If You Love This Planet (1982)

Director:

Terre Nash

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

Australian pediatrician Helen Caldicott delivers a lecture on the potential medical and societal consequences of a nuclear war...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Disarmament | Arms Race | Nuclear War | Medical | Lecture

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Helen Caldicott	...	Herself (as Dr. Helen Caldicott)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vannevar Bush	...	Himself - In front of map of Japan (archive footage)
Leslie Groves	...	Himself - In front of map of Japan (archive footage)
Richard Tolman	...	Himself - In front of map of Japan (archive footage)
Harry S. Truman	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Dr. Helen Caldicott on Nuclear War. (Canada: English title) (subtitle)
Si cette planète vous tient à coeur (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

26 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, New York, USA

Company:

National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Trivia:

This film was labeled "foreign political propaganda" by the United States' Justice Department in an attempt to limit its distribution. All distributors who sold a copy were required to give the purchaser's name to the Justice Department. This may have had the opposite effect from the suppression desired by the Reagan administration, as the negative label caused a rallying of support around the film from anti-censorship activists. During her Oscar acceptance speech director Terre Nash thanked the US Justice Department for their effective "advertisement" of her film.

Movie Connections:

Features Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter (1943)

A must see for political and history buffs!

I definitely agree with the comment posted above. A good description of the film. Yes, Caldicott does explain the absolute worst case scenario of nuclear-war, from the environmental consequences, the biological outcomes and the absolute physical destruction that would arise. She does not hold back and shares all of the gruesome and realistic details in the outcome of a nuclear war. However, we need to remember that this was shot in 1982, at the height of the cold war. The outcomes she discusses are all factual and possible outcomes of nuclear war. This movie touched me, even though I was not even born at the time. It instilled a feeling of shock and dismay over nuclear-armament.