The First Secret City (2015): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2015, The First Secret City is a documentary film, running about 105 minutes. “The secret is out.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Before the creation of the secret cities of Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Hanford, the Manhattan Project hired the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works of St. Louis to refine the first uranium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. For the next two decades, Mallinckrodt continued its classified work for the Atomic Energy Commission during the Cold War. The resulting radioactive waste contaminated numerous locations in the St. Louis area some of which have not been cleaned up 70 years after the end of World War II. Told through the eyes of an overexposed worker, the story expands through a series of interviews that careen down a toxic pathway leading to a fiery terminus at a smoldering, radioactively-contaminated landfill. The First Secret City reveals a forgotten history and its continuing impact on the community in the 21st Century, uncovering past wrongdoing and documenting the renewed struggles to confront the issue.

Who’s in it. The First Secret City stars Dawn Chapman, Larry Burgan, Dawn Chapman as Interviewee and Larry Burgan as Interviewee, among others.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The First Secret City page.

If you liked it. Fans of The First Secret City tend to enjoy One Direction: This Is Us, Burn the Stage: The Movie, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself - Japan Edition and Senna.