction, said the buyer wishes to remain anonymous. RR Auction has released still photos from the video, but will not publicly release the footage.
Carpenter's film captures aftermath of Kennedy's assassination
The film begins as Carpenter just misses the limousine carrying the president and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy but captures other cars in the motorcade cruising down Lemmon Avenue. The film then picks up after Kennedy has been shot, with the motorcade speeding down Interstate 35. The gunfire rang out as the motorcade rolled through Dealey Plaza, right in front of the Texas School Book Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, was perched on the sixth floor.
Carpenter's film offers a unique perspective on tragic event
The 10-second clip from I-35 shows Secret Service Agent Clint Hill—who jumped onto the back of the limousine as the shots rang out—hovering in a standing position over President Kennedy and Jacqueline. The president was pronounced dead after arriving at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction, said in a news release that the film "provides a gripping sense of urgency and heartbreak."
Carpenter's grandson reflects on the film's significance
James Gates, Carpenter's grandson, shared that while his family was aware of the film from the get-go, it was rarely brought up in conversation. When he got the film, which was kept with other family movies in a milk crate, he had no clue what his late grandfather had recorded. "That was shocking," Gates remarked after he projected it onto his bedroom wall around 2010 and saw the footage from I-35 for the first time.
