How a Clear, Tidy House Can Assist You Survive the Atomic Bomb: A Chilly Conflict Movie from 1954

Not too far again, we revis­it­ed some Chilly Conflict professional­pa­gan­da that taught upstand­ing Amer­i­can cit­i­zens How to Spot a Com­mu­nist Using Lit­er­ary Crit­i­cism. It’s a gem, however it has noth­ing on the 1954 movie, The House in the Mid­dle. Choose­ed for preser­va­tion within the Nation­al Film Reg­istry by the Library of Con­gress, the quick doc­u­males­tary makes the ulti­mate case for clear­li­ness. Deliver­ing view­ers to the Neva­da Prov­ing Grounds, the 12-minute movie reveals what hap­pens when clear, white hous­es are sub­ject­ed to warmth waves from an atom­ic blast, ver­sus what hap­pens when a dingy, ill-kept home goes by the identical drill. It seems that neat peo­ple can’t solely declare ethical vic­to­ry (as they all the time do). Additionally they get to dwell anoth­er day. Con­sid­er it proof of the sur­vival of the tidi­est.

The movie was professional­duced by the Nation­al Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau with sup­port from the Fed­er­al Civ­il Protection Admin­is­tra­tion. The Nation­al Paint, Var­nish and Lac­quer Asso­ci­a­tion additionally appar­ent­ly performed a task, sug­gest­ing that cor­po­charge inter­ests have been cap­i­tal­iz­ing on wartime concern. Not the primary time that’s hap­pened in Amer­i­ca. Or that final…

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