You Can Beat The A-Bomb

1628. YOU CAN BEAT THE A-BOMB (1950-1956-USA).
1. YOU CAN BEAT THE A-BOMB (1950).This fascinating, funny-and, in its own perverse way, frightening curio is a propaganda piece that sets out to reassure the American public that atomic power and radioactivity will only be of “incalculable aid to mankind’s physical well-being.” A janitor laughs when he learns that the paint which allows his watch to glow in the dark is radioactive. “Well, what do you know about that,” he casually chuckles. What to do in case of atomic attack? Not to worry, because “meter men” who have replaced the local air raid wardens of World War II will determine the extent of contamination after a Nuclear blast. Meanwhile, the very real horrors of radioactivity are written off as rumors, and old wive’s tales. Perish the thought that any material presented here is inaccurate: after all, this film was “made in collaboration with the Council of Atomic Implications, Inc.”
2. ONE PLANE, ONE BOMB (1954). With EDWARD R. MURROW, HOWARD K. SMITH. A more realistic, sobering approach to the reality of atomic war, this docu-drama offers a detailed, simulated atomic attack on New York City – and accepts as fact that, after such an attack, Pittsburgh or Seattle or Detroit will look like Hiroshima, 1945. It was produced by the United States Air Force in cooperation with Murrow, FRED W. FRIENDLY and the staff of the legendary, innovative television documentary series, “See It Now.”
3. WARNING RED (1956). Another amazing artifact of the era, this is a mini-drama about an atomic attack, and some affable, unsuspecting Americans who are almost caught without their fallout shelters. The film’s message: after an attack, rest assured that “help will come soon,” and every last baby and child in America will survive and thrive.
4. THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE (1954). Various government-sponsored tests attempt to examine the effects of atomic heat on American homes and home furnishings, all of which are carefully and clinically explained and observed in real time and stop-motion. It’s all well and good but what of the effects of atomic heat on human beings? 60 minutes total. Propaganda