"Soviet military and political leaders give their views on the earning of parity. Historical glimpses of the bombing of Hiroshima, the beginning of the arms race as World War Two ends, Sputnik, missile-launching practices, the achievement of parity in 1972, followed by the U.S. announcement of plans to achieve superiority, with a goal of 20,000 nuclear warheads. A look at current U.S. Star Wars plans." Arms Race. Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
Archival 1950s Blk & White newsreel of HARRY S. TRUMAN attending a Washington Senators game, throwing out the first pitch of the season; musical accompaniment by GLENN MILLER. Cut to MS of two men lying on their stomachs on the ground, cut to wide LS of atomic blast, at night.
MSs as ALEXANDER BORGEN interviews historian VITALY ZHUKIN, member of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences.
Archival BLK & White1940s Hiroshima - Nagasaki montage: MS of a US bomber (Enola Gay?) in flight, opening the bay doors; high angle MS of explosion, followed by shot of stopped clock in classroom.
DO NOT USE: Stills gruesome shots of dead Japanese children.
Archival BLK & WHITE 1940s Hiroshima - Nagasaki montage: MS of a shivering Japanese child surrounded by radioactive fallout & destruction. CU of Truman talking on phone. MS Truman putting on hat while walking off battleship. Great quote from Vitaly: WELL, I DON'T BELIEVE AMERICA HAS EVER SUFFERED FROM A SURPLUS OF PEACEFUL INTENTIONS.
MSs as ALEXANDER BORGEN interviews historian VITALY ZHUKIN, member of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences.
Archival BLK & WHITE 1940s: MSs of Soviet & American officers meeting on a scenic hill, 1945.
DO NOT USE: Stills MS of three Russian women in military uniforms, standing on a balcony surrounded by illustrations of STALIN, CHURCHILL and Truman. Stills of Russian soldiers mingling with American ones.
Archival BLK & WHITE: TLSs of a fleet of American bombers on a runway, then in flight.
MSs as ALEXANDER BORGEN interviews historian VITALY ZHUKIN, member of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences.
Archival BLK & WHITE: Nice TLSs of a parade, a slew of American flags.
DO NOT USE: Illustration
Archival BLK & WHITE: CUs of Soviet headlines shortly after successful detonation of atomic and hydrogen bombs; dissolve to CU's of worldwide newspaper headlines, telling of Sputnik, USSR's first intercontinental ballistic missile, and so on.
MSs as ALEXANDER BORGEN interviews historian VITALY ZHUKIN, member of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences.
COLOR: Panning MS of a missile silo in a warehouse.
MSs as ALEXANDER BORGEN interviews historian VITALY ZHUKIN, member of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences.
Archival BLK & WHITE: MSs of Polaris missile on flatbed truck, passing by camera, flanked by soldiers, labled U.S. Army .