The Secret Atomic Cinematographers of the Hollywood Hills (Fact 10)

Bill and Sandra McGee (left) at the buffet at the Atomic Cinematographers 50th Anniversary, American Film Institute, October 1997

10 Facts You May Not Know About Operation Crossroads

Fact 10

From 1947 to 1969, a secret group of atomic cinematographers filmed 6,500 nuclear tests in the Pacific and Nevada for the U.S. Government.

In October 1997, Bill and Sandra McGee were invited to the American Film Institute in Hollywood for the 50^th anniversary of the Atomic Cinematographers. From 1947 to 1969, this group of 250 directors, producers, and cameramen worked at Lookout Mountain Lab, a secret film studio in the Hollywood Hills. It was the Cold War and during a span of twenty-plus years, they filmed 6,500 nuclear tests in the Pacific and Nevada for the U.S. Government.

The event at the “AFI” was organized by award-winning Hollywood producer Peter Kuran. Bill’s naval memoir, Bluejacket Odyssey, 1942–1946: Guadalcanal to Bikini, had just been published and included Bill’s participation at Operation Crossroads. Since Crossroads predated the formation of the secret group (Crossroads was in 1946), Mr. Kuran invited Bill to share a few words with the group.

Kuran then interviewed a few of the atomic cinematographers followed by a screening of their recently declassified films of various atomic bomb tests. Two years later, the interviews appeared in Kuran’s documentary The Atomic Filmmakers: Behind the Scenes (1999). (Bill and Sandra appear briefly in a scene at the buffet table.)