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.
