Brief review of Greg Mitchell's book The Beginning or the End

This brief book review is a contribution to the 2021 Classic Film Summer Reading Challenge, run by Raquel Stecher of the Out of the Past blog.

The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood—and America—Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb by Greg Mitchell tells a very interesting story. It is a story that joins two separate interests of mine: classic Hollywood and American history.

The first half of the book concentrates on the behind-the-scenes story of how the movie The Beginning or the End (1947) was put together by MGM studio, starting very soon after the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in August, 1945. This story highlights all the various compromises that went into the final product to satisfy the government and Army, which MGM viewed as a imperative. Along the way, it also depicts how the atomic scientists' cautionary warnings for the coming atomic age—the initial inspiration for the motion picture—were gradually left by the wayside.

The last half departs from the Hollywood focus and relates the politics and history of the aftermath of President Truman's decision to use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Overall, Mitchell's book is well-written and a page-turner, though there are many passages that could be tightened up significantly. The Beginning or the End left me wanting to find another book that takes the story of the beginning of the atomic age past early 1947, when this movie was released. And of course it also inspired me to track down and watch the actual movie in question, which was fascinating in its own peculiar way—especially knowing all that went into it after reading Mitchell's book.

Comments

[RaquelStecher]

I need to track down this movie too! I commend you for tackling this one. I would have assumed from the title that it was about Dr. Strangelove. I'm curious about the movie/history approach. Thank you for your review!