David Strathairn's portrayal of Oppenheimer was to the point and limited to probably about 20% screen time allowing the narrator and guests to carry the force and message of the documentary interspersed with archival film and photographs. Narrator: By a vote of two to one, the board concluded that, although Oppenheimer was a “loyal citizen,” his security clearance should be revoked. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): In early 1943, I received a letter appointing me director of the laboratory. She refused to take on the role of the director’s wife and found herself at loose ends. Narrator: That same year, a startling dispatch from the abstruse world of nuclear physics changed the course of history – and Oppenheimer’s life. He has two siblings, Tom and Anne. Leonard Bruno The test was evidently a success. But after the bomb brought the war to an end, in spite of his renown and his enormous achievement, America turned on him, humiliated him, and cast him aside. It was not clear to me what the right thing to do was. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): I had visited Jean Tatlock in the spring of 1943. On Nov. 1, 1952, the world’s first hydrogen bomb, vaporized the tiny island of Elugelab in the Pacific. “To those who loved me and helped me, all love and courage. It premiered in the United States on March 5, 1989 on the CBS network. Kitty was 29, and also a former Communist party member. Sync Sound, Inc. ABC News Videosource Keystone/Getty Images Narrator: The two men talked for hours. Richard Rhodes, writer: In the 1930s, in the bottom of the Depression, there was a deep and fundamental concern about the future of this country, whether its economic and to some degree political system was adequate. Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Harold Agnew, physicist: He had a certain charisma, a certain charm, a certain flare. Narrator: Edward Teller was there that day, come to offer his congratulations. Priscilla McMillan, writer: He was older. She was also a member of the Communist Party, and introduced Oppenheimer into her political circle. And it wasn’t clear to him what he should do. “For me, the idea that the loyalty of one of our most distinguished scientists could be called into question and the rules of justice set aside, all justified because we were in a war against Communism, is a tragic reminder of how staunchly we must protect our freedoms, especially in perilous times.”, David Grubin J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): Beginning late 1936, my interests began to change…. We were aware of what it might mean if they beat us to the draw in the development of atomic bombs. Priscilla McMillan, writer: He didn’t grow up. It was reported that your brother Frank Friedman Oppenheimer was a member of the Community Party. The New York Times Szilard: Michael Tucker. He had taken the step. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): Because she was still in love with me…. It was 1954. They could conceivably be. Most people were silent. Although they continued to see some of their left-wing friends, the Oppenheimers were, by now, detaching themselves from Communist party politics. He thought he’d blown it. New York Post He had begun to worry about his conversation with his friend Haakon Chevalier. Some had been his students. After the war, Oppenheimer recommended putting control over atomic energy into the hands of an international agency. The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer: Trailer. We have regretfully concluded that Dr. Oppenheimer has been less than candid in several instances in his testimony. He wanted to have a say in what became of those weapons. But President Truman, fearing the Russians would develop an H-bomb first, dismissed it. Narrator: But the Soviet army already occupied much of Eastern Europe. At that time I couldn’t go. She was 22, studying to be a doctor, and passionately involved with the contentious issues of her day: the civil war in Spain, organizing workers, racial discrimination. It wasn’t Oppenheimer’s decision. Martin Sherwin, historian: And everybody laughed and a journalist, said he looked over at Lewis Strauss who had turned beet red. Nat Farbman/Getty Images Roger Robb, courtroom prosecutor (Michael Cumpsty): Doctor, in your opinion is association with the Communist movement compatible with a job on a secret war project? One that he liked, a cowboy self. In fact, it never made any sense to me. He hates Communists. Lewis Strauss was the president of the Institute for Advanced Study, he had hired Oppenheimer as its director. Martin Sherwin, historian: He was a great supporter of using the bomb. Roger Robb, courtroom prosecutor (Michael Cumpsty): Doctor, let me ask you a blunt question. Roy Glauber, physicist: There was great tension about the test, great uncertainty whether it would work or produce a pathetic fizzle. Less than a month later, on August 6 and 9, the United States exploded two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, putting an end to World War II. Narrator: Once the decision was made, Oppenheimer did nothing to oppose it. And even after it was determined to proceed, you continued to oppose the project. Narrator: That fall, Oppenheimer was made a key advisor to the newly created Atomic Energy Commission. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): I was associated with the Communist movement, and I did not regard it as inappropriate to take the job at Los Alamos. The result was a standoff between the world’s two largest superpowers that lasted for nearly fifty years.”, “There are so many ways to look at the Oppenheimer story,” Grubin says. “It must be dropped visually. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): Silent like a wolf There was always a studied remark intended to convey some sort of I don’t-, superiority or deeper knowledge than you pos-you slob could possibly understand. Martin Sherwin, historian: They are in a war against communism and therefore the normal rules of justice, have to be set aside in order to protect the body politic. Peter Oppenheimer “Once Robert Oppenheimer’s voice of moderation was silenced, the U.S. began building an arsenal of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, and the Soviet Union followed suit. I was born in New York in 1904. “He’s a genius,” Groves said later. Roger Robb (Michael Cumpsty): Doctor, I would like to read from the transcripts of your interview with Colonel Pash. Fear and tension. Oppenheimer came to prominence through unspeakable violence, and suffered all the ambiguities and contradictions he had helped create. Jay Fialkov I think it’s just possible Mr. President that it has taken some character and some courage for you to make this award today. The Oppenheimers called it Perro Caliente – Spanish for hot dog. Marvin Goldberger, physicist: I saw a lot of him at that time, and I saw the impact that this tragedy had on him. And Strauss allows Borden to take Oppenheimer’s security file home, and Borden studies it for months and writes this letter to J. Edgar Hoover. Richard Rhodes, writer: So if you’re going to change on a different scale the-the whole structure of the physics, everything has to be redone if you will, and that means there are enormous opportunities available for a young graduate student with talent to come in and make various aspects of this his own. Corbis Motion Robert Oppenheimer's life and legacy are inextricably linked to America's most famous top-secret initiative - the Manhattan Project. Photos of Nagasaki after the bomb taken by Yosuke Yamahata courtesy of Shogo Yamata Mr. Strathairn appears in re-creations of the 1954 hearing that resulted in the stripping of Oppenheimer’s security clearance, reciting dialogue taken directly from transcripts. Priscilla McMillan, writer: The period at Los Alamos was the only time in his life when he wasn’t plagued by existential doubt, when all the parts came together and worked together. In spite of the initial doubts of his scientific colleagues, he was proving that he was more than up to the enormous task. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): I knew my brother. To protect himself, he relied on his preternatural brilliance and grew aloof and arrogant. General Groves quickly agreed. American Institute of Physics, Emilio Segre Visual Archives Advertisement. Streamline Films The movie was written by California Institute of Technology It was an enormous project, we were all deeply involved in finding out whether the darn thing would work. WGBH Media Library Nick Bottom, Production Assistants Numb and bewildered, Oppenheimer told a friend, “I have so little sense of self remaining.” In a futile gesture, he appealed to the Atomic Energy Commission, chaired by Lewis Strauss. In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. “Keep your shirt on,” Oppenheimer told him. When the President assured his visitor that the Soviets would “never” get the bomb, Oppenheimer became frustrated. Peter Oppenheimer They had to do with a kind of arrogance and contempt. He thought they had found themselves at a dead end. Richard Rhodes, writer: Oppenheimer couldn’t see tucking tail and walking away. David Strathairn Celebrity Profile - Check out the latest David Strathairn photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at Rotten Tomatoes! The question this film asks is, “Why?”. Priscilla McMillan, writer: He must have sensed that the flames could get to him sometime. Narrator: The hearings would go on for nearly a month, the story of Oppenheimer’s life laid bare, his secrets exposed, his brilliance and arrogance, naïveté and insecurities debated, dissected, and judged. as the Voice of Chairman Gray, Electrics If we are guided by fear alone, we’ll fail in this time of crisis.”. I know that sounds absurd and yet I have no doubt that it was part of the equation, So get rid of him and then Teller, like cream would rise to the top of the bottle. You know, Kitty and Jean were both dominant women. It was pitch dark outside, just before dawn… there was a lot of tension. Science and the military converged under a cloak of secrecy at Los Alamos National Laboratory. It turns out that classical ideas about Newtonian mechanics and particle motion and so on, do not apply to things of-to things of atomic scale. But after World War II, this brilliant and intense scientist fell from the innermost circles of American science, and at the height of the Red Scare, the veil of suspicion fell over Oppenheimer. Freeman Dyson, physicist: In 1939, he published with his student Hartland Snyder, really a great piece of work explaining how stars collapse and how they can actually end up as black holes, which had never been understood before. I am afraid there is no such hope. Teller drove the final nail into Oppenheimer’s coffin. You can’t do this.’ Our answer is we must.”. Brian Dennehy as Gen. Groves heads the strong cast that distinguishes this Emmy-winning chronicle of America's race to build the A-bomb. ©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation and David Grubin Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. I have no first hand knowledge, but a man attached to the Soviet Consul has indicated indirectly through an intermediary that he was in a position to transmit information. In 1927 his father took a lease on a rustic cabin high in the mountains 45 miles northeast of Santa Fe and gave it to both his sons. Roger Robb (Michael Cumpsty): Why did you go into such great circumstantial detail about this thing if you knew it was a cock-and-bull story? But Oppenheimer continued to operate under a shadow of suspicion and by the summer of 1943, the pressure began to tell. I mean, Oppenheimer just felt that this was madness, sheer madness. We find ourselves again J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): The story I told Pash is not a true story. Narrator: By summer 1944, the enormous burden of responsibility had begun to take its toll. Corbis Images But I had no framework of political conviction or experience to give me perspective in these matters. But since a hydrogen bomb would need an atomic bomb to set it off, Oppenheimer gave Teller’s super a low priority. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists/courtesy AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives And he expected everybody to be seduced by his Renaissance man knowledge of everything. Throughout the hearings, the FBI bugged Oppenheimer’s lawyers’ offices, home, and nearly everywhere he went, and delivered information, even the defense strategy, to the prosecutor bent on bringing him down. Narrator: On December 21, 1953, Strauss told Oppenheimer that his security clearance had been suspended. I had learned in my student days a great deal about the new physics. Martin Sherwin, historian: Strauss convinces Eisenhower that if this letter was being sat on by the administration, it will cost Eisenhower politically, and Eisenhower declares that a wall should be put between Oppenheimer and secrecy. But Groves does not allow Oppenheimer’s left-wing activities during the 1930s to trump his belief that Oppenheimer will be just the right person. Herbert York, physicist: He felt that what you had to do instead of you had to accomplish the impossible, what you had to do was accomplish another impossibility, and that is live successfully and peacefully with nuclear weapons. Roger Robb (Michael Cumpsty): Your brother Frank told you in 1936, or probably 1937, that he and his wife Jackie had joined the Communist Party. He could be devastating especially to young people. In view of your access to highly sensitive classified information, and in view of allegations which, until disproved, raise questions as to your veracity, conduct, and even your loyalty, the Commission has no other recourse but to suspend your clearance until the matter has been resolved. The fallout would take out the rest of the East Coast. They knew what they were making. I was born in New York in 1904. Now, he suggested a remote wilderness near the Los Alamos canyon north east of Santa Fe as the site for the atomic bomb laboratory. Narrator: Teller believed he had the answer to the Soviet threat: the super – the hydrogen bomb, which had remained his pet project ever since Los Alamos. Roy Glauber, physicist: Of course he paid attention to experiment, but he was a theorist. I think Oppenheimer saw the question in all its complexity. If Robert Oppenheimer could not be trusted with the nation’s secrets, who could be? Friends who went to visit him later would talk about the fact that he would go out riding for three days at a time up the ridge of the Rocky Mountains with a bar of chocolate and a pint of whiskey in his hip pocket, and they would be starving and terrified riding through mountain storms and lightning, and he would just be having a wonderful time. Roger Robb (Michael Cumpsty): And have said so? Jeremy Bernstein, writer: I took a train ride with him to New York, and for some reason he started talking about “my” case, my case, and he said to me that at the time he thought it was happening to somebody else. You have to stay. With desire Priscilla McMillan, writer: He thought that it would be crazy not to develop it and that those who opposed it might possibly be unpatriotic. Seductive twilight, the criminal’s friend All of which is over in less than a thousandth of a second. Zoe Viccaji Narrator: In 1940, Oppenheimer became Kitty’s fourth husband. And politics seemed gross to him. After the ceremony, Lewis Strauss wrote an angry letter to Life Magazine, complaining that honoring Oppenheimer “dealt a severe blow to the security system which protects our country.” Robert Oppenheimer died four years later. It’s a very heavy burden that he carries into the post-war period, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki are destroyed. J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn): Right. Richard Rhodes, writer: He found peace there. What worried him was whether the bomb would work. He studied chemistry, physics, calculus; English and French literature; Western, Chinese and Hindu philosophy; he even found time to write stories and poems. Herbert F. York, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (archival): We knew the world would not be the same. To ensure that the flames could get to him his worst fears Teller... On Eastern Europe help in extricating them and sometimes reduced them practically to tears social situations, unworthy and. 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