The Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965)
1965 · Short film · 34 min · dir. Fred Freed
- Documentary
- War
Synopsis
J. Robert Oppenheimer and other key figures involved in the decision to drop the first atomic bomb discuss their motivations in this NBC News documentary. Originally produced and televised in 1965, two decades after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was re-released in 2023 with an epilogue by Michael Beschloss, NBC News Presidential Historian.
Synopsis from TMDb
Details
- Director
- Fred Freed
- Writer
- Fred Freed
- Studio
- NBC News
- Released
- 1965-01-05
- Running time
- 34 minutes
Cast & crew
- Fred Freed Director
Chet Huntley
J. Robert Oppenheimer- McGeorge Bundy
Leslie Groves- John J. McCloy
John Rich
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★★★ · Should The Bomb Be Dropped? · Dodsworth the Cat · 2024-08-10
These NBC "White Paper" specials were always well put-together. This one is a treasure as the people involved (save Truman) were interviewed. This EB version is chopped down from a 90-minute documentary broadcast on NBC on Jan. 5, 1965. Shooting began the previous August. Even with the edits, this is a compelling film to watch.
