"The House in the Middle" is an American 12-minute documentary short that shows us how effective housing in terms of cleanliness can help you in being prepared the best way possible in case America gets hit by a nuclear attack as back in 1954 2 World wars happened in the last 40 years, the Cold War was an imminent danger and after all it happened to Japan, so better be safe than sorry. A bit of a pity we don't have any names attached to this project, but the production company National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau says perfectly how seriously you can take this bizarre little presentation. To me it felt like another adaptation of the Three Pigs vs. Big Bad Wolf story than a really politically motivated insightful work, but I never had the impression this was really an interesting, memorable or at least entertaining work. No clue why the National Film Registry decided to pick it up as really it cannot just be the political references about life in the 1950s. Don't watch.

... and this film is a big example of that. Small examples are when people ask "How are you?" and the only acceptable reply is "Fine, How are you?". It doesn't matter if your marriage is on the ropes or your parents are dying of cancer. The actual truth disrupts people's day. As for this film, I'm pretty much going to tell you all about it, but I don't think spoiler warnings are necessary on so-called public service information shorts.The narrator shows three very small houses lined up in a row on the Nevada atomic proving grounds. One is in disrepair on the outside - not painted for a long time, no external maintenance at all. Another one looks fine on the outside, but has untidy housekeeping inside which amounts to lots of extra papers and things in disarray that can act as kindling. The "house in the middle" has none of these problems. It is well kept inside and out. Then a nuclear blast 15 miles away occurs. The narrator notes how the unpainted house burns first. The house with the untidy inside looks like it will escape burning, but then begins to blaze from the inside out. The "house in the middle" escapes burning to the ground, the narrator says, because of its well kept condition inside and out.The narrator then encourages people to organize and go from neighborhood to neighborhood to clean up trash and encourages better housekeeping on the inside. He even instructs that people plant flowers around their house? Hey, won't plants act as kindling too? But I digress from what I think that the Federal Civil Defense Administration already knew - that good housekeeping and neighborhood clean-up efforts and gardening, just like duck and cover, are distractions to make people feel like they can actually do something to escape the certain death they would face if a nuclear blast ever hit anywhere near them. The lucky ones would die first, the unlucky ones would die a slow death of radiation poisoning or an even slower death from cancer years later, like almost the entire cast of 1956's "The Conqueror" which was filmed not long after the Atomic Bomb test in the Yucca Flats area. Merry Maids is not going to save you from the carnage of a nuclear attack. Recommended as a lesson in human nature.

Well folks, I am literally speechless. Do you think this was serious? I've seen my share of exploitation flicks from the Thirties and Forties dealing with drugs, alcohol and prostitution, but I have to say, this is a genre of film making that defies credibility. Right out of the gate I thought they were trying to pull a fast one with that business about 'The National Clean Up - Paint Up - Fix Up Bureau' but if you do a quick Google search you'll come up with a bunch of hits, although most of them lead you right back to this film short.Bottom line - a clean, white painted home with proper inside housekeeping may be the margin between life and death if an atom bomb explodes in your neighborhood. In it's short ten minute or so run time, the somber narrator practically begs you to keep your home tidy to ward off the destructive effects of an atomic heat flash. I bet you think I'm making this up, right? I was intrigued about a film I heard of called "The Atomic Cafe" that dealt with Cold War paranoia and the palpable threat of nuclear war back in the Fifties. There's a set of two DVD's put out by Docurama Films that contains that hour and a half documentary along with another eight or nine propaganda shorts including this one. This was the first one I watched on the bonus disc, and if the rest are as zany as this one, it will qualify as the find of the century. However as I sit here writing this review and check out the condition of my work area, I could be a goner when the big one hits. I should really take the advice of the guy in the film - he states emphatically that if you keep your house neat and tidy, THE REWARD MAY BE SURVIVAL. You know, I think he meant it.

I'm not sure who in the movie business went all ape-crap in the mid 50's, but somebody sure did. My god, why did anyone think this was a good idea? Fascinating and funny, it makes you wonder how we even got past slavery. There is not much to say about this except, DAMN!Paint your house, or die! Nice message. Can't imagine who sponsored it (Sherwin Williams, perhaps?). The point of this 13 minute short seems to be that we should paint and keep our houses clean, so that our homes can survive a nuclear attack, even if we don't. Perhaps the commies put this film out, so that they would have somewhere nice to stay when they nuked us and came over here and took over.Being born in the 50's myself, I try to give a break to the stupidity of the era, but this load of a movie short is just indefensible. The 50's equivalent of the government telling us to buy duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect us against terrorist attacks in the 21st century.Oh, BTW, don't miss it. Funny stuff.