Reactions on Warning
Office of Civil Defense
1964




Sparking this preparedness discussion is an evening newscast, highlighting the peaceful end of a recent international crisis. Wrapping up the broadcast, the anchor solemnly asks "do you know exactly what your family would do if an attack came? Say, at ten o'clock tomorrow morning?" Film and television actor Chris Bohn, known for his role in The Doctors, several commercials in the 1970's plays the news anchor. Taken aback by his family's lack of consensus on where to go during a nuclear emergency, gruff yet caring Fred ignores his wife's reservations about the topic and quizzes each member on their whereabouts at the suggested attack time. First to answer is redheaded Kenny, who pauses to mischievously tease his younger sister about the deadliness of radioactive rays. Despite his lackadaisical attitude, Kenny walks his father through a number scenarios and the appropriate responses to each. If he's caught at or near the school, he seeks out the public shelter in the basement. Playing baseball in Shelly Park means a ten minute bike ride home. Downtown on Central Avenue with friends means a stay in a Mitchell's Department Store where he took shelter during an air raid drill the previous summer.
Fred turns next to his wife Edith,
who fears that with all the glass and light construction material in the local
supermarket, there will be no fallout protection, so a quick drive home will
better suffice. Edith's other activities, choir practice at church or
bridge at Myrna Freeman's house will allow her to go to Janice's grammar
school, taking advantage of its basement shelter. Janice herself
dutifully recites instructions she learned in school, obey the adults in charge
until reunited with her family. Interestingly, the film offers some
criticism of the public shelter system when Fred reveals that local traffic
conditions will likely prevent them from reaching proper shelter in time. As an
alternative, he thinks back to a previous night when neighbor Joe McClellan
offered tours of his personal bomb shelter. Enviously he ponders aloud "I really ought to build a shelter like Joe McClellan's. I could get one of those civil defense manuals and see the best way!"
While Edith muses over joining Myrna Freeman in a medical self-help course, Kenny raises an interesting question. How will the family find appropriate fallout shelter while on vacation in unfamiliar cities? The answer, Fred suggests, is easy. Just as they note the fire escapes in hotels and large buildings, so too will they seek out shelter signs when on vacation. A similar tactic can be used at Uncle Arnold's farm, where the sturdy structures like an apple cellar can be converted quickly into a shelter. Wrapping up their impromptu talk, Fred expresses his belief that any attack will not be the end of the world, that mankind will survive and their odds, with appropriate preparedness, are pretty good. In closing, the camera centers on Janice to offer a final set of calming words. "I don't know what everybody's worried about. My teacher knows what to do and so does Mama and Daddy and even Kenny. My goodness, grown-ups sure do worry!"