"E for Effort" is a science fiction novelette by American writer T. L. Sherred, first published in 1947, about the consequences of a time viewer, a machine that projects images of the past.
[1] According to Algis Budrys, it was contrary to the spirit of Astounding Science Fiction, where it appeared, and it "dismissed" the "bourgeois aspirations" of ASF's editor, John W.
The projectionist, a World War II veteran named Miguel "Mike" Laviada, tells Ed that he made the movie using a time viewer he invented, which he demonstrates.
However, Mike has not been able to raise the capital needed to shoot the picture on high-quality film, add sound and other improvements, and get it distributed and advertised.
They take it to Hollywood, where the high quality of the film easily convinces a producer and his associates to finish it, including using actors for scenes that appear in Alexander's biographies but did not really happen, and market it.
Ed and Mike admit the machine's existence to their associates and persuade them to join in their plan to expose the corruption of many famous people involved in the wars.
Ruth: An attractive, fun-loving young blonde, she becomes the secretary of Ed and Mike's company (with little to do for a long time), and their companion for drinking and dancing.
Samuels (no first name given): A lawyer who represents the production company, including defending the men listed above at their criminal trial.
[9][10] Fletcher Pratt cited it as an example of "a brilliantly original concept" with "no story at all... the science is dandy, but there is no fiction", so a reader would not reread it and would give it no more than a qualified recommendation.
[2] Jerry Pournelle said in 1985 that it was the only important story in modern science fiction, outside the work of Jack Williamson, that had "an easy, sophisticated view of international and corporate realpolitik" reminiscent of Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.
[12] James Gunn noted that Isaac Asimov's short story "The Dead Past" (1956) returns to the concept of "E for Effort".