Through another party? Yes.
Could we know who?
I think that would be a mistake.
I'll tell you for what reason.
Not to take this person to task in any way.
Berkeley, California.
Across the nation, in the autumn of 1938,
students demonstrated against the rise of
fascism and militarism.
For many, only the Communist party seemed to provide uncompromising
opposition to Hitler and his allies.
At Berkeley, there was ferment in the classroom, too.
By the end of the '30s,
two young professors of physics had built up a department
with a reputation matching the great European centres.
One was the experimental physicist Ernest Lawrence.
His colleague was a 34-year-old theoretician from New York.
His name was J Robert Oppenheimer.
HE GIVES INSTRUCTION
While Ernest Lawrence was in charge of hugely expensive machines
which were about to penetrate the nucleus of the atom,
Oppenheimer gathered round him an extraordinarily talented
group of students.
Rossi Lomanitz.
Bob Wilson.
His graduate assistant, Robert Serber.
Joe Weinberg.
And others.
Several would remain closely involved in Oppenheimer's
life and career for many years.
OK - bright ideas?
Who's done the reading?
What's the next step?
Wilson?
OK, if you put U zero equal to zero,
you get, if I recall...
OK, what's he done?
Weinberg?
Bob boy has forgotten the "r" downstairs in the second equation.
Of course he has.
Stupid mistake - back to the minors.
OK, good.
This is an exact solution.
But it only applies to very special conditions.
How are we going to get a more general solution?
Come on.
A glimmer of light?
Somebody?
You have a suggestion?
No...I don't understand.
You've got company.
No, earlier.
What don't you understand? Well...
Why do we take U zero to equal zero?
Oh, for God's sake.
It's because of the way the equation goes near the origin.
The density goes like the pressure to the power less than unity.
We covered all that a couple of weeks ago.
OK - come on, what's next?
Come on.
Christy?
Weinberg?
Lomanitz?
All right, Oppy - what IS the answer?
I don't know.
GROANS
What a stinker!
OK - nobody knows.
Now it's exciting.
What is it?
What's the clue?
Maybe if we solved those equations numerically?
Could be.
This looks interesting.
BELL RINGS
Oh, well, guess I can always hunt up my old med school application.
Come on - they say you always have to take Oppenheimer's course two years,
second time round you understand it.
Yeah?
Well, this IS my second time.
I can't see it.
Class is over?
Who wants to eat?
Uh...
My treat.
Sure! Yeah!
What about Jack's? Yeah, terrific! Just great.
What do you think, Rossi? Jack's?
Lomanitz!
You're not concentrating.
Want to ask a favour.
The union?
Spanish War committee.
I gave you my September cheque. You'll get another on October 1st.
Not money, your house.
We're having a fund-raiser. Oh, God!
We had a room booked on campus
but the university cancelled it this morning.
Why? Because they're fascist pricks.
The Dean heard a rumour about Communists being there.
Are they?
Sure!
You mean like this guy.
I said, "How about free speech?"
And he said the usual.
Why me? Other people have houses.
Yours is the biggest.
OK.
When is it?
Tonight.
TONIGHT?
Rossi, you'd better clean up afterwards.
I don't want to empty a single ash-tray. Sure!
Absolutely, Oppy!
GUITAR PLAYS JARAMA VALLEY
# There's a valley in Spain called Jarama. #
Oppy, tell him
The New Deal was nothing but a diversion start to finish.
I don't believe that. You don't?
I don't believe Roosevelt or the New Deal was just a diversion.
It wasn't revolutionary obviously
But Roosevelt got the country on the road. To what? To socialism.
Right! I'll agree with that.
Once people get thinking about the life and the work and the food
of the working class, you can't stop there.
Once you get American labour organising, you can't stop there.
The New Deal opened the door. That was worth supporting.
When do we stop? When it stops opening doors.
Could be soon. Could be, but why rush it?
Let it do history's work.
And when it's finished,
to the junk heap. Absolutely!
Nice house! Whose is it?
Haakon!
Want a drink? I can't drink that rot-gut.
This is NOT rot-gut.
What have you got?
How are you?
OK. I almost got tenure last month.
Almost?
I gather the feeling in our distinguished French department
is that I'm a little young for the
honour. 36.
Of course, it's only a smokescreen.
No Reds need apply.
How's the novel? Pending, pending.
Will you finish it? I want to read it.
Yes, boss!
Can you do me a favour?
We're stuck for someplace to hold the next Party meeting.
Why don't I just move out? Turn the place over to you people?
Since when is it you people?
Are you dropping out, Robert?
No, no.
All right, I'm sorry. But what's the problem?
You used to be hotter than any of us.
You were my Lenin.
Sure you were.
I'd listen to you and think
this fellow has all the answers.
What is it, Robert?
I'm getting tired of all this.
All what? Parties, meetings, rallies.
It's important. Yes? What would you rather be doing?
I was just talking to one of my kids.
He's going to Spain.
Come on. You see yourself with a rifle?
I guess not.
Are you still as committed as ever?
More than ever.
Robert, there are still 7 million unemployed.
Who'll fight for them? Only the Party.
Hitler's about to walk into half the countries of Europe.
Who's going to stop him? Only the Soviets.
I don't have to tell you that, Robert.
What is it?
I just wish... What?
I don't know. Something real.
Well, talk of the devil. You were talking about me.
No, reality. And here you are, as real as they come.
See you, people.
He was kidding. He's a jerk.
How are you feeling?
Horrible, I have a headache. I have to go.
Can't you stay for just a moment? I'm in pain.
I'll drive you home.
You only just got here.
Come on.
See you! Bye! Bye!
Quite a starry party!
Some of the People's World crowd were there.
And a lot of theatre people.
Do you remember the guy who wrote...? Would you please not talk?
Because your voice is going through and through my skull.
Drink?
Thank you.
Still bad? Horrible.
How long have you had it?
Today, yesterday...
Have you seen a doctor? Yes.
"There's nothing physically wrong with you, Miss Tatlock -
"you're as fit as a busy bee."
A busy bee! Busy bee.
What we need is a change.
Hang on until Thanksgiving...
We'll go up to the mountains and...
I can't come to New Mexico.
Why? I made other arrangements.
Two weeks in New York.
# I'll pick Manhattan The Bronx and Staten Island too
# It's lovely going through the Zoo... #
Are you going alone?
Of course not.
# And tell me what street is quite like Mott Street in July... #
This is my fault.
Robert, look, go and be Jewish somewhere else, huh?
# Come on along and listen to The lullaby of Broadway... #
Want to know who it is?
Which sex?
I'll make it easy - it begins with a P. Come on! Huh?
Robert!
ROBERT, come back here.
Bastard. ROBERT, COME BACK!
I will KILL myself if you go. Don't say that. I WILL.
Oh, Jean...
What?
This is crazy.
No, it's not.
Oh, my Robert...
My Robert.
Sorry.
I wasn't asleep.
Feel better?
Calmer.
Come on, we've had worse.
Forgive me?
I've been working so damned hard lately.
The Party? Mm.
We're getting out a leaflet on the city elections.
"We" - that's a laugh.
First, I have to write it,
then I have to type it.
Naturally, it's ME that has to run it off.
5,000 copies and that damned machine breaks down every 20 sheets.
I need a break so badly.
New Mexico is still on offer.
I really have to go to New York.
It's quite innocent - it's a conference on Party strategy.
I won't even get to Manhattan.
It's ten days in the Bronx.
Well, take it easy till then.
Oh, Robert. How can I?
We've a big meeting on Tuesday -
I want you to be there.
There's...a swimming pool in Oakland
that's keeping out Negroes.
A lot of faculty kids use it.
I want you to help taking petitions around.
OK.
What are you doing?
Work.
Oh, come on...
Robert, somebody's got to do it.
CLACKING ON TYPEWRITER
I got your note.
I don't know what else to tell you.
Your request to take my course
for another semester
was very carefully considered and...
..it's my judgment that in your own best interests...
NO!
It's not fair!
It's not a matter of fairness.
To attempt to do theoretical physics
without a very strong aptitude...
I have a strong aptitude.
My record at Yale, it...
Look...
..theory is just ONE ball game.
You could always experiment.
You are at a university
with an excellent tradition of experimental physics.
Professor Lawrence... I've ALWAYS wanted to do theory.
You mean ever since kindergarten?
You're wasting your time - you are certainly wasting mine.
I'll transfer to another university.
Sorry. Sorry, excuse me.
Hey, Joe. Can I get a beer? Joe!
Rossi. Two scotches.
My sister-in-law.
Three scotches.
You know Jacky? I know Jacky.
Hi, Jacky. Hi. You know Bob Serber? Sure.
Your brother's looking for you. We've had a wonderful morning...
..talking to dentists.
ROBERT!
Frank! Looking all over. Have you read Nature? It's in the office.
Read this! It's by Niels Bohr on the new work in Europe.
What's the excitement?
Hahn & Strassman bombarded uranium with neutrons and got barium.
That's exciting?
See, Jacky, there's a barrier round the nucleus of an atom -
we've been trying to force a way through.
Now these two fellas in Berlin have shown that neutrons can slip past.
What's a neutron?
It's an uncharged particle. It's complicated.
It's not complicated.
The barrier round the nucleus is positively charged.
These neutrons cab sail through because they're uncharged.
Frisch & Meitner have done some calculations.
Every time a uranium atom absorbs a neutron it divides -
they call it a fission.
And they estimate the energy released in a fission...
Is enormous.
Enough to create more neutrons, and so more fissions, and more.
A chain reaction.
It's incredible isn't it? Here we are in Berkeley,
big money - big machines - and there are these two guys
in a dinky little lab in Berlin.
It's classic isn't it?
It's possible, isn't it?
What is?
The amount of energy released in a fission.
If you have enough fissionable material
and the chain reaction isn't controlled...
You've got a bomb.
A BIG bomb.
Will anyone else work that out?
Any competent graduate student, I should think.
Thanks.
But you see it? Well, I don't!
So you've got another bomb What's the difference?
This would be a bomb of incredible power.
The energy contained in an atom...
..it wouldn't just destroy buildings -
cities.
Berlin.
How far do you think they've got?
If there's a war...
I don't think there'll be a war...
..this year.
I hope you're right.
Hi, Frank, I didn't see you there.
Look at this.
$5?
You're on!
A bomb.
GENTLE LAUGHTER
The only way to stop a war is collective security.
It's the only answer. England and France won't try it. Why?
Because they want to turn Hitler east... It's obvious.
Just wait... Stalin's not that dumb.
Even if there is a war
and these fascist states destroy each other, is that bad?
As long as Russia stays out. Right!
I was talking to people who've just come back from Russia.
Here we go - and they hated it?
What do you expect? It's not for tourists.
Frank...
..they'd been there for years.
The way they described it... Who were these people?
Placzek, Schein, Vicky Weisskopf.
So who are they? Good scientists.
What did they say?
Everyone's terrified.
Nothing works.
They say it's like living in a tomb.
I don't care who says this, I don't want to hear it.
Neither do I.
Robert...
..we think you should know...
..Jackie and I have joined the Party.
Got to take a stand - tired of fooling around.
Frank...
Don't say it - I know, feckless Frank doesn't know what's he's at.
That's what you think, isn't it?
I'm thinking of the danger. DANGER?
We're not dangerous.
Danger to yourself, your career.
My career! Christ! There are more important things.
I can't always be careful - I'm not like you.
Don't do this, don't do that, might not get tenure.
Is that a way to live?
You've known Jean was a Communist for years - it hasn't bothered you.
Jean does not have a career. Oh, God!
Well, if I'm at risk...
..believe me, half the science faculty at Berkeley is too.
If you knew what I know now...
I don't want to know.
The problem remains how we deal with the barrier round the nucleus.
Power - pressure.
However hard that door is bolted,
if you keep at it and kick it hard enough, it's got to open.
Now, in my cyclotron, I have found ways of speeding up
electrical charges to such an extent...
..that by pointing them at chosen targets,
we can affect an atom's inner structure significantly.
Furthermore, I...
So, what's its output? Well, this machine, gentlemen...
..the 60" cyclotron, is capable of generating energies
of nearly 20 million volts.
Yes, but I'm not satisfied.
Already, we have designs
for a cyclotron employing a 184-inch magnet.
My goal, gentlemen,
100 million volts.
Yes, with your help, perhaps...
Now, I think you might just enjoy looking over our controls. Ed,
would you show these gentlemen over the controls?
I'll join you in a minute.
Hello, Oppy.
If this is a bad time? No, no.
A little piece of marketing.
Those fellows have $500,000 to give away.
OK, Oppy, OK, all right! I didn't say anything!
Why do you want to see me, Ernest?
I want your advice, Oppy. OK.
You've read the new work from Europe? On fission? Sure.
And you realise its implications. Obviously.
A weapon...
..a FRIGHTFUL weapon.
A POSSIBILITY of one. Even that.
What are we going to do about it?
I don't know, Oppy - I talk to people round here,
I don't know what they're on about.
Come on, you're close to these kids, you tell me.
I think the theory is there won't be a war.
Probably...
HE SCOFFS
"Probably"...
I kind of had the idea that this uranium business
was being taken care of...
..someplace else. No, no.
I talked to Compton in Chicago.
He's in touch with all those new people who've come over from Europe.
Fermi, Bohr, Leo Szilard.
They're squawking that American scientists should work on it.
So far, nothing's being done.
A couple of...small-scale projects
here and there in labs around the country, but...
..as far as I can see, nobody's really doing anything
to get the government into the action.
Well, Oppy, look...
..what's going to happen if some other country gets ahead?
Germany?
Do you know the Germans have...
..banned the export of uranium from Czechoslovakia?
Yes, I heard. Well...if they're serious about fission...
..you know damn well they've got the guys who can do it.
I don't believe those people would work for the Nazis.
Which people? Heisenberg,
Fluegge, Von Weisaecker.
I don't believe they'd stoop to work for Hitler.
Why not?
Because they're scientists!
We've known these guys for years.
We've worked and studied with them -
they're our colleagues.
I can't think they'd hand HITLER a fission weapon.
It would be a perversion of...
..everything.
They wouldn't do it!
You really believe that?
I want to.
Well, so do I.
But I don't think this is a good time to indulge in wishful thinking.
Are you saying we should switch to military research?
There's no war yet.
I don't know, Oppy.
That's not what I became a physicist for.
It's not what I built up Berkeley for...
..with you.
But how long has this been known?
That the atom contains vast stores of energy...
..it's been known...
..theoretically for a long time. Yeah.
That we might possibly release it...
..efficiently...
..cumulatively...
..that's new...
..scary.
I can't really grasp it.
What are you going to do?
I've talked to Ernest about it.
We're going to think about it.
What do you think?
A military scientist?
It's unnatural.
It's horrible.
Is there something else bothering you?
You want to tell me?
Come on, tell me.
You're not going to understand it. Robert...
OK...
..Frank's joined the Party.
Jacky, too.
I don't believe it.
It's true.
You can't be sitting there like that just because Frank joined the Party.
Are you serious? I told you you wouldn't understand it.
I think that's terrific - hooray for Frank!
At least ONE Oppenheimer has finally grown up.
If it were that simple... It IS that simple.
You can't bear it it's so simple.
You adore hanging around on the edge, acting agonised. I do not!
That's what you DO!
This stinking world's overrun with fascism...
..and YOU with your reservations!
What do you think would happen if you joined?
What scares you? It'd only put the rest of you where your mouth is.
I do enough!
You do WHAT? WHAT do you do?
I pay a whole lot of my salary every month...
..to the Spanish War committee, the farm workers, the union, the paper.
It's really tough writing cheques. It MUST make you sweat!
Writing cheques - making speeches at parties...
I DO NOT MAKE SPEECHES! I've heard you!
Moses the professor hands down the law to his disciples - very cute!
When I met you, you knew NOTHING.
I know.
You told me once you didn't know
the stock market had crashed till six months later.
I'm very grateful to you.
I don't want you to be grateful!
I just thought that one day, you'd...
It's disgusting.
I wanted to look up to you.
I'm sick.
Robert, you cheat, you know.
You cheat!
Look...
Just leave me alone.
Go away.
Go away!
A lot from Berkeley campus have come down.
We'll start in about 20 minutes. Let's see if everyone's ready.
Robert!
Haakon, what are you doing here?
Picking up a few bucks - teaching a course at the community college.
I thought this was the summer to finish your novel.
Well, inspiration was low. No Jean?
Another fight? Yes, a bad one.
Well, a month down here'll change a lot - you'll see.
Haakon!
THEY LAUGH
Kitty Dallet!
No? No longer.
Harrison! Yes, I heard about it. Congratulations!
Now let me do the honours.
This is the almost brand-new Kitty Harrison.
This is the distinguished Dr Robert Oppenheimer.
I've heard about you.
Oh, that's bad news. Oh, not at all!
Is Mr Harrison here? DR Harrison is getting me a drink.
Are you in Los Angeles for the summer?
I'm teaching a seminar at Caltech.
Oh, we are too! In Los Angeles, I mean.
Darling, there are some people I'd like you to meet.
Awfully sorry, will you forgive us? Just for a moment. Thank you.
Lovely woman. Who is she?
She was married to a guy called Joe Dallet - killed in Spain in '36.
Nice guy - good communist.
Is she in the Party?
I guess so, when she was with Joe. I don't know if she still is.
Hello, Oppy! Rossi! Good to see you.
Haakon Chevalier. You've met my student, Rossi Lomanitz? Yes.
I'll talk to you later, Robert.
How was your trip down? Bumpy - I came with Joe Weinberg.
I liked your last paper. Yes? Very much - it ought to be published.
There are a couple of minor changes. Sure.
In the first equation, you take too long getting where you're going.
I'll tell you what I'd do...
The trouble with American fiction nowadays is that, in trying to deal
with the problems of society, they've rejected fantasy, poetry.
Now in MY novel... Would you excuse me? I'm late at the hospital.
Bye-bye darling. Mr Chevalier.
Is he a medical doctor? Yes. English. He's VERY brilliant.
Tell me about your friend.
Robert?
Best friend I've got, great guy.
You should hear him talk - science, politics, art, literature...
Of course, he's wasted at Berkeley. We ALL are, but Robert...?
All he needs is one big break and he'd be a big man in this country.
Oh, excuse me a minute, darling.
Steve, Robert Oppenheimer's here.
Oh, good, I'd like to speak to him.
Robert!
Just a sec...
Do you know Steve Nelson?
Hi! We met in Berkeley last fall.
Right. Did you ever open that swimming pool?
No, but we made a lot of good connections in the Negro community.
Remember that petition about the swimming pool? Oh, sure.
I didn't get you many signatures.
No reason why you should.
Can you get me a drink, Haakon?
Sure! Right, thanks.
The Party's very wasteful sometimes.
We've got a lot of foot soldiers who can collect signatures.
You, Professor, have other talents.
I think the Party could make more constructive use of them.
Maybe we can talk sometime. Sure.
We'll need all our friends. Steve!
Ah, Kitty, honey!
OK, I'll be right in.
Nice to see you, we'll talk later.
Professor, I'll be in touch.
Hello again!
My escort has deserted me. That's too bad!
How do you know Steve Nelson?
At Berkeley. How do you know him?
Paris.
I was there when my husband - my FIRST husband - was killed.
I felt it was MY fault, so I was pretty...lost.
He went to Spain after.
We had some trouble.
Anyway, Steve was around, he looked after me...
..and when I came to California, he still took an interest.
Trying to keep me active in the Party.
He's a little disappointed.
Backsliding?
Terribly. How about you?
Worse. I never joined, formally.
TUTS
Dilletante.
Well, I think we can get started.
If you'd like to come inside and get a drink and
make yourselves comfortable,
Gus Manning is here to speak. Oh, my God!
Bad?
They call him "Two-hour Manning".
Long speeches?
Would they notice if we tip-toed away?
I know a quiet little bar.
Lead on!
..and not only about that,
but the implications for everybody in California.
Without further ado, we should welcome...
Two years? No, to my knowledge Haakon has been writing that novel
for five years! Think he'll ever finish it? Maybe.
Think it'll be any good?
Poor Haakon.
He's not a novelist.
He's a good translator.
Oh, people trying to fly too high,
it's half the trouble today.
Oh, my God! You have to go?
Soon.
This has been nice.
It's good to talk.
Don't you get much chance to?
Oh, I know lots of people.
I can't face that heat.
Southern California.
How do YOU manage? Oh, I suffer.
And then, in September, I get away to the mountains.
I cool off before school starts.
I have a little place up in New Mexico. Sounds heavenly.
It's nice.
Primitive, but.. Grr! I'm envious.
I'm always glad to have visitors.
Why don't you come up there for a few days?
Oh!
There's plenty of room.
Please come...
..with your husband, of course.
Well...
..that might be nice.
Well, we can all discuss it.
I'm sure we'll run into each other over the summer.
I think we might.
I can't accept it. I CAN'T!
Now, Charlotte, you're always..
No, YOU look.
For years we've been screaming, stop Hitler, stand by Russia,
and now Stalin signs a goddamn TREATY with the bastard.
We look like idiots! Oh, come on, Stalin's...
DOOR BELL RINGS
That's him.
The annual reconciliation!
Jean!
Kitty Harrison, Jean Tatlock. Jean Tatlock, Kitty Harrison.
Hello, Jean! What a lovely apartment!
Bob and Charlotte Serber, Kitty Harrison.
Erm, how was LA, Oppy?
Oh, pretty good. Are you sure it's all right?
I know unexpected guests can be murder. No.
No...there's food.
Need a plate.
I'll get one.
So, erm, are you back in Berkeley for good now, Oppy?
No, just a quick in and out to pick up some clothes.
We're going up to the mountains. Colorado!
New Mexico.
New Mexico! I keep forgetting.
New Mexico's so great this time of year. Sunny, but not hot.
Oh, is this for me?
Why not?
Half as much - I have a tiny appetite.
Mmm! It's delicious.
Oh, God, it's beautiful.
Do they have a name?
Sangre de Cristo. Something of Christ? The blood of Christ.
Sometimes at sunset the mountaintops turn bright crimson.
Frank and I used to ride through there as kids.
What's behind them?
Over there, you've got Santa Fe.
And over there, nothing much. A few settlements.
San Ildefonso,
Espanola, Los Alamos.
It's empty. It's incredible.
Are you OK?
You're not tired? Certainly not. I'll race you.
I had big plans when I came out to California.
BIG plans.
What happened?
Well...
..time went by.
You're the most brilliant teacher in Berkeley.
I checked.
Well...
..teacher.
Oh, I've done some things, but nothing really big.
Too late.
Oh, come on! How old are you?
35.
Robert!
You know the optimum age for a theoretical physicist is?
When he's at his peak?
About 27.
You should see some of the kids I teach. They're so good.
Now, if this war keeps spreading...
..we'll all be swallowed up.
No more chances.
You'll do something.
Something BIG.
I know.
Clairvoyant?
Judge of men.
I know you'll do something.
You wouldn't care to say what it might be?
No. No...
..but it'll be big!
I thought you said people shouldn't try to fly too high.
That depends on the person.
Who's been making you think so little of yourself?
They shouldn't.
Are you warm enough? Do you...?
Do you want a blanket, or...?
You could put your arm around me.
I don't...
What?
What's the matter?
I... You can tell what I'm feeling.
I sometimes have difficulty, just the first time or two.
Oh.
Who doesn't?
LOUND BANG, TYRES SCREECH
This road gets worse every year. It ought to be paved.
I like it this way.
You pioneer!
Now, we are going to be extremely nice to this lady, OK?
I don't care what she's like, we're going to be sweet.
This is a really healthy thing for Robert, even if she is married.
How long has she been married?
Six weeks? Months!
All right. But anything's better than mooning after Jean Tatlock.
But, knowing Robert, this one's probably out of her mind too.
But it doesn't matter.
We're going to be nice - yes?
OK.
All those women in Berkeley,
they're going to be furious.
I wonder what she's like.
HORN HONKS
That goddamn road! Hello, Jacky!
This is Kitty Harrison.
My brother Frank, Jacky. Hi!
Hi! Hello! What's the news?
You didn't bring a radio? No. Neither did we.
Civilisation crumbles and we don't have a radio.
Well, Hitler's outside Warsaw and Chamberlain says
eventual victory is certain. Whose, he didn't say.
All right, Robert!
Swore there'd be no war.
I wasn't the only one. That's true!
You want to get this inside? Oh, let's look
over the spread first. OK.
Frank, I had another talk with Ernest Lawrence...
It's pretty up here, isn't it?
I love it.
Of course, I wish my husband were here too.
The old place looks good.
What do you think?
Oh! Remarkable.
Yes, she is!
Her family's from Germany.
Aristocrats. You know what
she told me? What?
If they'd stayed in Germany, she'd have been a princess!
No kidding!
We're going to be married.
Robert...
..but she IS married. That's going
to be changed.
Does her husband know?
SHE doesn't know.
But it's going to happen.
And Jean?
I don't owe her anything.
Jesus, Robert! A princess in the family!
I can't understand those two guys burying themselves up here.
Especially Robert. Oh, really?
No! Well, Frank's a loner, of course,
but Robert likes to be around people.
Do you think so? Sure. He's a very sociable guy.
But a very discriminating one.
No, I think Robert will be much happier
when he sees far fewer people...
..and I think he's beginning to agree with me.
Oppy! Ernest! Good vacation? I'd like to talk to you. Yeah, sure.
OK, fellas, that's it. I'll see you tomorrow. Same time.
I've been doing some thinking.
I don't know if you'll agree. What took you so long?
No, I'm way ahead of you.
Talked to Compton again this week.
You are looking at a bona fide member of the Uranium Project.
That's it, isn't it? That's it.
Can you fit me in?
Just about!
Do you know what you'll be working on?
No, but I know one thing for sure - this has got to go.
Not practical for present purposes.
We're converting her for war works.
So what happened to your friends,
the ones who said there wasn't going to be a war?
I don't see them much any more.
Of course, we might stay out of it.
And pigs might fly.
So you're coming in?
I guess if you can let go of this, I can throw in my pencil and paper.
I'll miss my 100 million volts.
I'll miss my cosmic rays.
BOTH: Drink?!
Let's get one.
We went to a bar and Ernest
cried about his work and I cried about mine.
About the fifth scotch, I suddenly thought, "Why am I crying?"
All these years I've been moaning that I had...
CORK POPS
Whoa!
LAUGHS
I had nothing to sink my teeth in.
Parties, cheques, all that junk.
And suddenly, here it was on a plate.
My chance to make a contribution, to DO something...
..and I couldn't see it!
Also, this could be your opportunity.
My opportunity? Sure!
Face it, in any war, lots of people do well out of it. Why not you?
KITTY!
It's the truth.