War Without Winners

War Without Winners Synopsis

War Without Winners, hosted by Paul Newman was filmed by Award Winning Cinematographer Haskell Wexler.

One general advocates that the US could indeed fight and win a nuclear war. "If we had enough brains to walk for an hour and get behind a lilac bush we wouldn't be hurt by that nuclear weapon," he claims as we see dramatic images of the total destruction of a real nuclear blast." A Russian woman in her babushka and an American teenager have no such illusions. "Even if I did survive," says one child, "I'd probably die of sadness because everyone I know would be dead." "The man-on-the-street is the smart-guy" says a retired CIA analyst, "He knows you can't fight and win a nuclear war."

Paul Newman brings common sense to this complex issue, and invites viewers to contribute to preventing World War III. As peace-minded Admiral Gene R. LaRocque says in the film, "A courageous statement by you of your outrage at the approach of nuclear war might save us. Your silence will doom us. You are our only hope."

An earlier edition, released by the Center for Defense Information in 1978, edited by the highly-skilled Ian Masters, was reedited by producer Arthur Kanegis in 1983, when he added the Paul Newman interviews. Kanegis arranged for it to be broadcast on PBS stations, and developed a campaign to use viewer contributions to broadcast the film on top commercial TV stations across the United States. Kanegis re-released it 2009 to remind us that in an era of proliferation, nuclear war prevention is more crucial than ever.