Oliver Stone

Award-winning director, producer, screenwriter. JFK Revisited, Snowden, Savages, Untold History, Platoon, Wall Street, JFK. Chasing the Light available now.

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

In response to those who keep attacking #JFK for not dealing with the Israeli relationship to President Kennedy, I’ve posted these responses I made a year ago in May of 2025. I repeat them here.

1) Milchan had no creative input at all. Warner Brothers put him into the project, because they were worried about the financial risk at $40 million. I hardly knew the man at that time, and I don’t remember him ever visiting the set. He was considered to be in the artistic doghouse because of his behavior with Leone and Scorsese projects. The first I heard of this nuclear bomb story was after the film was sent into the world. The Dimona story surfaced for me later in time. It’s become a theory for the assassination, but I have little belief in it. My researcher, Jim DiEugenio, has spent time with this and can throw more light on why he doubts it. JFK had plenty of vicious enemies on the home front. And the truth is, Israel became a much bigger problem for the U.S. since Netanyahu took power during the War on Terror.

2) In short, Milchan only put up money and was passive, and Warners never told me what to do on anything! Over the next two films I made with Milchan, I got to know him better, but we never once discussed his background, as most of the time, I was struggling with him to fulfill his contract with me. On the money front, he was a nightmare, and I think if you talk to enough filmmakers who worked with him at that stage of his career, they will agree. We broke apart in ugly recriminations over my film, “Nixon.” [Milchan never formally took part in producing “Nixon,” and that’s a story for a longer biography.]

Nothing has changed. I have no motive to protect #Israel, which I consider an aggressor country. I wholly condemn #Netanyahu and President #Trump for their uncivilized attacks on a great country and culture, as well as their butchery of language in demeaning long-held opposition to their ideas.

Remember that it was the U.S. that undermined the concept of democracy for the Iranians in 1953 when they financed the coup against duly elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh. Nor have they let up since, supporting the corrupt Shah and destroying any moderate opposition.

Trump is making a huge mistake. Centuries ago, Marcus Crassus, one of the richest Romans of his time and one of the Triumvirate that ruled the Republic alongside Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey, led seven Roman legions into Parthia (#Iran, Iraq, parts of Turkey) and, at the battle of Carrhae in 53 B.C., lost almost 40,000 men – as well as his head. Trump, who considers himself a great businessman and now warrior, may soon learn the same lesson from history.

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

The War on Oliver Stone’s #JFKRecordsAct:

In light of all the horrors that are befalling America right now, the autopsy is below on the JFK Records Act, written by Andrew Iler and Mark Adamczyk, two experts in this matter. Introduction follows, but please read Part 1: The Opening Salvo Against Oliver Stone’s Film “JFK” for the perspective needed. Thank you. I wish you a harmonious Easter at this time.

https://t.co/HbXyicupYU

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

In our film #W (2008), we tracked the U.S.-Iran problem in this scene, inspired by #DickCheney’s prophetic presentation in the War Room to Bush’s war cabinet. See the highlight below.

"Where do you see a lack of American presence? What's missing? Iran. The motherlode. Third largest oil reserve in the world. Forty percent of the world's oil goes right through here, through the Straight of Hormuz. Control Iran, control Eurasia, control the world. Empire. Real empire." #IranWar‌

https://t.co/mBRwuFgvVx

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

The recent @ABC News Special "Truth and Lies: Who Killed JFK?" went to great pains to convince me to appear (along with #JimDiEugenio, who I insisted would join me on the air for "protection purposes," as I made the mistake of giving an interview to Peter Jennings in 2003 that was essentially cut to pieces). I figured this time they'd behave better.

But they did it again and repeatedly misrepresented who was going to be on the show, and once again, we were stuck in the ridiculous wasted argument about the #SingleBulletTheory (SBT), which is pathetically out-of-date given all the new information we've accumulated and presented, covering the period from 1991 when the original "JFK" came out up to now – 2025. ABC repeatedly cut any serious discussion in this complex case of any of the new evidence presented by the Assassination Records Review Board in 1994 or Jim DiEugenio and my documentary of 2021, #JFKRevisited. Instead, they fall back repeatedly on the indefensible SBT and pass this warmed over manure as their proof.

The show is a disgrace to those who follow the trail, and because of their wide access and irresponsible use of their TV license, can ONLY be believed by the suckers who still watch America's pathetic version of the news on the main network channels.

This is an old, old story with these three networks going back to 1964 with their attack on Mark Lane and defense of the Warren Report without even reading the evidence. They simply edit all dissent by not allowing counter-evidence to be presented honestly.

Below is our letter protesting these policies to ABC's producer, after which is the memo sent to me by DiEugenio when he saw the special. There is further detail here.

Eileen Murphy
Senior Producer
ABC News Studios
7 Hudson Square, New York, NY 10013

Dear Ms Murphy:

We have had the opportunity to watch the "Truth and Lies" special on the John Kennedy murder.

If you recall, when we had a zoom call with your colleague, Muriel Pearson – and again when we met in person before the show was filmed – we strongly insisted that we would not participate in any such program based on ABC’s past performance in this area – that is, the 2003 Peter Jennings special on the #JFK case, with which both of us had serious problems.

I insisted I would only participate if the new information that’s come out since 1992 because of my film and our documentary in 2021, “JFK Revisited,” were included, and you said you were well aware of my appearance at the House Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets Hearing, which brought out much key information about the case, including the autopsy. I only agreed to do it about the current case and not the 1992 case, which was frozen back in time and gets us nowhere, i.e. the Magic Bullet, which I think we disproved quite well in various TV appearances, as well as the documentary.

You said, more than once, that no one involved in that 2003 ABC program would be involved with this one. That ended up not being true. When it was clear the first question in our interview was about the Magic Bullet, I pulled out immediately from the interview, sensing a set-up. I was furious, reminding you of your promise – that this would be about the information NOW – not then. But, smoothly, you managed to convince me this was not a set-up to prove the Single Bullet Theory.

Yet Dale Myers was one of the featured talking heads on the Jennings special. If you recall, he actually made the absurd statement that, through the magic of his computer simulation, the Single Bullet Theory was now the “Single Bullet Fact.”

If we had known that he was going to be a major talking head on this show at the end of the day, neither of us would have agreed to appear. It was bad enough being alerted to Philip Shenon on the day of the taping. It would never have gotten that far if we had known about Myers. And it is hard to comprehend that you did not know this since the first question asked at the taping was about the Single Bullet Theory. This again clearly suggests you were involved in setting us up to be contradicted by Myers.

Simple question: Why did you not tell us upfront about Myers? After that, the special degenerates into a series of omissions that render this program useless to any serious person interested in the case. Jim and I have received dozens of notes wondering why we gave our respectability to the show you did. And now we have to engage once again, uselessly, in damage control. One day, perhaps ABC will be wise enough to deal with reality and not these lies. It makes us believe, once more, that there’s some form of collusion between your news organization, which will not pursue ANY new information that’s come out since 1992, and the Government.

Sincerely yours,
Oliver Stone & Jim DiEugenio

To: Oliver Stone
From: James DiEugenio
RE: ABC SPECIAL

If I had been fully informed of who was going to be on this show, I would have strongly advised you not to do it. Because, in addition to Philip Shenon — who we were told about the day of filming — there was also Tim Naftali and Dale Myers. Naftali is the go to guy for CNN on the political assassinations of the sixties. Myers is Dr. Doom himself on the JFK case. Back in 2003, he did a computer simulation in which he announced that the Single Bullet Theory was now the Single Bullet Fact. I wish I was kidding about that, but I am not. BTW, that simulation has been demolished at least three times, by Pat Speer, Bob Harris, and Milicent Cranor. But yet, the 2 hour show built up to a repeat of this.

In retrospect, this sheds light on the first question that the woman asked you at your house, which was about the #MagicBullet. They wanted to get you on tape so Myers could disagree with you. They used you on commercials for the show, and you came up by name more than once when you were not on camera. For example, that predictable MSM historian Barbara Perry said, all the doubts about the case up to 1990 “were fodder for Oliver Stone.”

A major theme of the program was the idea that the reason people do not buy the Warren Commission today is that they cannot accept that a loser like Oswald could take down a great man like JFK. In other words, a lone sociopath could not do away with King Arthur and Camelot. This idea began on the 25th anniversary with CIA asset and authoress Priscilla Johnson.

The other theme that was utilized was the whole blanket shroud of “Conspiracy theorist” in relation to the case. They ignored the fact that this really began with the New York Times about 1967 when Jim Garrison began to make headlines about his inquiry into the JFK matter.

The show also indulged in smears, diminutions, and oversimplifications of Oswald, Kennedy, and Ruby. Oswald was right out of the Warren Commission: a pure lone nut who had a chance to be a big man and took it. This one was started by Ruth and Michael Paine. It's never explained that, if this was the case, why did Oswald always insist on his innocence? Same thing with Ruby: he did it to make a mark in history. They admitted his ties to the mob but dismissed this with: everyone had them. Oh, really? And they never explained how he got into the basement of city hall. With Kennedy, it was his philandering, which was pretty predictable.

Incredibly, they never showed the 544 Camp Street document. Which explains that Oswald was not a loner. And they tried to make the FPCC like some renegade outfit when it was spread out over the northeast and even in Florida. It was so successful that the CIA launched a counter program against it. There is next to nothing on Kennedy’s foreign policy reforms. So there is no political motive possible. They did mention the CIA Mob plots to kill Castro. But not that Ruby had met with Trafficante — who was in on them – while he was in detention in Cuba. Or that Trafficante’s casino manager, Lewis McWillie, was Ruby’s idol. Who he would do anything for.

There was no mention of the chain of custody problem with CE 399, the one we talked about with Henry Lee on "JFK Revisited." The reason they do not want to do this is that it would blow up Myers. "Dale, just what trajectory of what bullet are you diagramming, since its not CE 399?" Also, they never mention the question of which stretcher CE 399 was found on. It was not Connally’s, as proven by Josiah Thompson in Six Seconds in Dallas. And it had to be if Specter’s Single Bullet Theory is to have any validity.

There are two glaring giveaways to the scheme of the show, i.e. that it was a deliberate put-up job. They discuss the autopsy and try to chalk it up as inexperience and a rush job, due to RFK. They never deal with the military aspect in the autopsy room that night. Secondly, they never talk about how the HSCA lied about the gaping hole in the rear skull of Kennedy, and how that is strongly indicative of a shot from the front.

This relates to something kind of surprising, even for them. They show the Zapruder film, and they talk about your film in that regard, back and to the left. But guess what? They never show that part of the film, with Kennedy bouncing off the rear seat in clear reaction to a front shot! In other words, by curtailing those two aspects — the Z film and the HSCA hiding the gaping hole in the skull – they pictorially remove any suggestion of a front shot. Which is what Myers actually says in the film: that there is no such evidence. Well, if you do this kind of embellishment, you can say such a thing.

How do they place Oswald on the Sixth Floor? Through the testimony of Howard Brennan. This guy has been wrecked so many times, it’s not funny. He gave a full description of the sniper as to height and weight. How could that be if the guy was in a kneeling position, which he had to be in? And why would Brennan then refuse to testify for the HSCA? In fact, he did not even want to be informally interviewed. And he said that if he was summoned, he would hire a lawyer to fight the summons.

They also said that Oswald dashed down the stairs afterwards. How do they know this? No one saw him doing so. And he was notably not out of breath when he was encountered by supervisor Truly and officer Baker.

They also just plainly assumed that it was Oswald’s rifle. They ignored the problems we brought up about the sling attachment, which Brian Edwards noted. Oswald could not have done the screw on attachment on the butt of the rifle.

This will join the Jennings special, the 1967 CBS special, and the 1964 NBC and CBS specials in the hall of infamy on this case.

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

@GJGJ071988 @ShoutFactory You can buy the Blu-ray on Amazon, and the film should be available to rent on YouTube, Google Play, and Apple TV. It’s also streaming on Pluto TV, Tubi, PLEX, and Fandango.

https://t.co/MRqC4NHeIV

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

I’m pleased to announce the 4K releases of two of my more recent films, #Snowden (2016) and #Savages (2012), from the always-reliable @ShoutFactory, which has taken care of all my films (with the exception of “Platoon,” for which, I’m told, a redo of their last version is in the works, as it was poorly produced – apologies!). Both of the new 4Ks have been restored from original elements, supervised and approved by myself, and each UHD/Blu-Ray features new interviews with my producers Moritz Borman and Eric Kopeloff, editors (Alex Marquez on both, Stuart Levy on “Savages”), and myself. “Snowden” also features an interview with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, while “Savages” comes with a 4K restoration of the film’s unrated cut.

And if you're interested in the documentary form, please check out Amazon or your local theater in some cities on November 21st for @Dan_Farah's remarkable @ageofdisclosure. Farah has pulled together 34 senior members of the U.S. Government, military, and intelligence communities in a monumental film that strongly convinces us of the existence of non-human intelligent life. It reveals truths about the Government’s 80-year-old cover up and should forward the conversation around UFOs. Not to be missed.

Additionally, please note that #RFKLegacy, #SeanStone’s recent documentary chronicling the father-son duo’s generational fight for justice and against authority, is now streaming on @AngelStudiosInc and available to rent on Amazon. Given our current political landscape, it’s more important than ever to remember that past is often prologue.

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

Sharing a new #Substack post -- this one from April of 2021 -- on #VittorioDeSica, an acknowledged master whose work I recently rediscovered. #moviereviews

https://t.co/X7kGgYDb0V

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

Two new posts on my Substack from 2021 -- one on two powerful political films that dare to confront an oppressive, censoring, and unnecessarily barbaric Government (#TheMauritanian and #TheUnitedStatesvsBillieHoliday) and the other on the amazingly atmospheric Marvel series #JessicaJones.

https://t.co/MXpFW9uC1Z

https://t.co/zkumxTdiAv

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

Who knows what's going on! None of us do.

[JFK Assassination Chokeholds @JFKChokeholds]

The Assassination Records Review Board Final Determinations are not speculation or a niche conspiracy theory.

American taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars to fund an independent agency to review and issue legal orders governing JFK assassination records.

What happened?

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

Two new posts on my Substack discussing my standout film picks of 2020 and my BFI interview with #RaminBahrani on his vivid #WhiteTiger.

https://t.co/QbNZfgPNPw

https://t.co/0RIVS8Z44q

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

New post on my Substack, originally from February of 2021, where #SpikeLee and I sit down for @Variety's #DirectorsonDirectors to discuss his electric, ambitious #Da5Bloods.

https://t.co/VGzQrnKSPn

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

New post on my #Substack discussing my favorite films from the 2019 @zurichfilmfest, as well as my thoughts on the @BeyondFest 25th anniversary screening of #NaturalBornKillers that October.

https://t.co/IMRXrIBFXM

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

Over the years on my Facebook, I’ve offered miscellaneous reviews of old and new films from the 1930s to the present. It’s become a little collection now of nearly 150 films from over 20 different posts over 13 years. Reviewing them recently, I think they’re of sufficient interest to movie lovers to post as a #Substack under “Official Oliver Stone.”

Generally, these were spontaneous posts generated around a theme, which is explained at the head of each post. I’m starting with my thoughts from 2012 when I posted on director Tony Scott’s death, citing my favorite film of his, as well as four additional posts reviewing several more films at that time. I’ll be moving forward in time from there. Next post will be coming soon, and I’ll try to post often until I catch up. #MovieReviews

https://t.co/DqJChpqKLp

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

Very much enjoyed doing this show with @piersmorgan last week and am posting it for your interest.
https://t.co/OH2gHRTe5c

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

7) In conclusion, I do occasionally surface into the contemporary world to stay abreast of what our culture is thinking – some cynics would say not much, but attention must be paid. Attending #Superman (2025) in IMAX, my group all enjoyed it. @JamesGunn has a contradictory style and likes the darker edges, telling us how Superman is no longer loved in his society. Partly because the villain, Lex Luthor (the brilliant, cold Nicholas Hoult) has seduced the public into doubting Superman’s mission on Earth, saying his real objective is to conquer the planet and create a new Krypton by collecting a harem of earthly lovers. It plays out as a very close call for Superman, well-represented by David Corenswet, not overly mannered but neutrally heroic and reliable -- no double entendres for Superman. He doesn’t poke fun or tease or display any “I’m better than you” mentality. He’s a regular guy, right? He takes his bows and gets off the stage. The American dream. He’s underappreciated until it counts. But Gunn seems to doubt our U.S. empire, as he shows America’s evil, greedy side in a corporation disguised as something out of the Elon Musk/Peter Thiel playbook. My only complaint is the repetition of the same violent tropes that the younger generation seems to require in these new movies in the name of “more bang for the buck.” Once or twice is enough and has more impact, believe me, than five repeated gongs to the brain.

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

I recently introduced my daughter and younger son to a spate of #JudyHolliday films, which I’ve talked about before. But it’s a different generation, and I was interested in their reactions to the humor of this Queens-born movie star with her cheery looks, offbeat timing, and ironic humor. She worked the same time period as Marilyn Monroe and created her own cult around her, as her intelligence shines through all her dumb blonde roles. Her sparkling, big heart comes through each time. In a way, Monroe did the same thing for the audience, although she was much more sexual. But Judy had, like Mae West, a specific kind of humor that was very touching in its innocence. She died too young, like Monroe, in 1965 from breast cancer.

1) #ItShouldHappentoYou (1954) -- Judy plays a working girl in a gritty, 1954, photographed New York where she’s failed in the City and is heading back home upstate, leaving behind her dream of seeing her name in billboard lights. In other words, a moment of recognition, which, in this fairy tale of a movie written by Garson Kanin and directed by her favorite, #GeorgeCukor, becomes reality, as her everyday name -- Gladys Glover -- spreads in an early example of social media’s takeover of our society; now, it seems almost everyone can become famous for its own sake, or, at the very least, an influencer, etc. The situation gets completely out of control in this movie until Judy finds out, to her astonishment, that fame isn’t really what she wants, and she’s miserable again.

#JackLemmon and #PeterLawford, at the handsome peak of their youth, play opposites of manhood, vying for her heart. Both are wonderful, but Lawford was a surprise to me. Splendid in concept, execution, and acting.

#BornYesterday (1950), another classic film from Garson Kanin and Albert Mannheimer, directed by George Cukor, presents another Pygmalion story of Judy as a dumb gangster’s moll who grows into a self-confident woman of brains and beauty with the help of the very handsome #WilliamHolden, who, in that same year, also did “Sunset Boulevard.” They both became classics.

[Oliver Stone @TheOliverStone]

6) Another forgotten gem is Joe Mankiewicz’s #ThereWasaCrookedMan (1970) with #KirkDouglas, and #HenryFonda, which is a typically wicked Mankiewicz parable about honesty, or rather dishonesty, as Douglas is charming as the smiling villain, able to put a bullet in a colleague’s back to get a bigger share of the gold. And he does it without shame or trying to hide the crime. A scoundrel through and through, and Joe could write them. He loved working with that other charming scoundrel, Rex Harrison, in “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947) and “The Honey Pot” (1967). “Crooked Man” is never talked about but can be fully enjoyed nonetheless. Not a cliché in it and a shock ending.

I saw it at NYU film school originally. Mankiewicz was one of the few real writer-directors of that period who fought his way to authorship of his films, and before that, he was an excellent producer, as well. These films were indisputably his style and mentality, from “Dragonwyck” (1946), “A Letter to Three Wives” (1949), “All About Eve” (1950), etc. It was a smart film, but it wasn’t fashionable then, because the Western style now belonged to Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone (and maybe Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles”). It was plot-driven with excellent characterizations, which were suddenly out of style in the new Godard era, and so it died. Mankiewicz got appreciated later for “Sleuth” (1972) but generally had a hard time in his later years in Hollywood. He quit the town. His brother Frank, who worked with us on “JFK,” said when I asked him what happened to his brother, “Oh, he got tired of it all. Took his cards and went home to Connecticut and never talked about it again,” implying his brother was bitter. Perhaps “Cleopatra” (1963), in all its difficulties, had broken him. But #JoeMankiewicz truly was one of the great ones.