Watch CBS News

Rare 1963 Color Video Of JFK On Cape Released

BOSTON (CBS) - The Kennedy Library has released never before seen color film of President John F. Kennedy just four months before he was assassinated.

The film clips are a compilation of silent color movies taken at and around the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port July 27-29, 1963.

"The sense you have is people who are frolicking. He's playing golf, and what I noticed is after he sank a putt, he couldn't or didn't bend down to get the golf ball because he was wearing a back brace," presidential historian Robert Dallek told CBS News. "He had this terrible back problem."

The film also shows the president taking a cruise with his family on the presidential yacht, the Honey Fitz.

Kennedy can be seen with his young daughter Caroline on the boat and in the water swimming together.

Jackie Kennedy is also in the video, eight months pregnant. Less than two weeks after the film was shot, she would give premature birth to a son, Patrick, who died two days later.

WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben reports

It's not clear why the film was kept under wraps for 50 years.

if you have trouble viewing the video above, you can see the entire 15 minute film on the library's web site.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.