Public Domain Movies
Running Time: 27 mins Black & White
Starring: Glenn Ford, The People of Portland Oregon
Portentously portrays the evacuation of Portland, Oregon, when threatened by a nuclear attack on its state-of-the-art civil defense system.
Running Time: 15 mins Color
Starring: Animated
Animated classic presenting what an atom is, how energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peacetime uses of atomic energy and the byproducts of nuclear fission.
Running Time: 10 mins Black & White
Starring: Governor Frederic "Val" Peterson
Hosted by former Governor Frederic "Val" Peterson, the director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, this 1954 film lecture explains simply and graphically the dangers of radioactive fallout. It also discusses the preventative measures that can be taken for individual protection against the bomb. During his tenure as director of the FCDA, Gov. Peterson dealt with a host of new challenges but the most pressing was the development of the hydrogen bomb in 1952 -- the same year he took office, and the Soviet Union's acquisition of it in 1953.
Running Time: 24 mins Black & White
Discusses the physics, effects and defense against nuclear fallout. Describes the phenomena of natural radiation and the dangers of fallout. Explains the value of time, distance and mass in weakening the effect of residual radiation. Examines the effects of radiation on the body, food and water. Underscores adequate shelter and prescribed decontamination measures.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Starring: Carl Urbano
Animated classic presenting what an atom is, how energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peacetime uses of atomic energy and the byproducts of nuclear fission.
Running Time: 10 mins Black & White
Starring: Frederic "Val" Peterson
Hosted by former Governor Frederic "Val" Peterson, the director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, this 1954 film lecture explains simply and graphically the dangers of radioactive fallout. It also discusses the preventative measures that can be taken for individual protection against the bomb. During his tenure as director of the FCDA, Gov. Peterson dealt with a host of new challenges but the most pressing was the development of the hydrogen bomb in 1952 the same year he took office, and the Soviet Union's acquisition of it in 1953.
Running Time: 8 mins Color
Starring: Jack Tilles
Attempt to dispel many common myths and fallacies about radioactive fallout.
Running Time: 20 mins Black & White
Explains effects of radiation upon the human body, internal and external radiation hazards, and the relative gravity of the hazards of nuclear radiation, blast and heat. Contains animation of the human body as a factory, showing a cartoon of workers in different body departments.
Running Time: 22 mins Black & White
Starring: Ken Nordine!
Instructional film on nuclear weapons for U.S. Air Force personnel. This part-animated film includes an explanation of nuclear physics; footage of atmospheric and underground testing; and a bomber making a crash landing.
Running Time: 12 mins Color
Starring: Warren P. Everote
Describes some of the biological effects of high energy radiations on plants and animal cells. Explains how typical experiments are conducted and demonstrates some of the protective measures required to insure the safety of the experimenters. Points out some possible applications of nuclear radiation to problems of human health, emphasizing work in the study of cancer.
Running Time: 7 mins Black & White
Starring: Sid Marcus
A very dumb dog is chasing a cat. A smarter dog suggests getting the cat to come to him instead; the dog mounts a parade proclaiming "Be Kind to Cats Week" and encouraging the cat to shake hands with the nearest dog. He does; the dog has a mallet behind his back, but the cat has an endless array of protective hats. The dog then tries a marionette of an attractive female cat to lure the cat to some doors propped up in the woods; again, the cat eludes the dog. Eventually, the smart dog reappears, revealing himself as the cat in a dog costume.
Running Time: 7 mins Black & White
Starring: Ray Reid
How can we protect ourselves against the threats of germs and toxins? Cold War America gears up to fend off threats from unconventional bioweapons.
Running Time: 10 mins Black & White
Explains steps to take in case of an atomic bomb alert or a bombing without warning at school, in the open or at home. Gives simple explanation of nuclear fusion.
Running Time: 9 mins Black & White
Starring: Leo M. Langlois III, Ray J. Mauer, Robert Middleton
A grinning monkey sitting in a tree dangles a lit firecracker from a fishing pole just over the head of an unwary turtle. Realizing that an explosion is pending, the turtle ducks and takes cover inside his shell just in time to avoid immolation from the explosion. As the scene changes to a picnicking All American Family, a voice over explains that in order to survive a nuclear attack, one must duck and cover.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Illustrates the cause and effects of radioactive fallout. Describes preparations which should be made to safeguard lives and protect food and water supplies. An animated film. Featured in Devo's Beautiful World video.
Running Time: 22 mins Color
Cold War era civil defense film on public fall out shelters
Running Time: 10 mins Black & White
Starring: Anthony Rizzo
"Our Cities Must Fight" is a civil defense film that was produced for the U.S. government to illustrate the importance of not abandoning urban centers during an atomic bombing. The film cautions that doing so would make it easier for the invading "enemy."
Running Time: 26 mins Black & White
Starring: Danger Lurks Safety
Film on nuclear fallout and its potential for damage in the event of an attack on the United States. Freakishly dramatic music. Picture of people going about their daily activity is occasionally colored red to illustrate contamination of radioactive fallout.
Running Time: 8 mins Black & White
America's Federal Civil Defense Administration offers tips on how to survive the unthinkable cold war scenario.
Running Time: 18 mins Black & White
While most films of the civil defense genre, and the wider category of instructional films, focus on one specific aspect of their respective topics, You Can Beat the A Bomb attempts to cover all bases of the atomic phenomenon. Everything from the history of natural sciences, the medical and business aspects of radioactive waste, how to provide protection from blast and fallout as well as radioactive rain, and even the hydrogen bomb are, however briefly, touched on. This can be attributed to the film's status as one of the very first widely distributed productions concerning nuclear civil defense. Previous films such as The Atom Strikes (1945) and The Medical Effects of The Atomic Bomb (1949) limited their content to the damaging effects of the bomb. Needing to not only inform the viewing public, but also hold their attention and, in turn, hopefully relay survival techniques, You Can Beat the A Bomb presents a number of segments, each of which detail a specific aspect of the atomic bomb, whether it is how to survive it, or harness its energy to solve problems in industry.
Running Time: 12 mins Black & White
Describes a variety of nuclear/atomic/radiation testing on animals. Shows some of the awful things some folks claimed they needed to do to poor unfortunate critters in the 1950s.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the 20th century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them. Testing nuclear weapons can yield information about how the weapons work, as well as how the weapons behave under various conditions and how structures behave when subjected to nuclear explosions. Additionally, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength, and many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status by means of a nuclear test.
Running Time: 41 mins Black & White
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon since the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945, and the first detonation of a nuclear device since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Its purpose was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval ships.
Running Time: 47 mins Black & White
These are the atomic bomb tests that provided the answers that today are the core of America's nuclear weapon's knowledge. Formerly classified, this motion picture material documents Operation Tumbler Snapper, which detonated small yield atomic weapons to determine their effectiveness on troops, animals and buildings.
Running Time: 27 mins Black & White
Starring: Glenn Ford, The People of Portland Oregon
Portentously portrays the evacuation of Portland, Oregon, when threatened by a nuclear attack on its state of the art civil defense system.
Running Time: 24 mins Black & White
Starring: Richard Boone
Originally aired on Valentine's Day 1955, this episode of the TV show "Medic" owed its existence to the U.S. Government's Office of Civil Defense and its Cold War push to inform the American people about the threat of nuclear war. Created by James E. Moser (best known for his writing work on Dragnet), the TV show Medic (1954-1956) presented realistic hospital-based medical stories. In this episode an atomic bomb blast thrust star Richard Boone (of Have Gun—Will Travel fame) into the aftermath of a nuclear bomb blast.
Running Time: 12 mins Color
Starring: Eric Barnouw
In 1946, the U.S. War Department produced this twelve-minute film about the atomic bomb as part of the Army-Navy Screen Magazine, called "A Tale of Two Cities". The two cities were, of course, the devastated Japanese municipalities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film begins with the Trinity test in the New Mexico desert in July 1945, noting that on that day, “the atomic age was born.” It then takes viewers on a tour of the ruins of the two devastated cities.
Running Time: 30 mins Black & White
Shortly after the end of the war an American mission was sent to Japan, to report on the destruction wrought by the atomic bombs. The mission, organized by the Manhattan Engineer District, included engineer and medical officers and a few scientists. This film portrays some of the devastation they witnessed,.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Starring: Joseph Cunningham, Mary Reading Miller, Melvin Scheldt
America's Federal Civil Defense Administration offers tips on how to survive an Atomic bomb attack. .
Running Time: 23 mins Black & White
How to cope with all those tearful types after they dropped the big one(s). "One in a series of military training films that can only be described as post-apocalyptic."
Running Time: 30 mins Black & White
From a period synopsis: "Analyzes basic ideological differences between the U.S. and the communist state. Describes objectives and techniques used by the USSR to influence the peoples of the world. Describes the importance of keeping the U.S. strong spiritually and morally
Running Time: 73 mins Black & White
Starring: Seamon Glass, Thayer Roberts, Aubrey Martin
A highway patrolman stops motorists on a highway after he hears news reports of a possible nuclear attack.
Running Time: 12 mins Black & White
Starring: United States Office of Civil and Defense Mobilizaton
Explains steps to take in case of an atomic bomb alert or a bombing without warning at school, in the open or at home. Gives simple explanation of nuclear fusion.
Running Time: 28 mins Black & White
Starring: Hal Gibney, James G. Keller, Fred MacMurray
Father James Keller and actor Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity, Absent-Minded Professor) point out how atomic energy can be a God-given blessing instead of a man-made curse if used in such fields as industry, agriculture and medicine. This film was an introduction to the Catholic civic organization's other atomic-themed films - Atomic Energy As A Force For Good and From Star to Star -- which also starred notable celebrities.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Produced by the Burroughs Corporation in 1956, "Bombproof" is a fascinating Civil Defense film with something of a hidden agenda -- in that it shows the importance of keeping microfilm versions of corporate records in the Atomic Age. The fictional Donovan Manufacturing Company, with prolific Hollywood actor Walter Abel starring as its CEO J.B. Donovan, used microfilm processing (a service provided by the Burroughs Corp.) to preserve vital company records and is one of the few able to sustain business after the H-Bomb drops.
Running Time: 13 mins Black & White
Discusses the role of information in keeping fallout shelters functioning and in keeping shelter occupants busy and calm.
Running Time: 13 mins Black & White
Aimed at preparing civilians for a nuclear war.
Running Time: 22 mins Black & White
Four atomic explosions at Enewetak Atoll in 1951, including the "George" test, made up Operation Greenhouse at the Pacific Proving Grounds.
Running Time: 12 mins Black & White
The nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll program was a series of 23 nuclear devices detonated by the United States between 1946 and 1958 at seven test sites on the reef itself, on the sea, in the air and underwater.
Running Time: 8 mins Black & White
Created by the U.S. Government, "Survival Under Atomic Attack" explains the dangers of the atomic bomb, the effects of radiation and how to protect oneself if caught in the open or in the home. The film was made in the era before the hydrogen bomb made nuclear survival impossible. Survival Under Atomic Attack was also the title of an official United States government booklet released by the Civil Defense Office. Released at the onset of the Cold War era, the book and pamphlet were in line with rising fears that the Soviet Union would launch a nuclear attack against the United States, and outlined what to do in the event of an atomic attack.
Running Time: 12 mins Black & White
Produced by the Federal Civil Defense Administration and the National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau, "The House in the Middle" is a bizarre civil defense film that attempts to show that a clean, freshly painted house (the middle house) is more likely to survive a nuclear attack than its poorly maintained counterparts (the right and left houses). Yes, good housekeeping and clean yards are the best deterrents to fires ignited by an atomic bomb!
Black & White
Running Time: 22 mins Black & White
Courtesy National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office Atomic Weapons Tests Trinity through Buster Jangle Vintage Atomic Bomb Film
Running Time: 22 mins Black & White
Starring: Department of defense, Albuquerque USA
Department of defense, Albuquerque USA (DASIAC) documentary. Filmed by the US air force at lookout mountain laboratory and various other test sites from around this time. This video shows many nuclear bomb tests and the reasons behind them. It starts with operation Trinity in the 1940's showing the first ever nuclear test through to operation Buster-Jangle in the 1960's. This video also looks at the different types of thermo nuclear devices of this era including bombs using plutonium and uranium. It also explains the difference between the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bomb which used two totally different techniques of detonation. Tests included in this video are: Trinity, Operation Sandstorm, camp desert rock, operation ranger, operation greenhouse plus several more.
Running Time: 30 mins Black & White
Starring: John Wayne, Helen Hayes, Hanson Baldwin
Various celebrities and news-media figures discuss the polarization of politics between the Western Allies of the United States and the Soviet bloc, pointing out the need for vigilance and action to protect democracy in the U.S. and abroad.
Running Time: 9 mins Black & White
Starring: Leo M. Langlois III, Ray J. Mauer, Robert Middleton
Instructional short aimed at school-aged children of the early 1950s that combines animation and live-action footage with voice-over narration to explain what to do to increase their chances of surviving the blast from an atomic bomb.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Illustrates the cause and effects of radioactive fallout. Describes preparations which should be made to safeguard lives and protect food and water supplies. An animated film. Featured in Devo's Beautiful World video.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Starring: Family members
It is an animated Cold War preparation short film about what Fallout is and how to protect yourself against it. While the information provided might actually be somewhat useful in case of a reactor accident (e.g. Fukushima), it is also fun to watch as the harms of nuclear fallout are smiled away by an animated person and the encouraging voice of a typical 50's narrator.
Running Time: 30min Black & White
This "what-if" episode imagines what would happen in the event of a nuclear strike on Los Angeles. Dr. Styner and his colleagues are at a warehouse outside the city for a training session, but must try to make their way back to the devastated city after the nuclear attack. Along the way they try to treat and save as many injured and radiation-poisoned patients as they can with what little medicine they have and are forced by circumstances to decide which patients can be saved--and which ones they'll have to let die
Running Time: 76 mins Black & White
Starring: Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Zasu Pitts
A soldier stationed on an army base and his fiancé, who runs a women's "fat farm" nearby, want to get married but don't have enough money. Three customers of the "fat farm" scheme to get back at their philandering husbands by hiring the soldier and two of his buddies as "escorts" for the weekend. Complications ensue when the husbands show up unexpectedly.
Running Time: 23 mins Black & White
A mass casualty incident will usually be declared by the first arriving unit at the scene of the incident, though it can be declared by a dispatcher based on the information available from people who call an emergency number, such as 9-1-1 in the US, about the incident. A formal declaration of an MCI is usually made by an officer or chief of the agency in charge. Initially, the senior paramedic at the scene will be in charge of the incident, but as additional resources arrive, a senior officer or chief will take command, usually using an incident command system structure to form a unified command to run all aspects of the incident. In the United States, the Incident Command System is known as the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, "NIMS provides the template for the management of incidents..."
Running Time: 20 mins Color
Explains effects of radiation upon the human body, internal and external radiation hazards, and the relative gravity of the hazards of nuclear radiation, blast and heat. Contains animation of the human body as a factory, showing a cartoon of workers in different body departments.
Running Time: 23 mins Black & White
A selection of newsreels covering the activities related to early American atomic weapons tests & nuclear energy. Shows many examples of atomic explosions with their huge mushroom clouds, as well as the safe uses of atomic energy to power submarines
Running Time: 23 mins Black & White
Starring: U.S. government civil defense film.
Created in 1963 at the height of the Cold War, this Civil Defense training film uses a dramatic premise to show how emergency staff should manage and organize a large public fallout shelter during a crisis. A Shelter Manager is shown immediately taking control of the situation in the shelter, speaking calmly to those who have made it into the facility, closing the door promptly once the shelter is full, and sticking to the "shelter plan" as the situation unfolds. Some of the areas discussed in this nuclear war drama are the safety plan, regular inspections, supervised public entry into shelters, ventilation, first aid, sanitation, fire prevention, decontamination of personnel, and more. "Shelter living is different," the Manager states, "But we have a trained staff that will make your stay in this shelter livable for us all."
Running Time: 30 mins Black & White
Operation Crossroads was a series of two nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships
Running Time: 22 mins Black & White
Starring: Lt.Quesada
Operation Greenhouse was conducted in April and May of 1951. This test series consisted of four weapons related test shots from the 300-foot level on towers on the Enewetak Atoll Pacific Ocean, two of which greatly aided the pursuit of a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, device.Carried out by the Atomic Energy Commission, the shots were:Dog, April 7, 81 kilotonsEasy, April20, 47 kilotonsGeorge, May 8, 225 kilotonsItem, May 24, 45.5 kilotonsThe George experiment proved an H-bomb was possible and led to a crash development program. Item was the first test of the boosting principle, which involved increasing the yield of a weapon.
Running Time: 47 mins Black & White
Operation Tumbler-Snapper consisted of eight nuclear shots in two phases. The Tumbler phase was of primary concern to the Department of Defense, which called for airdropped nuclear weapons tests. The Snapper second phase was a set of experiments conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory to help improve effects of nuclear weapons.
Running Time: 9 mins Black & White
"Our Cities Must Fight" is a civil defense film that was produced for the U.S. government to illustrate the importance of not abandoning urban centers during an atomic bombing. The film cautions that doing so would make it easier for the invading "enemy."
Running Time: 28 mins Black & White
Starring: United States Office of Civil and Defense Mobilizaton
Film on nuclear fallout and its potential for damage in the event of an attack on the United States.
Running Time: 12 mins Black & White
The nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll program was a series of 23 nuclear devices detonated by the United States between 1946 and 1958 at seven test sites on the reef itself, on the sea, in the air and underwater.
Running Time: 23 mins Black & White
Instructional film on nuclear weapons for U.S. Air Force personnel. This part-animated film includes an explanation of nuclear physics; footage of atmospheric and underground testing; and a bomber making a crash landing.
Running Time: 12mins Black & White
The film chronologically, and for the most part, neutrally[citation needed], describes the testing and the use of the atomic bombs impact on Hiroshima, describing where the bomb was actually dropped, and the damage done to military industrial targets, as well as noting which edifices sustained less damage, like those built with reinforced concrete. An interview is shown with a Jesuit priest, who describes his experience, and notes that he believes that approximately 100,000 people died.
Running Time: 29 mins Black & White
Starring: Benjie Bancroft, Pete Duel, Anthony Eisley
Intended for military personnel and civilians in sensitive positions abroad, the film shows three playlets involving foreign agents maneuvering Americans into passing valuable intelligence to the Soviets or Red Chinese. It emphasizes the need to be wary of seemingly friendly strangers, whether one is in Europe or Japan
Running Time: 11 mins Black & White
Starring: Warren P. Everote
Describes some of the biological effects of high energy radiations on plants and animal cells. Explains how typical experiments are conducted and demonstrates some of the protective measures required to insure the safety of the experimenters. Points out some possible applications of nuclear radiation to problems of human health, emphasizing work in the study of cancer.
Running Time: 31min. Black & White
Evaluation of the atom bomb strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Running Time: 1 mins Black & White
Running Time: 8 mins Black & White
Starring: Civil Defence
Nuclear era Civil Defence film from the 1950s.
Running Time: 49 mins Black & White
Disturbing, graphic docudrama about the aftermath of a nuclear war, refutes the notion that a country could survive a nuclear attack. Acadamy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature. Written and Produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC, who refused to air it! Footage of bombing in southern England and the affects on civilization.
Running Time: 14 mins Black & White
Starring: Joseph Cunningham, Elizabeth Cunningham
Warning Red (1956) portrays the atomic odyssey of suburbanite Martin Dale who, while on his way home from buying some ice cream, sees the bright flash of the Bomb. Once he gets up from the rubble and puts on his charred fedora, the thirteen-minute film moves forward with its agenda to convey all of the clichéd civil defense lessons about remaining in one’s shelter, avoiding contaminated food and staying tuned to CONELRAD. Of course, Mr. Dale ignores most of these rules (“It’s my life I’m risking, I don’t care!” he declares at one point to a tired survivor) by running through the fallout and fire-filled streets trying to find his family.
Running Time: 7 mins Black & White
Starring: United States Office of Civil and Defense Mobilizaton
Biological warfare (BW)—also known as germ warfare—is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war.
Black & White
You'll learn that "You Can Beat the A Bomb" by sealing your windows tight and storing extra canned goods in your basement.
Running Time: 20 mins Black & White
Starring: Periscope Film
Made in 1950, "You Can Beat the Atomic Bomb" shows the various modes of Civil Defense that were being developed to protect the American population in the event of a nuclear war. As part of the effort the film attempts to educate people about the survivability of the bomb and the radiation it emits. In an era before the hydrogen bomb, these facts were somewhat salient; but once the thermonuclear weapons became a reality films such as this one were obsolete. According to the film, a mere six feet of earth, or three feet of concrete, or one foot of steel, could protect a family from radiation following the bomb. In the film, such activities such as closing blinds and shutting windows and doors are important in the event of a nuclear war, and an average family facing nuclear attack calmly prepares for the aftermath.