PLEASE SEE THIS IMPORTANT FILM: RICKOVER: THE BIRTH OF NUCLEAR POWER
This week, in Washington DC, New York City, and Los Angeles as well as other cities, local PBS stations will broadcast our recent film RICKOVER: The Birth of Nuclear Power. Here are the air dates (additional cities are listed below, otherwise please check your local listings):
——————————————————————————–
Washington DC – WETA: Wednesday 12/17 at 9PM, and Thursday 12/18 at 3:30 PM
New York – WNET: Wednesday 12/17 at 9 PM
Los Angeles – KOCE: Thursday 12/18 at 8 PM
——————————————————————————–
Please tune in—or record it. Rickover was one of the most fascinating characters of the twentieth century–a maverick, who infuriated infuriated his bosses but managed to transform the Navy, develop a new energy source, and fight the cold war. Our aim was to make his story entertaining as well as informative, with 30 minutes of scripted drama, strarring Tim Blake Nelson as Rickover.
Thanks for tuning in and letting others know! We are eager to hear your comments and thoughts on the film.
Holiday wishes to all.
Best,
Michael
——————————————————————————–
Watch the trailer at http://manifoldproductions.com/AdmiralRickoverfilm.html
https://cts.vrmailer1.com/click?sk=aWYgB2JgFjBIYpnZQAPoF5Gg20kEtsd2jWKSJCybn57c=/aHR0cDovL21hbmlmb2xkcHJvZHVjdGlvbnMuY29tL0FkbWlyYWxSaWNrb3ZlcmZpbG0uaHRtbA==/hZNEnfjibqqVeDhVobpRcA==&merge_field_type=(?x-mi:(?<=href=)[‘”](?<url>[^{‘”].+?)[‘”])
RICKOVER: The Birth of Nuclear Power
——————————————————————————–
He was the greatest engineer who ever lived on earth, in my opinion.
- President Jimmy Carter
My job was not to work within the system. My job was to get things done and make this country strong.
-Hyman G. Rickover
The bottom line is that Rickover was genius and a SOB.
-Norman Polmar, Naval Historian
——————————————————————————–
Tim Blake Nelson (Lincoln, O Brother Where Art Thou, Holes) stars as Rickover. Joan Allen (The Bourne movies, The Contender) narrates.
DVDs Available
DVDs are available for purchase through
www.manifoldproductions.com
GI Film Festival
Rickover Emerging from the Nautilus
When Rickover was six years old, his family left Poland for Chicago. To get a free education, he went to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he experienced anti-Semitism. As a young officer, Rickover, disliked for his perfectionism, left active sea duty to become an engineer who repaired ships, which he did throughout World War II, ending with the rank of captain.
After the war, Rickover found his true mission at Oak Ridge National Lab, which had helped build the atom bomb. There, he decided he would build the first nuclear sub, which would become the most powerful weapon of the Cold War. When experts like physicist Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, thought it would take 30 years, Rickover promised the first nuclear sub, the Nautilus, in six. Against opposition from the Navy and daunting technical challenges, Rickover succeeded—and maintained impossibly high safety and quality standards.
In response to the Soviet launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, President Eisenhower wanted to send the Nautilus across the North Pole under the arctic ice, which had never been done before. The perilous journey was one of the great adventure stories of the fifties. The spectacular success of the Nautilus’ journey led to ticker tape parades in New York and put Rickover on the cover of Time magazine.
In the fifties and early sixties, success followed success: the first nuclear aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, and the first commercial nuclear power plant, which generated electricity for the people of Pittsburgh. But, then the times changed. Protests against the Vietnam War turned many against the Cold War, which Rickover had spent his life fighting, and led to the anti-nuclear power movement of the seventies. In 1976, a man who loved Rickover became president: Jimmy Carter. Though a former nuclear submariner, he welcomed anti-nukes into his administration. Problems at Three Mile Island further eroded public support for nuclear power. Then, in 1982, in a contentious meeting in the Oval Office, which we dramatize, President Reagan “fired” the 82-year-old admiral, who died four years later.
Admiral Rickover had succeeded in changing the world: developing a new source of energy, making a more high tech Navy, and keeping the Soviet Union at bay, leading to the end of the Cold War that he did not live to see. His story is all the more relevant today as we confront our doubts about our energy future, global threats, the future of the Navy, and America’s ability to innovate.
RICKOVER: The Birth of Nuclear Power is a production of Manifold Productions, Inc., produced and directed by Michael Pack.
——————————————————————————–
Additional Airdates
Alabama APTV: Monday 12/15 9:30
Charlotte WTVI: Tuesday 12/30 at 9 PM
Chattanooga WTCI : Thursday 12/18 at 10 PM
Chicago WTTW: Thursday 1/8 at 9 PM
Fresno KVPT: Sunday 12/21 at 12:30 PM
Hartford CPTV: Monday 1/19 at 10 PM
Houston KUHT: Monday 12/15 at 9 PM
Indianapolis WFYI: Tuesday 12/30 at 9 PM
Jacksonville WJCT: Monday 12/22 at 10 PM
Los Angeles KOCE: Thursday 12/18 at 8 PM
Miami WPBT: Tuesday 12/16 at 10 PM
Minneapolis TPT: Thursday 12/18 at 8 PM
Nashville NPT: Thursday 1/8 at 8 PM
New York WNET: Wednesday 12/17 at 9 PM
Orlando WUCF: Monday 12/29 at 8 PM
Pittsburgh WQED: Wednesday 12/17 at 9 PM
Portland KOPB: Wednesday 12/17 at 9 PM
Reno KNPB: Wednesday 12/17 at 9 PM
Sacramento KVIE: Wednesday 12/17 at 9 PM
South Carolina SCETV: Thursday 1/22 at 9 PM
St Louis KETC: Friday 12/19 at 8 PM
Washington DC WETA: Wednesday 12/17 at 9PM, and Thursday 12/18 at 3:30 PM
For all other stations, please check local listings at PBS.org
Comments are closed.
