The great Italian-born physicist gives permission for his depiction in the 1947 MGM docudrama The Beginning or the End: "Gentlemen: In connection with the motion picture you are about to produce concerning the atomic bomb project and its ramifications, tentatively called The Beginning or the End, I now authorise you to depict me by name as a character in this motion picture and to use my name in connection therewith, my impersonation to be by an actor selected by you. I understand that although you will attempt to show the historical facts with accuracy, you will, however, have to dramatise your motion picture story, and I have no objections thereto, and you may rely on my personal irrevocable consent to proceed". The film, directed by Norman Taurog, was released on 7 March 1947 with Maltese-born actor Joseph Calleia taking the role of Fermi. Variety considered that The Beginning or the End "tells its portentous tale in broad strokes of masterful scripting and production". At the time of writing Fermi had recently moved with his family to Chicago, where he took up the post of Charles H. Swift Distinguished Professor of Physics at the university.
The post Typed letter signed concerning the Hollywood film The Beginning or the End (1947), a docudrama about the development of the atomic bomb. appeared first on Peter Harrington.