Film Description: This film directed by Anthony Rizzo and distributed by Archer Productions, a New York City ad agency, was designed to educate children about how to protect themselves in the case of atomic attack. It was filmed at a school in Astoria, Queens, and combines animation with documentary footage of students following the recommended safety techniques. This film was widely distributed to U.S. schools throughout the 1950s.
The film itself verges on the inane, as it advocates simply “ducking and covering (the back of your neck)” to protect yourself from a nuclear bomb attack. Nuclear bomb attacks are placed into a hierarchy of danger in the film which goes from accidental fires and car accidents to the nuclear armageddon. The injuries one would receive from a nuclear bomb attack are referred to as “worse than a terrible sunburn.” The Soviet Union is not directly addressed, but allusions are made to an “enemy.” In essence, the film advocates for the American populace, specifically children, to be in a constant state of war-readiness and fear, asking them to think about what they will do when the bomb drops at all times of day.