New Jfk Film: 90 Seconds to Assassination

With a pink hat and a broad smile, Jackie Kennedy looks out on the crowd gathered in downtown Dallas, only 90 seconds before the assassination that was to change the US. You may think you've seen it before, but this image comes from a newly-discovered home movie handed into a Texas museum and released for the first time yesterday.

George Mack, the curator of the Six Floor museum in Dallas that collects material relating to the assassination and to the life of JFK, said the silent 8mm colour film provided the clearest and "the best view of Jackie I have ever seen" on the day.

George Jefferies, 82, an amateur photographer, took the film on the way to work and held on to it for 40 years. He mentioned its existence last year to his son-in-law, who suggested donating it to the museum.

The film captures the motorcade only a few blocks before it reaches Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was shot. The president is seen clearly, sitting by his wife, also smiling at the crowd.

Mr Mack said: "We have had the film restored and enhanced for use in future museum programmes, news broadcasts, and documentaries."

He said that the footage showed Kennedy's coat bunched up at his neck, a detail that will interest conspiracy theorists who have long questioned why the bullet hole in his body and coat had not matched up as expected.

George Jefferies' footage can be viewed at www.jfk.org