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IMDbPro

The House in the Middle

  • 19541954
  • 13m
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
430
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
388,406
198,423
The House in the Middle (1954)
DocumentaryShort
Courtesy of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, this helpful short shows you how good housekeeping and fresh paint can protect you and your family from the worst of an atomi... Read allCourtesy of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, this helpful short shows you how good housekeeping and fresh paint can protect you and your family from the worst of an atomic blast.Courtesy of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, this helpful short shows you how good housekeeping and fresh paint can protect you and your family from the worst of an atomic blast.
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
430
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
388,406
198,423
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Quotes

      [first lines]

      Narrator: Five, four, three, two, one...

      [atomic explosion]

      Narrator: ... One American town looks like any other, when you see it from an airplane window. Trees line the quiet residential streets, and there's usually a highway running through to an industrial area where many-a town people work. But in every town, you'll find houses like this: run down, neglected. Trash and litter disfigure the house and yard. An eyesore, yes; and as you'll see, much more! A house that's neglected is the house that may be *doomed* in the atomic age.

    • Connections
      Edited into Panorama Ephemera (2004)

    User reviews20

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    Behold, the bringer of light
    In the 1950s, nuclear attack by the Soviet Union was on every American's mind. Shorts like this might seem ridiculous in hindsight now that the Cold War is a thing of the past, but things like this are still important today, as the Earth is still home to thousands of nuclear weapons. This short attempts to prove to the US public that cleaning the inside of your house (and the area around it) might not only save your home in case of atomic war, but your life as well. The film shows a vast and empty test range in the Nevada desert which is where many nuclear tests are carried out. On the range are two houses. Both are made of wood, but one has a tidy interior while the other house is the opposite. A nuke explodes some miles away, and within seconds, a huge shockwave destroys parts of both roofs, but the left house is still standing. The one on the right burns to a crisp. Next, we see three houses. The one on the right is composed mostly of old wood that's never been painted before, and has a large amount of garbage and clutter around the outside. The house on the left is much of the same, and is built of old, rotten wood that's practically falling apart. Finally, the middle house is painted pure white to reflect the intense flash of an atomic explosion, has no clutter in its vicinity, and has been recently painted, which helps alleviate moisture. The excruciating heat generated by the bomb is noticeably less effective at damaging this house, and it's shown to be remarkably intact after the other two go up in flames. Ironically, the house on the right starts burning because a fire ignited on the garbage and then spread to the house. We're then told how important it is to keep the inside and outside of your house clean because it can save you from the end of the world. In general, I thought this short was pretty ridiculous, which seems to be the general consensus among the 50 or so people who took time out of their day to watch it. In reality, following the nonsense guidelines shown in this short wouldn't actually mean anything in case a nuke explodes in your city, as anyone relatively close to ground zero would be disintegrated and people for miles around would suffer intense burns and exposure to cancerous radiation. Back then, I suppose films like this had to be made to reassure the population, even if the notion of surviving such a huge explosion is absurd. At the very least, the short encourages you to make sure you don't leave things lying around your house.
    helpful•2
    0
    • nickenchuggets
    • Jul 20, 2022

    Details

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    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Also known as
      • Дом посередине
    • Production companies
      • National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau
      • Federal Civil Defense Administration
      • National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Assn.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      13 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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