# Ever been a movie on the life of Einstein? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695 "2011-08-22T20:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/1 "2011-08-22T20:02:15Z")
Can’t find much in Googling re any major motion pictures (or even minor) that have been made of his life. Seems like an odd oversight given how seminal his influence was. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/2 "2011-08-22T20:03:48Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Can’t find much in Googling re any major motion pictures (or even minor) that have been made of his life. I take it IQ doesn’t count? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/3 "2011-08-22T20:03:53Z")
Does [IQ](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110099/) count? (didn’t think so) That’s the closest I got… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/4 "2011-08-22T20:20:11Z")
Albert Einstein How I See the World by PBS. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/5 "2011-08-22T20:22:28Z")
[Have we all forgotten this classic meditation on the life of the genius?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096486/) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/6 "2011-08-22T21:31:20Z")
Surprisingly few movies made about great geniuses. Don’t know why that is, other than the thought that the vast dumb majority don’t like being reminded how dumb they truly are. They have to have some story to hang the movie on apart from the genius just being a genius - like the Richard Feynman bio-pic [_Infinity_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116635/) which was mostly about him his relationship with his wife Arline. You pretty much have to look to TV for good movies about genius, like [_The Race for the Double Helix_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093815/) or [_Longitude_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192263/). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/7 "2011-08-22T21:39:15Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Surprisingly few movies made about great geniuses. Don’t know why that is, other than the thought that the vast dumb majority don’t like being reminded how dumb they truly are. They have to have some story to hang the movie on apart from the genius just being a genius - like the Richard Feynman bio-pic [_Infinity_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116635/) which was mostly about him his relationship with his wife Arline. You pretty much have to look to TV for good movies about genius, like [_The Race for the Double Helix_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093815/) or [_Longitude_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192263/). Not exactly true - there have been plenty of movies about musicval geniuses, artistic geniuses, literary geniuses, military geniuses… it’s scientific geniuses who get the short end of the stick, probably because screenwriters can’t figure out how to make their work interesting to laymen. Incidentally, the film [Insignificance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089343/) features a character who is obviously meant to be Einstein. It’s about a strange night in the mod-50’s where his life intersects with three people who are standing in for Joe DiMaggio, Joe MacCarthy and Marilyn Monroe. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/8 "2011-08-22T21:48:56Z")
Steve Martin’s _Picasso at the Lapin Agile_ is about a fictional meeting of Picasso and Einstein, and it’s also a fun meditation on the notion of genius. It’s a one-act play and there were efforts to make it into a movie, but it didn’t pan out. In any case it works very well on the stage. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/9 "2011-08-22T21:52:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Have we all forgotten this classic meditation on the life of the genius?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096486/) We have not - that’s the first one I thought of. One of the biggest Oscar snubs of all time, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/10 "2011-08-22T22:13:08Z")
Netflix has one called ''Young Einstein". I did not check to see if it had anything to do with Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/11 "2011-08-22T22:16:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Incidentally, the film [Insignificance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089343/) features a character who is obviously meant to be Einstein. It’s about a strange night in the mod-50’s where his life intersects with three people who are standing in for Joe DiMaggio, Joe MacCarthy and Marilyn Monroe. After IQ, I thought of this one. Weird film. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/12 "2011-08-22T22:27:38Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Netflix has one called ''Young Einstein". I did not check to see if it had anything to do with Einstein. Yes and no. It was, about “Albert Einstein”, but the story actually bears no resembelance to Einsetin’slife story (for example he’s from Tasmania in the movie) mostly for comic effect. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/13 "2011-08-22T23:09:35Z")
I’m not sure a realistic biopic would make all that interesting a film. There are no tense escapes from Nazis or post-war accusations of communism (at least not from anybody who wouldn’t look cartoonish to a modern audience). Possibly a fictionalized version of his “miracle year” (1905) might be worthwhile, as might a docudrama with F. Murray Abraham narrating, as he did for a _Nova_ episode about Newton. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/14 "2011-08-22T23:23:12Z")
Thinking does not photograph very well. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/15 "2011-08-22T23:27:44Z")
Maybe if Terrance Malik directed it… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/16 "2011-08-22T23:47:36Z")
Every Albert Brooks film is about Albert Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/17 "2011-08-22T23:52:40Z")
He showed up on _Doctor Who_ in a cameo once. The Sixth Doctor and Peri, but I forget which episode. The John Nathan-Turner years are only a sad blur for me now. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/18 "2011-08-22T23:59:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m not sure a realistic biopic would make all that interesting a film. There are no tense escapes from Nazis or post-war accusations of communism (at least not from anybody who wouldn’t look cartoonish to a modern audience). Possibly a fictionalized version of his “miracle year” (1905) might be worthwhile, as might a docudrama with F. Murray Abraham narrating, as he did for a _Nova_ episode about Newton. This. Einstein’s life isn’t all that interesting, hence no movie. He didn’t have a problem with alcohol, he didn’t hang on the edge of lunacy, he didn’t kill anyone (except very indirectly, in backing the development of the atomic bomb), etc. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/19 "2011-08-23T00:04:22Z")
Oh there’s room for an interesting film, most notably about his living in Berlin as the Nazis come to power. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695/20 "2011-08-23T00:10:35Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > This. Einstein’s life isn’t all that interesting, hence no movie. He didn’t have a problem with alcohol, he didn’t hang on the edge of lunacy, he didn’t kill anyone (except very indirectly, in backing the development of the atomic bomb), etc. Did you read [Issacsson’s biography](http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Life-Universe-Walter-Isaacson/dp/0743264746/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314058156&sr=8-1)? His life was a lot more complicated and dramatic than we’ve been taught. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-a-movie-on-the-life-of-einstein/593695.md?page=2)