The result is a creditable concept of the energy expended and involved." I also smiled at his comment "Brian Donlevy makes a pretty snappy spark-plug out of dynamic General Groves" the film could have used a few more scenes with Donlevy. For the most part, the re-enactments are commendably graphic and tense, and they are competently strung together in an impressive dramatic line. (That's a bit strange to try to follow - the movie depicting itself being put into a time capsule?) The pros and cons of the atomic bomb are discussed at some length, including a scene where President Truman (Al Baker) lays out his reasons for using the bomb to his press secretary.Īt the time of the film's release, Bosley Crowther wrote in the New York Times: "Metro has made a motion picture which fairly re-enacts the main events in this almost incredible story and which gravely points the fearfulness thereof. The story is framed in an unusual manner, beginning with a "newsreel" of a time capsule about the atomic bomb being made for people of the 25th Century, and the movie itself is included in the time capsule. The film is an interesting melding of cinema and history, and I was particularly intrigued to see how the subject matter was treated so soon after the use of the atomic bomb and the end of the war. (Drake and Tyler had been teamed the previous year in THE GREEN YEARS.) I wondered if the film might have been more effective if it had focused on being a straight docudrama the story is dramatic enough in and of itself, and the Drake-Tyler storyline adds a bit of unneeded melodrama, culminating in an awkward extended scene which ends the film. Drake has a perennially worried expression he does play well opposite Beverly Tyler as his cute, bubbly bride. The film was somewhat less successful inserting a more detailed personal story with Tom Drake as a civilian scientist who has ongoing doubts about what the bomb will mean for mankind. The brief scenes depicting their flirtatious relationship provide a welcome lightening of the mood in a very serious story. Robert Walker portrays General Groves' aide, with Audrey Totter adding a dash of spice as his girlfriend, who is also General Groves' secretary. Henry O'Neill is General Farrell, in charge of the mission to drop the bomb, with Barry Nelson as the pilot of the Enola Gay, Col. The large cast includes Hume Cronyn as Robert Oppenheimer his fellow scientists are portrayed by Richard Haydn, Joseph Calleia, Hurd Hatfield, Norman Lloyd, Frank Ferguson, and several other fine character actors. The final part of the film depicts the flight of the Enola Gay, a story which MGM would focus on more extensively half a decade later in ABOVE AND BEYOND (1952). Documentary footage is briefly incorporated showing the construction of production facilities in Oak Ridge and Los Alamos.
Groves, who had the challenge of managing the massive, multi-state project which had to be kept top secret. This movie, which was released in February 1947, traces how scientists from the U.S., Britain, and Canada joined together in atomic testing and the development of the atomic bomb. Given the historic scope of the story, it's somewhat surprising that this film - made just a year after the war ended - is today relatively little known. THE BEGINNING OR THE END is MGM's telling of the Manhattan Project and the dropping of the first atomic bomb.
Miscellaneous Musings on Classic Films and Disney About Me Name: Laura Location: Orange County, CA, United States