The film JFK (1991), a fascinating cinematic theory about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), was one of the most controversial films of its time. Directed and coscripted by Oliver Stone (1946–), JFK fired up the decades-long debate over who actually murdered the fallen president. Was it lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald (1939–1963), as was indicated by the "official" Warren Commission, which was entrusted to investigate the crime back in the 1960s? Or was it the end result of an elaborate plot, masterminded by the Mafia (see entry under 1960s—The Way We Lived in volume 4), the U.S. government and military, Cuban nationalists, and any number of additional Kennedy-haters?

JFK is based on the obsession of real-life New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (1921–1995), played by Kevin Costner (1955–), with uncovering the truth of the assassination. In the course of his investigation, Garrison tries a businessman named Clay Shaw (1913–1974) with plotting...