Survival Under Atomic Attack (1951) User Reviews

The destroyer of worlds

[nickenchuggets · 5/10 · 15 September 2022]

On a channel I found online called Periscope Films, there are a wealth of shorts produced from the 1930s until around the 1960s, and many have interesting subjects. This was one of the few shorts that wasn't obscure enough for IMDB and thankfully it actually has a page here. If you're familiar with the 1950s, you'll know that the decade was dominated by paranoia over nuclear attacks. Until mankind manages to create something like an antimatter bomb someday, nuclear weapons remain the go-to choice for people looking to end entire civilizations in colossal explosions. This short instructs people what the primary dangers of atomic weapons are, how to survive a blast if you live in a likely target (major city), and what to do afterwards. The short says that by studying what happened to people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki post World War II, researchers were able to figure out that the 3 most dangerous aspects of atom bombs are the immense heat generated by the explosion, the explosion itself and its shockwaves, and radioactive particles. From the viewpoint of the year this was made, it seems unfortunate that they weren't able to predict how dangerous fallout is. The film says that some people in Japan who suffered radiation burns are now able to live normally. In reality, most of these people probably developed cancer later on. The short also says how if everyone panics and tries to live the city in the event of an attack, it would be a disaster. This is not only because such an act would cause traffic for miles, but also because the enemy would like nothing more than to see a nonproductive city where nothing is getting built. This mindset is to be applied to your home too, since the film says not to leave it. The basement is the most safe place to be during an explosion, since it offers many layers of protection against a blast wave and heat. Having access to canned food is also a good idea, since they're sealed and apparently immune to radiation. Disconnecting your stove is important too, but puzzlingly, the short says to close your doors, but not lock them. If you're unlucky enough to be out in the open when a nuke explodes and have no time to get indoors, the best course of action is to either crouch down in a corner, or lay down face first and cover your head. Don't bother moving until you hear all the flying debris and broken glass come to a stop. If you're in your house, it says to go under a table or go near a wall with your back facing the window. If the bomb exploded near water or dirt, particles contaminated by radioactivity will fall back to Earth and pose a threat. This is why the window must be sealed with cardboard shortly after. After learning how to wash yourself after you get radioactive dirt on you, the short ends. Even though I didn't expect much from this film, it was still ok. It's your typical 50's atomic war fear propaganda, where government officials try to calm everyone by saying you can survive a weapon that mimics the hellish furnace of our sun by hiding under a piece of wood. It's pretty ridiculous. I did at least like looking at the stoves, water bottles, canned food, etc. Since it's always nice to see how normally common items looked 70 years ago. Overall, this short wasn't anything special, but at least it gives people insight into the Cold War and how bad it must have been to live through.

Survival after an atomic holocaust

[Lars-65 · 6/10 · 11 April 2001]

What starts out as another typical day in the life of the Mitchell family turns into a nightmare when a nuclear bomb is dropped on New York City, fifty miles from the Mitchell home. A horrifying story of the aftermath of the nuclear attack unfolds in this gripping dramatisation. This movie made during the time of Cold-War-paranoia of the 1950s – providing the viewer with the disturbing vision of a nuclear holocaust – would make a good double bill with the 1983 movie `The Day After'. Watch out for a very young Walter Matthau!!!

Survival in a Nuclear Age

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 6 January 2013]

Apparently there were more than a handful of these propaganda film shorts in the early Fifties dealing with the atom bomb and how to prepare for a nuclear disaster. In recent days I've watched titles like "The House in the Middle", "Our Cities Must Fight" and "Operation Cue", all taking an instructive look at how we should prepare to safeguard ourselves from the affects of an atomic explosion. This one was very short, only about nine minutes, and basically laid out the principal dangers associated with an A-Bomb - the blast itself, heat, and radioactivity. You couldn't get much more simplistic with the ways in which to prepare - remove combustible waste from your home, stock canned goods and a first aid kit, and keep a radio handy - all pretty much what you hear today regarding the next big hurricane to hit your area. I'm real curious as to how folks back in the day reacted to this type of stuff and if these warning films were readily available to a mass audience. Watching today, they're almost comical in their simplicity and naiveté, but they're also an instructive window into the thought and mindset prevalent during the Cold War paranoia of the early Fifties. If you dig this stuff, you'll have to get your hands on a two disc set from Docurama Films featuring the hour and a half documentary "The Atomic Cafe". The bonus disc has this and the other titles I mentioned earlier, they're all a blast.

Trust Edward R. Murrow

[boblipton · 7/10 · 7 May 2023]

This early what-to-do-when-they-nuke-you short from the government shows the same sort of uncomprehending attitude that became enshrined in DUCK AND COVER. I grew up in this era. I was 8 when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, and we knew that if they dropped the Bomb, we were done for.

Still, they didn't know that when they made this short, and they chose the best man in America to narrate it: Edward R. Murrow. Murrow was a man who knew how to keep his head in a crisis. His was the voice broadcasting from London during the Battle of Britain, when the Luftwaffe might unload bombs on the studio he was broadcasting from. The damage might not be as vast as a nuclear bomb, but he would be just as dead. So when he told us things, we believed he meant them.... even if he was wrong.