Underplayed Gems

Duck and Cover (1952)

Duck and Cover poster
Directed by
Anthony Rizzo
Genre
documentary film, training film, live-action/animated film, instructional film
Country
United States
Runtime
9 min
Rating
6.1 of 10 from 38 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This short film shows schoolchildren how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack. It mixes live action and animation to demonstrate the duck and cover drill. The film was made as a civil defense tool for the 1950s.

educationaldatedpatronizinginstructionaldatedanxioushistoricalearnestsimplistic

What happens

Duck and Cover is a 1952 American civil defense animated and live action social guidance film that is often characterized as propaganda. It has similar themes to the more adult-oriented civil defense training films. It was widely distributed to United States schoolchildren in the 1950s, and teaches students what to do in the event of a nuclear explosion. The film was funded by the US Federal Civil Defense Administration and released in January 1952. At the time, the Soviet Union was engaged in nuclear testing and the US was in the midst of the Korean War. It was written by Raymond J. Mauer, directed by Anthony Rizzo of Archer Productions, narrated by actor Robert Middleton, and made with help from schoolchildren from New York City and Astoria, New York. The film is in the public domain and widely available through Internet sources such as YouTube, as well as on DVD. It was screened on Turner Classic Movies' Saturday night–Sunday morning film showcase series, TCM Underground. In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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