CONELRAD | ATOMIC HYGIENE: Cold War Short Subject Films: INFORMATION PROGRAM WITHIN PUBLIC SHELTERS

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INFORMATION PROGRAM WITHIN PUBLIC SHELTERS [ 1963 ]

After the U.S. government experienced a PR backlash of sorts with its promotion of family fallout shelters (the private shelters sparked a lively moral debate about whether it was OK to shoot your neighbor if he tried to force his way into your end-of-the-world abode), public shelters became the official survival vehicle for the nation. You're tuned to 640-1240...

This movie serves as a primer for what life might be like inside one of these basement deathtraps following a real atomic attack. Needless to say, the official impression of post-war life inside a shelter is somewhat removed from any imaginable reality. At one point, as a tactic to relieve some of the stress of living in a confined space, the shelter manager happily announces some news to the other survivors: "The Webbers have an anniversary today, their thirtieth!" The Webbers both smile and accept a round of congratulations, evidently forgetting that they are in a concrete coffin that is probably buried beneath hundreds of tons of atomic rubble. One of the elements that give this film an especially surreal edge is that it is narrated by a slightly off-stage actor in the style of Rod Serling in 'The Twilight Zone.'

Smokem if you gottem.

INFORMATION PROGRAM WITHIN PUBLIC SHELTERS [ 1963 ]
Presented by The Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense

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