The House in the Middle

I actually am affiliated with the successor to the organization that sponsored this, but no one in the organization even knew about this. So far over the top that people may have been embarrassed to admit to it. It seems to be a parody, but it isn't. Amazing how someone convinced the federal government to test the proposition of the film, but they apparently did. And the narrator seems to be the guy who narrated all of this genre of movies (which include the driver's ed and scary health education films I recall. I suspect this guy had cornered the market on the VD prevention movies they showed to poor GIs back then too. Anyway, worth the time to watch -- a real hoot.

The National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association using the name "national clean up paint up fix up bureau with the cooperation of the federal CD administration tried to convince people to paint their house to Protect them from a nuclear storm. Somehow that would protect their home and I guess them... nowhere do they mention the nuclear radiation that would kill them pretty quickly and painfully. But at least they will have a nicely painted house.

The film is spooky to watch, knowing what we know today about dangers of radiation.

House in the Middle, The (1954)

** (out of 4)

The National Clean Up- Paint Up- Fix Up Bureau produced this documentary teaching people how to save their houses if an atomic blast was to take place. The Nevada Test Site is the setting for the short that shows various houses and how well they take an atomic blast. I'm really not sure how true the details provided in this short are but we're told that if you clean and paint your house then it won't be destroyed by an atomic blast. If you leave newspapers around your living room or trash bags by your house then you're going to die when the blast comes. Again, I'm not sure how true this research is but the short comes off as a neat freak trying to use an atomic scare to get his neighbors to clean up the yard. The film is rather boring in all of its tests but those who enjoy the atomic scare films should get a few laughs. Telling someone to mow their lawn before an atomic blast is pretty funny in its own right.

Atomic tests at the Nevada Proving Grounds (later the Nevada Test Site) show effects on well-kept homes, homes filled with trash and combustibles, and homes painted with reflective white paint. Asserts that cleanliness is an essential part of civil defense preparedness and that it increased survivability.

Alright, so this was not supposed to be funny but was a real film created by the government to help prepare people for nuclear war. We know now (2016) that nuclear war never happened, and seems less likely now that it ever will (keeping in mind that America is protected by two large oceans). This film in unintentionally funny, because who could really believe a clean house was less likely to be destroyed? That makes even less sense than "duck and cover".

In the 1950s, nuclear attack by the Soviet Union was on every American's mind. Shorts like this might seem ridiculous in hindsight now that the Cold War is a thing of the past, but things like this are still important today, as the Earth is still home to thousands of nuclear weapons. This short attempts to prove to the US public that cleaning the inside of your house (and the area around it) might not only save your home in case of atomic war, but your life as well. The film shows a vast and empty test range in the Nevada desert which is where many nuclear tests are carried out. On the range are two houses. Both are made of wood, but one has a tidy interior while the other house is the opposite. A nuke explodes some miles away, and within seconds, a huge shockwave destroys parts of both roofs, but the left house is still standing. The one on the right burns to a crisp. Next, we see three houses. The one on the right is composed mostly of old wood that's never been painted before, and has a large amount of garbage and clutter around the outside. The house on the left is much of the same, and is built of old, rotten wood that's practically falling apart. Finally, the middle house is painted pure white to reflect the intense flash of an atomic explosion, has no clutter in its vicinity, and has been recently painted, which helps alleviate moisture. The excruciating heat generated by the bomb is noticeably less effective at damaging this house, and it's shown to be remarkably intact after the other two go up in flames. Ironically, the house on the right starts burning because a fire ignited on the garbage and then spread to the house. We're then told how important it is to keep the inside and outside of your house clean because it can save you from the end of the world. In general, I thought this short was pretty ridiculous, which seems to be the general consensus among the 50 or so people who took time out of their day to watch it. In reality, following the nonsense guidelines shown in this short wouldn't actually mean anything in case a nuke explodes in your city, as anyone relatively close to ground zero would be disintegrated and people for miles around would suffer intense burns and exposure to cancerous radiation. Back then, I suppose films like this had to be made to reassure the population, even if the notion of surviving such a huge explosion is absurd. At the very least, the short encourages you to make sure you don't leave things lying around your house.