75 years before ‘Oppenheimer’: ‘The Beginning or the End’ told the story of the Manhattan Project

Susan King
·5 min read
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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.” According to the AFI catalog. he agreed to merge with MGM’s planned production. Wallis would give MGM his story and research and he would be an advisor on the film, plus receive various payments.

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With the termination of Wallis’ film, MGM moved forward on their film 1947’s “The Beginning or the End.” Several writers were involved in the creation of the script including Ayn Rand of “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged” fame. It was veteran screenwriter Frank “Spig” Wead, whom John Wayne portrayed in John Ford’s 1957 “The Wings of the Eagle,” who ended up with screen credit.

The production had to legally get permission to depict the real-life subjects involved in the Manhattan Project. Several refused but Oppenheimer agreed, as did physicist Enrico Fermi and Major General Leslie R. Groves, who directed the Manhattan Project and was hired as a consultant on the film for a cool $10,000.

But Eleanor Roosevelt objected to Oscar-winner Lionel Barrymore, best known for playing the mean old Mr. Potter in 1946’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” being cast as her husband. Back in 1944 he had made some comments that she felt were derogatory toward her late husband. Barrymore sent a letter to the former First Lady explaining his comments,  but didn’t sway her opinion. Barrymore was out and Godfrey Tearle was cast as FDR. Frisky plays his beloved Scottie dog, Fala.

Brian Donlevy was cast as Groves with Hume Cronyn as Oppenheimer, who is a supporting player in the film. The film begins as a faux newsreel depicting “The Beginning or the End” being buried in a time capsule in California that’s not to be opened until 2446.

The opening credits informed audiences: “This is basically a true story. However, the dramatic license and security purposes, some rearrangement of chronology and fictionalization was necessary.” Cronyn’s Oppenheimer appears after the credits to address the people who find the time capsule:

“I do believe, as do many others, that my age is the most enlightened in all history.  And yet during my lifetime I have already seen two world wars. In them, 87 million men and women perished, or were wounded. The people of my era unleashed the power which might-for all we know-destroy human life on earth. For you of the 25th century, we have recorded our work to unlock the atom. We know the beginning. Only you of tomorrow, if there is a tomorrow, can know the end.”

The end title card states: “To the people of the 25th Century: That was THE BEGINNING. Only you, and those who have lived between us and you, can know THE END”

It was President Harry S Truman who came up with the name of the film. When he gave his stamp of approval on the film, he told the MGM suits “Make a good picture that will tell people that the decision is theirs to make…’This is the beginning or the end.’

“The Beginning or the End” was originally set to open in October, 1946. But according to a Hollywood Reporter story from that month, it was delayed until 1947 after MGM head Louis B. Mayer decided to add footage of the bombing.

The two main leads were fictional characters. Robert Walker plays a lieutenant colonel who was on the Enola Gay when it dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. And Tom Drake portrays a scientist who makes the ultimate sacrifice. The film spends way too much of the running time with these two characters and the women in their lives played by Audrey Totter and Beverly Tyler.

“The Beginning or the End” received decidedly mixed reviews. The New York Times opined: “From the brashly deceptive introduction…it would seem that the Metro people actually think they have made history. Despite it’s generally able reenactments, this film is so laced with sentiment of the silliest and most theatrical nature that much of its impressiveness is marred .This sentiment derives from two romances….And both are so hackneyed in treatment, so completely inappropriate to the theme and so mawkishly employed at the finish to state a thesis of mankind’s hopes and fears that only the most romantic patrons are likely to take them without extreme distress.”

“The Beginning or the End” had a healthy budget of around $2.6 million, but alas, it bombed at the box office with the studio ultimately losing approximately $1.6 million.

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