''The Day After Trinity'' (a.k.a. ''The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb'') is a 1980

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed and produced by Jon H. Else in association with KTEH public television in San Jose, California. The film tells the story of

J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is oft ...

(1904–1967), the theoretical physicist who led the effort to build the first

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, tested in July 1945 at

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

site in New Mexico. It features interviews with several

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

scientists, as well as newly declassified archival footage. The film's title comes from an interview seen near the conclusion of the documentary. Robert Oppenheimer is asked for his thoughts on Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's efforts to urge President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

to initiate talks to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. "It's 20 years too late," Oppenheimer replies. After a pause he states, "It should have been done the day after Trinity."

Cast

:''in order of first appearance'' *

Haakon Chevalier Haakon Maurice Chevalier (Lakewood Township, New Jersey, September 10, 1901 – July 4, 1985) was an American writer, translator, and professor of French literature at the University of California, Berkeley best known for his friendship with p ...

— writer, friend of J. Robert Oppenheimer *

Hans Bethe Hans Albrecht Bethe (; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German-American theoretical physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics, and solid-state physics, and who won the 1967 Nobel ...

— Los Alamos physicist,

Nobel Nobel often refers to: *Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel Nobel may also refer to: Companies *AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994 *Branobel, or ...

laureate in physics *

Francis Fergusson Francis Fergusson (1904–1986) was a Harvard and Oxford-educated teacher and critic, a theorist of drama and mythology who wrote ''The Idea of a Theater'', (Princeton, 1949) arguably the best and most influential book about drama written by an ...

— writer, friend of J. Robert Oppenheimer *

Robert Serber Robert Serber (March 14, 1909 – June 1, 1997) was an American physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project. Serber's lectures explaining the basic principles and goals of the project were printed and supplied to all incoming scientific st ...

— physicist, Los Alamos * Robert Wilson — physicist, Los Alamos *

Frank Oppenheimer Frank Friedman Oppenheimer (August 14, 1912 – February 3, 1985) was an American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. A younger brother ...

— physicist, Los Alamos, brother of Robert Oppenheimer *

I.I. Rabi Isidor Isaac Rabi (; born Israel Isaac Rabi, July 29, 1898 – January 11, 1988) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, which is used in magnetic resonance ima ...

— Manhattan Project physicist, Nobel laureate *

Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was an English-American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum m ...

— physicist,

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Stirling Colgate Stirling Auchincloss Colgate (; November 14, 1925 – December 1, 2013) was an American physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a professor emeritus of physics, past president at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexic ...

— physicist, Los Alamos *

Stan Ulam Stanisław Marcin Ulam (; 13 April 1909 – 13 May 1984) was a Polish-American scientist in the fields of mathematics and nuclear physics. He participated in the Manhattan Project, originated the Teller–Ulam design of thermonuclear wea ...

— mathematician, Los Alamos *Robert Porton — G.I., at Los Alamos during World War II *Françoise Ulam — writer, wife of Stanislaw Ulam *Dorothy McKibben — former head, Manhattan Project office, Santa Fe, New Mexico *Robert Krohn — physicist, Los Alamos *Jane Wilson — writer, wife of Robert Wilson *

Jon Else Jon H. Else is an American documentary filmmaker and professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He directs the documentary program. Biography Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Else moved west for college. He earned a B.A. (Engli ...

— filmmaker, interviewer *Holm Bursom — rancher, Socorro, New Mexico *Dave MacDonald — rancher, Socorro, New Mexico *Susan Evans — resident, New Mexico *Elizabeth Ingram — merchant, San Antonio, New Mexico

Appearing in archive film

* General Leslie Groves * President Harry Truman *

Senator Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

Home media

''The Day After Trinity'' was released on VHS cassette by Pyramid Home Video, and on Region 1 DVD by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

. A CD-ROM that was released in 1995 included interviews, transcripts, annotations, biographies and other information.

Reviews

Awards

''The Day After Trinity'' was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary Feature of 1980, and received a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 1981. ''The Day After Trinity'' won a

CINE Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer t ...

Golden Eagle.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Day After Trinity, The 1980 films 1980 documentary films American documentary films 1980s English-language films Documentary films about nuclear war and weapons Films about the Manhattan Project Films with screenplays by David Peoples J. Robert Oppenheimer Peabody Award-winning broadcasts 1980s American films