This review is in response to the faulty information that swirls around this short civil defense/propaganda film, particularly the notion of "its stupid we would all die and the government was just trying to fool people". While I wont try to argue the clear propaganda goals of the film, the question of survivability is a different matter.
A simple timeline should do the trick: 1949- The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb.
1952- The film "Duck and Cover" was first shown early in the year, but was produced in 1951.
1952- November 1st, almost a year after the film was released, the first H-Bomb was detonated by the USA at a test grounds in the Pacific. If you do not know the difference between an A-Bomb and an H-bomb there are many sources on the internet, lets just say its a big difference.
1953- The USSR detonated its own H-bomb.
1955- The USA had a total of about 350 H-Bombs (small H-bombs, if you can call an H-bomb small), that would be delivered by airplane. The USSR was behind but catching up fast.
1957- The first ICBM's were developed by the USSR and the USA.
1959- ICBM's began to populate the arsenals of the Cold War powers.
"Duck and Cover" was aimed at a possible war using a relatively small number of A-Bombs that would have been delivered by airplane. In such an attack the information given was correct and could have saved lives. There were many instances of people surviving the attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at basically ground zero. Again its the difference between an A-bomb and an H-bomb, in 1952 atomic war did not mean instant or even prolonged death. When H-Bombs and ICBM's started to amass in the arsenals of the superpowers these films started to disappear.
A simple timeline should do the trick: 1949- The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb.
1952- The film "Duck and Cover" was first shown early in the year, but was produced in 1951.
1952- November 1st, almost a year after the film was released, the first H-Bomb was detonated by the USA at a test grounds in the Pacific. If you do not know the difference between an A-Bomb and an H-bomb there are many sources on the internet, lets just say its a big difference.
1953- The USSR detonated its own H-bomb.
1955- The USA had a total of about 350 H-Bombs (small H-bombs, if you can call an H-bomb small), that would be delivered by airplane. The USSR was behind but catching up fast.
1957- The first ICBM's were developed by the USSR and the USA.
1959- ICBM's began to populate the arsenals of the Cold War powers.
"Duck and Cover" was aimed at a possible war using a relatively small number of A-Bombs that would have been delivered by airplane. In such an attack the information given was correct and could have saved lives. There were many instances of people surviving the attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at basically ground zero. Again its the difference between an A-bomb and an H-bomb, in 1952 atomic war did not mean instant or even prolonged death. When H-Bombs and ICBM's started to amass in the arsenals of the superpowers these films started to disappear.