The Atomic cafe

Duration: 88

Year Published: 1982

Creator: New Yorker

Format: 16mm

Color: Color & B&W

Sound: sound

Description: This compilation film was created entirely from American atomic propaganda of the 1940's and 1950's. Without narration, it juxtaposes excerpts from newly-discovered and rarely-seen government and military propaganda, television and radio shows, cartoons, and the bomb songs that saturated the airways. The film then turns this material on itself to reveal fifteen years of concerted efforts by the U.S. government to mislead the American public about nuclear testing and warfare. Graphic images of the period include: an interview with Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the atomic bomber that annihilated Hiroshima, American soldiers witnessing an A-bomb test, cartoon character Burt the Turtle advising schoolchildren to duck under desks to survive an A-bomb attack; a demonstration of a protective lead-lined snowsuit for children and basement recreation rooms that convert to bunkers.