This film opens with a newsreel explaining how the MGM movie is being buried in a "time capsule" to be opened in 500 years. Before being killed off by television in the 1950s, the newsreel was how Americans received visual news reports. Members of the cast show unintentionally amusing reactions during the ceremony; for unexplained reasons, they appear shifty-eyed, sneaky, fidgety and/or stone-faced. The buried film is immediately unearthed for our viewing. It tracks the three-year development of the Atomic Bomb. This is a reaction to Nazi Germany's atomic plans for World War II. History is full of speculation, but we can safely (or unsafely) assume Adolf Hitler would have used the weapon to annihilate not only his adversaries, but also those he considered undesirable. In one of many keen decisions, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proactively decided the US should be the first to acquire atomic weaponry...
Highlights include actor Godfrey Tearle portraying President Roosevelt, and seeing war veteran Bobby Jordan outperform dozens of other "bit" players...
However, the film is unremarkable in most respects. The dramatization includes much scientific silliness; but, it has some hints which could point toward rediscovering The Bomb, should the film's supposition be realized. The starring role is not given to top-billed Brian Donlevy (as Leslie R. Groves), but to brilliant Columbia University student Tom Drake (as Matt Cochran). Filmmakers do not make it easy for Mr. Drake to shine. "The Beginning or the End" is simply not very exciting. He would have had a better chance in a better story. Drake's co-stars are best pal Robert Walker (as Jeff Nixon) and pretty bride Beverly Tyler (as Anne). The "People of 2446" might be more amazed at Ms. Tyler's purely decorative role in the film, along with pretty Audrey Totter (as Jean O'Leary), than they would be at how the USA ushered in the Atomic Age. She never passed Algebra, but Tyler knows how to cry and kiss.
**** The Beginning or the End (2/19/47) Norman Taurog ~ Tom Drake, Robert Walker, Brian Donlevy, Hume Cronyn
Highlights include actor Godfrey Tearle portraying President Roosevelt, and seeing war veteran Bobby Jordan outperform dozens of other "bit" players...
However, the film is unremarkable in most respects. The dramatization includes much scientific silliness; but, it has some hints which could point toward rediscovering The Bomb, should the film's supposition be realized. The starring role is not given to top-billed Brian Donlevy (as Leslie R. Groves), but to brilliant Columbia University student Tom Drake (as Matt Cochran). Filmmakers do not make it easy for Mr. Drake to shine. "The Beginning or the End" is simply not very exciting. He would have had a better chance in a better story. Drake's co-stars are best pal Robert Walker (as Jeff Nixon) and pretty bride Beverly Tyler (as Anne). The "People of 2446" might be more amazed at Ms. Tyler's purely decorative role in the film, along with pretty Audrey Totter (as Jean O'Leary), than they would be at how the USA ushered in the Atomic Age. She never passed Algebra, but Tyler knows how to cry and kiss.
**** The Beginning or the End (2/19/47) Norman Taurog ~ Tom Drake, Robert Walker, Brian Donlevy, Hume Cronyn