HBO Carries a Torch For Teddy KennedyThe neatest trick of the week would be to make a film about the life of Edward M. Kennedy that wasn't compelling. The man has lived the equivalent of a hyper-dramatic autobiographical novel, a story to give one's emotions a workout and a continuing saga that involves the great issues -- and one of the major political dynasties -- of the 20th century.
Even considering the intrinsic richness of the material, HBO producers have done a particularly laudable job with "Teddy: In His Own Words," a 90-minute film (premiering tonight) that follows the format of previous, similarly titled documentaries on other notable nabobs. The only narrator heard is Kennedy himself; he recalls his highs and lows as filmed moments of his life unreel -- some familiar, some rarely or never seen.
The film covers Teddy's life up to the present, including his fight against a brain tumor discovered last year. Attempting to speak in tribute to his longtime colleague on the Senate floor, Robert Byrd breaks down weeping at his desk. Kennedy's own words at the 2008 Democratic convention sound inescapably prophetic: "The torch will be passed again," he said. And reworking a famous quotation of his own, he declared: "The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on."
It was at the 1980 convention, his voice seeming to tremble, that Kennedy withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination with the benediction, "The work goes on, the cause continues, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." The reference to passing a torch echoes a line from his brother John's inaugural address: "The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage . . ."
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