A Compassionate Spy, 2022

A Compassionate Spy (2022) is a documentary on Soviet spy Theodore Hall (1925-99), and his unrepentant wife.

Compassionate isn’t a right word for Hall.

Born Alvin Holtzberg in New York, he was involved in the Manhattan Project (active 1942-6). His college began at Queens College; he obtained his BS at Harvard and MS from the University of Chicago.

When he was on Fat Man (1945-9), he believed a US monopoly on atomic weapons was dangerous and could lead to a new war. Therefore, he turned to the USSR, spying for them. He was never charged with spying.

When the spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were facing execution in 1953, Hall considered confessing to his own activities, hoping it would help save them. However, Joan talked him out of it, arguing that his confession would not support the Rosenbergs and would only lead to his own imprisonment or execution.

The Hall brothers were extremely intelligent. His older brother Edward N. Hall (1914-2006) was a rocket scientist, led US missile development and its allies in World War II and the late 20th century. He is known as the father of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile.

一位富有同情心的间谍  (2022) 是一部关于苏联间谍西奥多·霍尔 (1925-99) 和他死不悔改顽固不化的妻子的纪录片.  ‘同情心’这个词并不适合用来形容霍尔.

他在 胖子原子弹 (1945-1949)时, 认为美国垄断原子武器是危险的, 可能导致新的战争. 因此, 他转向苏联, 为他们从事间谍活动. 但他从未被指控从事间谍活动.

1953年,间谍朱利叶斯·罗森堡和埃塞尔·罗森堡面临处决时,霍尔曾考虑坦白自己的行为,希望以此帮助他们. 然而, 媳妇琼劝阻了他,认为他的坦白不利于罗森堡夫妇,只会导致他自己入狱或被处决.

霍尔兄弟非常聪明. 他的哥哥爱德华·霍尔(1914-2006) 是一位火箭科学家, 在二战和20世纪末领导了美国及其盟友的导弹研发. 他被誉为“民兵”洲际弹道导弹之父.