THE KENNEDYS.

• Author: ROTHENBERG, ROBERT S.
• Position: Review

THE KENNEDYS SHANACHIE ENTERTAINMENT TWO DISCS, 240 MINUTES, $24.95 EACH (DVD)

If ever an American family came to resemble a Greek tragedy, it was that of Joseph P. Kennedy. The patriarch of the Kennedy clan, he amassed millions of dollars in the stock market, Hollywood, and, allegedly, Prohibition-era bootlegging, pouring much of it into the search for political power. When his own ambitions to become the first Catholic president were thwarted, largely through the machinations of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Kennedy turned his efforts toward achieving the prize for his sons. This hubris proved disastrous for the family. As the concluding narration for this enthralling documentary sums it up, "Their father had once been willing to pay any price for power. He never could have imagined how high that price would be."

Split into two parts--"The Early Years, 1900-1961" and "The Later Years, 1962-1980"--the legend of this seemingly golden family unspools in all its triumph and tragedy. Unsparing in its dissection of Joseph P. Kennedy's methods in raising his fortune, as well as his use of it to promote the political careers of sons John, Robert, and Ted, the video digs deep into the various psyches involved. The litany of what has been labeled by some "the Kennedy Curse" runs from the World War II death of the oldest son, Joe Jr., the "crown prince" Joseph R Kennedy...