Films about the end of the world are nothing new. But films about the real end of the world–the moments in human history that seem to have put us on an inevitable path toward our own self-destruction–are less frequent. In the 1950s, as the Cold War took hold and the threat of nuclear war escalated, most of the films that came out dealt with it in terms of metaphor, usually sci-fi ones, like giant irradiated lizards and insects standing in for hydrogen bombs.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer addresses one of those moments in history head-on, giving us not just a glimpse into the tormented mind of the “father of the atomic bomb,” but a you-are-there, immersive front row seat to the very moment in which the first bomb was detonated and the end of the human race came into clear view, starting with what many now consider to...
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer addresses one of those moments in history head-on, giving us not just a glimpse into the tormented mind of the “father of the atomic bomb,” but a you-are-there, immersive front row seat to the very moment in which the first bomb was detonated and the end of the human race came into clear view, starting with what many now consider to...
- 7/24/2023
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed “Oppenheimer,” which revolves around J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist considered the father of the atomic bomb, is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. Actually of the year. Over the decades there have been several films dealing with the Manhattan Project that culminated with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki thus ending World War II on Sept. 2, 1945.
Soon after the global conflict ended MGM, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox were rushing to be the first studio to greenlight a movie dealing with the birth of the atomic bomb that ushered in the Cold War. MGM quickly put a project in motion hiring Robert Considine to write a story . The studio was circling the likes of its “A’ stars Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Van Johnson. Meanwhile over at Paramount, producer Hal Wallis was preparing a $1.5 million atomic bomb film called “Top Secret.
Soon after the global conflict ended MGM, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox were rushing to be the first studio to greenlight a movie dealing with the birth of the atomic bomb that ushered in the Cold War. MGM quickly put a project in motion hiring Robert Considine to write a story . The studio was circling the likes of its “A’ stars Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Van Johnson. Meanwhile over at Paramount, producer Hal Wallis was preparing a $1.5 million atomic bomb film called “Top Secret.
- 7/21/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Groundbreaking ideas seem in short supply at the moment. This summer’s streamer hits drew big audiences but did not resonate in terms of novelty. Charlize Theron returns as a lethal and immortal mercenary in The Old Guard. Tom Hanks again calmly captains a World War II warship in Greyhound. Most of the “new” original series on Peacock and HBO Max had to first prove themselves in the UK before being granted their U.S. visas.
The brave new world of streaming thus is reaffirming a rule that Hollywood learned a century ago: If an idea is billed as new or, even worse, as “important,” run for cover.
All this may sound war-weary, but it’s worth review at a moment when Hollywood is celebrating (or should be) an anniversary that produced one of its most embarrassing flops – a movie that was aggressively heralded as both new and important. It...
The brave new world of streaming thus is reaffirming a rule that Hollywood learned a century ago: If an idea is billed as new or, even worse, as “important,” run for cover.
All this may sound war-weary, but it’s worth review at a moment when Hollywood is celebrating (or should be) an anniversary that produced one of its most embarrassing flops – a movie that was aggressively heralded as both new and important. It...
- 7/23/2020
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Stop! Don't touch that dial... if you like your atom-age propaganda straight up, MGM has the movie for you, an expensive 1946 docu-drama that became 'the official story' for the making of the bomb. The huge cast includes Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, and Joseph Calleia. How trustworthy is the movie? It begins by showing footage of a time capsule being buried -- that supposedly contains the film we are watching. Think about that. Mom, Apple Pie, the Flag and God are enlisted to argume that we should stop worrying and love the fact that bombs are just peachy-keen dandy. The Beginning or the End DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia, Godfrey Tearle, Victor Francen,...
- 1/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'The Beginning or the End' 1947 with Robert Walker and Tom Drake. Hiroshima bombing 70th anniversary: Six movies dealing with the A-bomb terror Seventy years ago, on Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Ultimately, anywhere between 70,000 and 140,000 people died – in addition to dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and most other living beings in that part of the world. Three days later, America dropped a second atomic bomb, this time over Nagasaki. Human deaths in this other city totaled anywhere between 40,000-80,000. For obvious reasons, the evisceration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been a quasi-taboo in American films. After all, in the last 75 years Hollywood's World War II movies, from John Farrow's Wake Island (1942) and Mervyn LeRoy's Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) to Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor (2001), almost invariably have presented a clear-cut vision...
- 8/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Warning: If you haven’t seen the Game of Thrones Season 4 finale, hitch a ride on the nearest dragon and head to a different TVLine story. Everyone else, read on.
Is there a fate worse than being sentenced to death?
Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) got to ponder that question after enduring multiple jaw-dropping twists during tonight’s Game of Thrones Season 4 finale. (Read Kim Roots’ episode recap here!)
After escaping prison with the help of his brother Jaime and thwarting his execution in the process, Tyrion discovered his true love Shae (Sibel Kekilli) in the bed of his father Tywin,...
Is there a fate worse than being sentenced to death?
Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) got to ponder that question after enduring multiple jaw-dropping twists during tonight’s Game of Thrones Season 4 finale. (Read Kim Roots’ episode recap here!)
After escaping prison with the help of his brother Jaime and thwarting his execution in the process, Tyrion discovered his true love Shae (Sibel Kekilli) in the bed of his father Tywin,...
- 6/16/2014
- TVLine.com
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