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The Day After Trinity (a.k.a. The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb) is a 1980 documentary film 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 (1904–1967), the theoretical physicist who led the effort to build the first atomic bomb, tested in July 1945 at Trinity site in New Mexico. Featuring candid interviews with several Manhattan Project scientists, as well as newly declassified archival footage, The Day After Trinity was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature of 1980, and received a Peabody Award in 1981. 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 Kennedy's efforts to urge President Lyndon Johnson 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."
Original Release
01/20/1981
US Release
01/20/1981
Cast
| Name | Character |
|---|
| Hans Bethe | Self |
| Holm Bursom | Self |
| Haakon Chevalier | Self |
| Stirling Colgate | Self |
| Freeman Dyson | Self |
| Jon Else | Interviewer |
| Susan Evans | Self |
| Francis Fergusson | Self |
| Paul Frees | Narrator / Narrator (voice) |
| Leslie Groves | Self / Self (archive footage) |
Directors
Writers
Jon Else, Janet Peoples, David Webb Peoples
Cast
| Name | Character |
|---|
| Hans Bethe | Self |
| Holm Bursom | Self |
| Haakon Chevalier | Self |
| Stirling Colgate | Self |
| Freeman Dyson | Self |
| Jon Else | Interviewer |
| Susan Evans | Self |
| Francis Fergusson | Self |
| Paul Frees | Narrator / Narrator (voice) |
| Leslie Groves | Self / Self (archive footage) |
| Elizabeth Ingram | Self |
| Robert Krohn | Self |
| Dave MacDonald | Self |
| Joseph McCarthy | Self / Self (archive footage) |
| Dorothy McKibben | Self |
| Frank Oppenheimer | Self |
| J. Robert Oppenheimer | Self / Self (archive footage) |
| Robert Porton | Self |
| Isidor Isaac Rabi | Self |
| Robert Serber | Self |
Producers
| Name | Role |
|---|
| Peter R. Baker | Executive Producer |
| Jon Else | Producer |
| Courtney Flavin | Producer |
| Martha Olson | Producer |
| Kathryn Witte | Producer |
Editors
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1981 | Oscar | Best Documentary, Features | Nominated |
