Family Interview 2: Retrospect

this is Douglas Edwards bringing you retrospect a film Excursion into past events events which form the patterns by which we live today retrospect is brought to you by the office of civil and defense mobilization in cooperation with your local civil defense office and your local station now here's your host Douglas Edwards when Japanese planes bombed and sank the us gunboat panai on the Yi River in 1937 Japan expressed regrets calling the ACT unintentional but her promise of reparations was never kept Japanese American relations over the next four years became critical in November 1941 the United States offered Japan a broad but simple settlement covering the entire Pacific area this was Pearl Harbor as it looked in late November 1941 strategically our most important Pacific output to ease the war of nerves between the two Nations the Japanese emperor sent a special Envoy to Washington but even as Mr kurusu spoke his reassuring words to the press and public Japanese war planes were winging their way toward the pearl of the Pacific kurusu and nura the Japanese Ambassador after holding talks with Secretary of State Cordell Hull were taken to the White House to meet with President Roosevelt they spoke confidently of a relaxation of tension in the Far East [Music] not until 1 hour after the Japanese Pilots had sighted in on their targets did Tokyo finally deliver a war message to Washington by then of course disaster had already struck in these official Japanese films released after the war we can see from the enemy's Vantage Point what an abundance of prime targets he had all defenses our sincerity in negotiating peace with Japan had caused the government to take take no precautionary measures at Pearl Harbor what few warnings we had received had been ignored even precautionary Fleet dispersal was neglected as a result every piece of American military equipment was a Sitting Duck and the attackers took full advantage of the situation live bombers that had run out of bombs returned to rake the decks of all vessels with machine gun fire approaches to the runways at hickham field were blocked by fires and explosions rendering our Air Force infinite with most of our sea power concentrated in the Atlantic this was the golden moment for which the Tokyo Warlords had waited so long their use of the element of surprise worked to perfection with a relatively small attacking Force Japan succeeded in all but demolishing a vital military Outpost of the greatest power in the world on December 8th we added up the damage altogether the Japanese sank six battleships sank or crippled almost every other vessel in the harbor destroyed 64 planes which had never even had a chance to rev up their Motors much less get off the ground and killed 3,300 men the salvaging operation was accomplished with amazing speed three of the battleships were seaworthy again in less than two weeks and the damaged light Cruisers left Port by January of 1942 but from whatever aspect it's viewed the attack on Pearl Harbor remains one of the most regrettable chapters in American military history before a joint session of Congress Franklin D Roosevelt asked that Congress declare a state of war between the United States and the Empire of Japan Roosevelt summed it up best when he called December 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy while we were counting the casualties 70 Japanese warships were sailing across the Pacific to follow up the aerial attack and occupy Hawaii they encountered an American Naval force in the Carl sea in the most decisive sea Battle in History we broke the back of Japanese Naval power but how much sooner the war would have ended and turned in our favor had we been prepared at Pearl Harbor we can only guess today we realize that preparedness is our first line of defense have you ever wondered what it would be like for you and your family to spend 7 Days completely isolated from the outside world well today on retrospect we'll meet a family who who did just that here are Mr and Mrs Douglas Brown of TOA Kansas who with their children spent a full week in an 8 by 11t fallout shelter uh does this young man represent your entire family Mr Brown no we have others could we meet him yes Vicky and Connie and Denny Scott Larry Wes and Dean and another Beauty and this is Russell I was about to say that I thought it was about time we introduced this gentleman well uh that's a lot of little people but I must say they're very Charming tell me just why Mr Brown did you and Company decide to spend a week in a fallout shelter we're in the business of building Fallout shelters and we wanted to find out what some of the problems were that would arise and also we wanted to find out just exactly what our family would need to have in a shelter Mrs Brown uh I imagine you had a few problems along the way for the first time anyway what was your biggest problem the biggest problem was keeping the children from becoming bored and uh fighting with each other how did you handle that we had an abundance of games and toys and we control their uh play we uh had uh talent shows we had regular time for everything that we did and we all did it together so that uh everybody was uh working with each other did you have any real police work to do along the way during the seven days with the kids oh yes we had to control them very closely that was the uh one thing that that we found was quite necessary some well-knit and close rules and regulations I take right Mrs Brown how did you manage to cook for all those youngsters and yourselves when the electricity was on we used an electric hot plate but when the electricity was off we used a sternal burner well just what did you cook we had canned foods of all kinds uh especially the uh prepared meals like spaghetti and meatballs uh that type of food but we did find that we should have had more cold meats and cold foods that can be eaten directly from the can rather than having to be heated what did the youngsters like Mr SP they uh took very well to the dried fruits the raisins the dried prunes and apricots we also had some hard candy and uh some of those miniature chocolate bars and those went over quite big sounds pretty normal yes outside or inside Mr Brown what did you learn about your own shelter preparedness was it adequate yes we found that that we had spent a great deal of time in preparing our shelter and it was well worth it well that's very good indeed not a question for you Mrs Brown what did you find to be the most useful items in your shelter the first aid kit uh came in use within the first 20 minutes of being inside the shelter that's part for the course what happened I trust nothing serious one of the boys stuck his hand into the blower that control that brings the fresh air into the shelter and received numerous cuts on his finger and we had to put the first aid kit into use immediately well a question for both of you uh Mr and Mrs Brown at any time did you think of giving up yes we did about halfway through our stage when we become very depressed but it was the children attitude that really changed the our ideas for us and their their desires to actually finish the test is what changed our minds well good for them and one final question uh do you plan to build a larger shelter for children ranging in age let's see from 11 months to 11 or seven months 7 to 11 you going to build a bigger one yes we are thank you very much Mr and Mrs Brown on retrospect today it is possible that someday all of us may face the same problems in shelter living only it will not be an experiment it could be a matter of survival we can all take our queue from the Browns and prepare now so no matter what happens our families will be protected a well-known movie Mogul once claimed there was nothing wrong with the box office that good pictures wouldn't cure he was addressing a group of his fellow movie Moguls it went without saying that good pictures were those that could boast of a great box office attraction in other words one or more of the Celluloid Kings or Queens whose very presence in a movie ensures it a financial success since the movies became a commercial proposition the noisess foot of time has snuffed out all manner of Cycles eras and Innovations but the box office Idols go on serials or Cliffhangers made a movie Queen of pearl white death moved in on her every Saturday and she always escaped miraculously the following week but on audiences ate it up Charlie Chaplain surely the king of the clowns his box office popularity was phenomenal and no man before or since has had more imitators William S har he brought the Western into popularity and for over a decade was the king of cowboy Stars heart's roles were always the same he portrayed the good bad man the two-fisted gunslinging Critter who always remained true to the moral code of the old Frontier [Music] until the rise of the star system this lady was known as little Mary but by 1917 Mary pford was earning just under a million dollars a year and had become America's sweetheart of all the screen's romantic Idols none has ever equaled the astonishing popularity of the great Latin lover Rudolph Valentino shown here with Vilma Banky in the chic Valentino caused palpitations of the female heart in some of the most impetuous love scenes ever [Music] filmed in 1927 Greta Garbo and John Gilbert reigned over the nation's box offices with smoldering scenes like this one from flesh and the [Music] devil in the 30s the movies were talking and many of the old monarchs were gone Carol Lombard was typical of the new movie Queen and she married the man who eventually came to be known as the king Clark Gable one of the 30's most popular Stars was not yet old enough to be a queen but Charlie Temple was surely the princess of the box office on The Dashing side Tyrone Power came along in the late 30s to Thrill the ladies with a series of swashbuckling roles that were continuous popularity through the 40s one of the most beloved movie queens of the 40s was Judy Garett with her Rock Hudson the number one box office star of the 50s today the heartthrob of America's Angry Young Girls Elvis Presley Mr sideburns has become the most volcanic personality on the current scene the early kings and queens the Valentinos and the Pearl whites might be a trifle puzzled by a Latter-Day Idol who could transform you ain't nothing than but a hound dog into a million dollars today we met a family who voluntarily conducted their own Survival test living in an actual home shelter the office of civil and defense mobilization recommends that every family be prepared to survive on their own resources for at least two weeks following nuclear attack thousands of American families are building home shelters lowcost insurance for survival take the first step today call your local local civil defense office or write to ocdm Battle Creek Michigan for shelter plans and further information on home protection we hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into the past and that you'll be on hand next time we bring you retrospect this is Douglas Edwards saying goodbye for now retrospect starring Douglas Edwards was brought to you by the office of civil and defense mobilization in cooperation with your local civil defense office and your local station survival in the nuclear age is a personal responsibility touching every American Family make sure you take part learn the facts about civil defense preparedness start your home preparedness program today the prepared family builds a prepared Nation civil defense is an American tradition [Music]