glm (05/26/82)
Has anyone seen the file ATOMIC CAFE ? I saw some film clips on TV, and the film looks to be a good one. Any comments ? Gary Mann lime!we13!we53!glm
geo (06/01/82)
I recently saw the movie "Atomic Cafe".
The film is made up entirely of film clips from the era
(1945-196[0-4]). Parts of it were very very moving. Parts of it
were some of the blackest humour I have ever been exposed to.
Particularly good were the juxtaposition of officially
announcements, or officially prepared educational films with
popular songs.
Particularly interesting was a short clip from a four-H
film called "Duck and Cover". In one scene a young boy and a
young girl are walking along a street. "Dick and Jane no what to
do in case of Atomic attack. They know that an Atomic attack can
come at any time. When they see the flash in the sky..." At this
point there is a flash in the sky and our two heroes jump into a
ditch and pull their coats over their heads to the strains of a
little jingle called "Duck and Cover".
The film includes approximately five minutes of
documentary footage made during an atomic test in the american
southwest that was designed to test the ability of troops to
advance over land that has just had a tactical nuclear device
exploded upon it. During the briefing the men are assured that
radiation will be the least of their worries, that for them to be
close enough for radiation to affect them, they would be killed
by heat or blast. A chaplain assures the men that an atomic
blast, "is one of the most beautiful sights they will ever see."