Day One
6.286
141 minutes
5/12/1989
Overview
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard leaves Europe, eventually arriving in the United States. With the help of Einstein, he persuades the government to build an atomic bomb. The project is given to no-nonsense Gen. Leslie Groves who selects physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to head the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the bomb is built. As World War II draws to a close, Szilard has second thoughts about atomic weapons, and policy makers debate how and when to use the bomb.
Cast List
Brian Dennehy
as Gen. Leslie Groves
David Strathairn
as J. Robert Oppenheimer
Michael Tucker
as Leo Szilard
Hume Cronyn
as James F. Byrnes
Richard Dysart
as President Harry S. Truman
Hal Holbrook
as Gen. George Marshall
Barnard Hughes
as Henry Stimson
John McMartin
as Dr. Arthur Compton
David Ogden Stiers
as Franklin D. Roosevelt
Anne Twomey
as Kitty Oppenheimer
Lawrence Dane
Ron Frazier
as Colonel Pash
Olek Krupa
as Edward Teller
Bernie McInerney
John Pielmeier
as Seth
Ken Pogue
as Dwight D. Eisenhower
Gary Reineke
as Groves's Commanding Officer
Alan Scarfe
John Seitz
as Ralph A. Bard
Tony Shalhoub
as Enrico Fermi
Ester Spitz
as Trude Weiss
Ron White
as Colonel Nichols
Stephan Balint
as Eugen Wigner
Peter Boretski
as Albert Einstein
Patrick Breen
as Richard Feynman
Vlasta Vrana
as Hans Bethe
George Popovich
as Samuel Goudsmit
Lorne Brass
as Klaus Fuchs
Michael Sinelnikoff
as Lord Rutherford
Graham Haley
as Haakon Chevalier
Kliment Denchev
as Michael Polanyi
Diana Fajrajsl
as Ilse Polanyi
Timothy Webber
as Colonel Lansdale
Harry Standjofski
as Robert Wilson
Lia Sargent
as Mrs. Wisnovsky
David Gow
as Jack Wisnovsky
Michael Farrell
as Shapp
Isabelle Mejias
as Mrs. Trowbridge
Jonathan Wise
as Robert Serber
George R. Robertson
as Ed Condon
Dee McCafferty
as William 'Deke' Parsons
Tom Butler
as Captain DeSilva
Robert Morelli
as T. O. Jones
Jon Baggaley
as James Tuck
David Bolt
as Harry Gold
David Ferry
as Army Major
Heinar Pillar
as Fleischmann
François Klanfer
as Haagen Kistiakowski
Joel Miller
as George Kistiakowski
Michael J. Reynolds
as Kenneth Bainbridge
Ed McGibbon
as William D. Leahy
Nicholas Kilbertus
as Paul Tibbets
Joe Cazalet
as Air Force Guard
Scott Thomson
as Chemist
Bob Clout
as Alfred MacCormack
Roland Hewgill
as Army General
Stan Gibbons
as John J. McCloy
Terrence Labrosse
as Allan Dulles
Delise Alison
as London Pedestrian
Alex Guard
as British Jr. Officer
Philip Spensley
as British Sr. Officer
Frederick Neumann
as Alexander Sachs
Norris Domingue
as General Pa Watson
Steve Barry
as Los Alamo Scientist (uncredited)
Arthur Holden
as Scientist (uncredited)
Romano Orzari
as Leo Szilard's Prime Scientist (uncredited)