User reviews

The House in the Middle

19541954
13m

IMDb RATING

5.5/10

430

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

388,406

198,423

Documentary Short

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

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

Wanna Know How to Survive a Nuclear Attack? Ask Sherwin Williams

Unintentionally funny short put out by the National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau (yes, really) and the Civil Defense Administration. The gist of it is that you should keep your house clean and tidy with a fresh coat of paint because if there's a nuclear war your house will survive it. You'll be atomized but your house will still be standing. Small consolation to most people. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt that the intention here was earnest and it wasn't just a scare tactic to get people to properly maintain their homes so suburban property values stay high. But it's really hard to buy what they're selling. If I'm going to be killed instantly by the blast or die slowly from radiation poisoning, I really don't give a squat if my house survives. Anyway, this is pretty interesting from historical and sociological perspectives, not to mention good for some laughs.

helpful•7