[Fiji Hill]

Did the movie address Oppenheimer’s Communist activities, his connection to Soviet intelligence, or his name being mentioned in the Venona decrypts that disclosed Soviet spying? If so, he was probably portrayed as a victim of the “McCarthy Witch Hunt.”

[Campion]

Oppenheimer's questionable associations and his resulting loss of his security clearance are pretty much the heart of the movie. The Manhattan Project is almost a side plot.

The loss of his clearance was portrayed as the result of a personal vendetta on the part of Lewis Strauss, which -- at least according to my reading -- is substantially correct.

McCarthy is mentioned, but I don't think he really mattered much to the story.

[Wuli]

The best evidence seems to be that Oppenheimer joined the American Communist party in the 1930s and left it in 1942. And that the Soviets quit attempting to recruit him as an intelligence asset in 1942, and that effort had never been successful before that. Oppenheimer - once a Communist, yes, but not likely ever a soviet spy.

[Zathras]

Lots of accurate discussion about his communist connections.