AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE TRIALS OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series. This production about "the father of the atomic bomb" combines historic footage and photos with contemporary interviews and dramatic re-creations to help explain why Americans turned against him in the '50s. The film, narrated by Campbell Scott, opens in 1954 as Oppenheimer is told that his work for the Atomic Energy Commission has been suspended due to his potential threat to national security. Reports cite that he has been affiliated with the Communist party, along with his wife Kitty and brother Frank. Physicist Marvin L. Goldberger comments that Oppenheimer fulfilled his assignment to create the bomb, but earned the wrath of his superiors after he tried to warn Americans about the bomb's dangers.
As Oppenheimer defends his actions to a three-person panel determining his fate, the narrative uses photos and narration to recall Oppenheimer's childhood as the eldest son in a wealthy Jewish family. He went on to academic triumphs at Harvard University, despite an inability to socially connect with others. Oppenheimer battled severe depression when his scientific pursuits were less successful at Cambridge University. However, his subsequent 1926 studies in theoretical physics in Gottingen, Germany resulted in highly lauded advances in quantum physics, as well as the wrath of fellow scholars. Returning to America, Oppenheimer found employment as a lecturer at several California universities. According to Goldberger, Oppenheimier's colleagues accused him of arrogance, impatience, and acting superior to all in his sphere.
Oppenheimer soon began courting Jean Tatlock, who introduced him to the Communist party. After the pair broke up, Oppenheimer began a tumultuous relationship with Katherine "Kitty" Harrison, a member of the Communist party and his eventual wife. Seven months after their marriage, Kitty gave birth to a son, Peter. Following the discovery of nuclear fission and America's emergence into World War II, Oppenheimer was assigned to the Manhattan Project in 1942 and began to design and build the atomic bomb in a top-secret laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. At the time, Oppenheimer continued his association with Haakon Chevalier, a Berkeley professor and Communist party member, resulting -- years later -- in prosecutor Roger Robb's questions about Oppenheimer's Communist leanings. Oppenheimer was also questioned about his renewal of an affair with Tatlock while he was at Los Alamos, though she remained in the Communist party.
Following Tatlock's suicide six months later, Oppenheimer had alerted Colonel Boris Pash about his meeting with Chevalier, though he lied and covered up his friend's name. The Army subsequently began recording Oppenheimer, with Pash certain that Oppenheimer was a spy. Regardless, Oppenheimer thrived at coordinating the efforts of scientists at Los Alamos, with the exception of Hungarian refugee Edward Teller, who wanted to work on the hydrogen bomb. Meanwhile, Kitty gave birth to another child, daughter Toni, and subsequently developed alcoholic tendencies. Following a successful test of the atom bomb in July of 1945, the Army dropped Oppenheimer's creation on two Japanese cities to end World War II, leaving Oppenheimer with conflicting emotions about his accomplishment.
Despite a contentious meeting with President Harry S. Truman, Oppenheimer's fame and popularity blossomed in the following years. Soon, Oppenheimer began efforts to internationalize nuclear energy, though plans were deep-sixed as Soviet interest in an atom bomb increased. With the hunt for Soviet spies in the U.S. increasing, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover kept closer tabs on Oppenheimer. When questioned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Oppenheimer gave the names of former Communist associates. At a subsequent Congressional hearing, Oppenheimer came into conflict with Lewis Strauss, president of the Institute for Advanced Studies. When Russia subsequently developed its own atom bomb, Teller insisted that he be allowed to build his hydrogen bomb. Though Oppenheimer voiced opposition, Truman agreed with Teller and the hydrogen bomb was successfully tested in 1952.
After speaking out against the ensuing arms race, Oppenheimer was attacked by Strauss for his views. When appointed as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Strauss began a campaign -- aided by Teller -- to claim that Oppenheimer was undermining the nation's atomic weapons program. After Russia developed its own hydrogen bomb, Oppenheimer was suspected of passing on America's secrets. Strauss then convinced Eisenhower to have Oppenheimer's security clearance suspended. Oppenheimer was forced to take part in hearings in which Robb put his actions in a negative light. Strauss escalated the hearings into a trial, during which Oppenheimer's home and phone were bugged. Robb then used Oppenheimer's lie to Pash about Chevalier to entrap him.
After a lengthy trial in which Teller's testimony proved particularly damaging, the panel permanently revoked Oppenheimer's security clearance. According to writer Richard Rhodes, the silencing of such a prominent nuclear control advocate resulted in the American and Soviet escalation of the arms race. Though perceived by many as "a broken man," Opppenheimer continued to lecture. In 1963, he received a scientific honor, the Enrico Fermi award, from President Lyndon B. Johnson. Four years later, Oppenheimer died of cancer at the age of 62. This program includes two show-sponsored commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: January 26, 2009 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:50:28
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 100559
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Atomic bomb
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1988-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- TV - Commercials - Liberty Mutual
CREDITS
- Mark Samels … Executive Producer
- Susan Mottau … Coordinating Producer
- David Grubin … Producer, Director, Writer
- Tania Castellanos … Co-Producer
- Dan Cogan … Co-Producer
- Sharon Grimberg … Senior Producer
- Susan Bellows … Series Producer
- Michael Bacon … Music by
- Mark Adler … Theme Music by
- Charles Kuskin … Theme Music by
- Campbell Scott … Narrator
- David Strathairn … Cast, J. Robert Oppenheimer
- Michael Cumpsty … Cast, Roger Robb
- Danny Gerroll … Cast, Col. Boris Pash
- Michael Stuhlbarg … Cast, Edward Teller
- Ellen Katz … Cast, Stenographer
- Boyd Gaines … Cast, Chairman Gray
- Haakon Chevalier
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Marvin L. Goldberger
- J. Edgar Hoover
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Frank Oppenheimer
- Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer
- Peter Oppenheimer
- Toni Oppenheimer
- Richard Rhodes
- Lewis Strauss
- Jean Tatlock
- Edward Teller
- Harry S. Truman