Duck and Cover

Truly one of the most mind-bogglingly surreal movies I've ever seen, teaching kids that all they need to do to survive a nuclear war is duck down and cover their heads; and quite rightly satirised in the 'South Park' TV show. Watching it today it's hard to imagine that the US government could have made it as a serious training film, or that American teachers could have shown it to their kids with a straight face.

More seriously, I imagine that when they first began planning the movie they were probably still in the A-bomb era where it might have made a difference: the damage from such a bomb was fairly localised so a single bomb in a major city would kill only a small fraction of the population... but by the time it was being shown to kids H-bombs could obliterate an entire city in one go, and 'Duck and Cover' tactics were utterly pointless.

Duck and Cover (1953)

** (out of 4)

Atomic scare film is part animation and part live action. The animated part has Bert the Turtle walking when a monkey lights a firecracker behind him. The turtle then teachers the kids how to duck and cover. We then get a narrator telling us what we should look for an expect in case of an atomic attack. Looking at these films today you can't help but roll you eyes but at the same time it's somewhat scary because of what we're told in this film. Had an atomic explosion really went off you can't help but this about how unhelpful films like this would have been. Informing people to put a newspaper on your head to prevent burns? Cover your necks with your hands to avoid burns? On a technical level this thing is pretty poorly done because if you pay close attention you'll notice then telling you how to "duck" during one scene at yet others showing us how to duck are wrong or at least don't match up with what was told earlier.

Having been in the first grade during the Cuban Missile Crisis the entire elementary school I attended got to watch this film. It of course now is looked upon the same way that a film like "Reefer Madness" is looked upon. It seems to me that the authorities i.e. the government, school administrations, whoever, would have had enough education and just plain common sense to realize that in the event of a nuclear blast hiding under a school desk with your coat over you just wouldn't cut it. The film is the standard public service films that were cranked out during this period. A little light humor is thrown in with a cartoon turtle who crawls into his shell whenever trouble comes his way. Video stores sometimes carry these films and while they are now hilarious and severely outdated they no doubt were taken seriously at the time.

Bert the turtle is walking along when a monkey with a firecracker comes at him. At the last minute he avoids injury by ducking down to the ground and covering his head. Bert's idea is so good in fact that, say there was an atomic bomb attack (no – stay with me here), Bert would probably come off not too bad. This public information film from the 1950's explains to school children what action to take if there is an nuclear attack in their area.

We all know about this film and we have all seen it spoofed in things like Simpsons and South park but I really do recommend that you watch it because it is genuinely hard to describe just how surreal and creepy it is. Here we have the Government speaking to their people of the time – the people who they were leading into a period of history where atomic bombs were used on others and also likely to be used on them. This is the official and cheerful advice that they gave to the children of their nation. In fairness I suppose it would have been worse to come out and say "look – you're pretty much screwed" because the public reaction might have been to question why their government is putting them in that situation, so here is what they did.

Done in the same style as "proper" educational films, this is eerie to watch because you cannot mentally make the jump back in time when this might have been accepted. It is hard not to think of the fate of those people advised to avoid bad burns by hiding behind newspaper or by ensuring that they cover the back of their neck with their hands. With this in mind the cheerful voice of the presentation shouting the slogan "duck and cover" like a kids TV host is all the more jarring for it.

Fascinatingly disturbing stuff that is worth seeing even if it will only serve to upset and feed cynicism if you linger on it. That said though, it is nice to move past the easy spoofs that we all have seen and watch this for what it is.

This review is in response to the faulty information that swirls around this short civil defense/propaganda film, particularly the notion of "its stupid we would all die and the government was just trying to fool people". While I wont try to argue the clear propaganda goals of the film, the question of survivability is a different matter.

A simple timeline should do the trick: 1949- The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb.

1952- The film "Duck and Cover" was first shown early in the year, but was produced in 1951.

1952- November 1st, almost a year after the film was released, the first H-Bomb was detonated by the USA at a test grounds in the Pacific. If you do not know the difference between an A-Bomb and an H-bomb there are many sources on the internet, lets just say its a big difference.

1953- The USSR detonated its own H-bomb.

1955- The USA had a total of about 350 H-Bombs (small H-bombs, if you can call an H-bomb small), that would be delivered by airplane. The USSR was behind but catching up fast.

1957- The first ICBM's were developed by the USSR and the USA.

1959- ICBM's began to populate the arsenals of the Cold War powers.

"Duck and Cover" was aimed at a possible war using a relatively small number of A-Bombs that would have been delivered by airplane. In such an attack the information given was correct and could have saved lives. There were many instances of people surviving the attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at basically ground zero. Again its the difference between an A-bomb and an H-bomb, in 1952 atomic war did not mean instant or even prolonged death. When H-Bombs and ICBM's started to amass in the arsenals of the superpowers these films started to disappear.