Atomic Cafe [VHS]

This docu-drama begins with the Trinity atomic test blast in New Mexico in 1945, then proceeds through the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent atomic test at Bikini atoll. With the acquisition of the A-bomb by the Soviets in 1949 - my birth year - and the Korean War, the film gets into the meat of the piece, which is a visual commentary on the paranoia about the Red Menace and Nuclear Armageddon which gripped the United States during Eisenhower's two terms as President.

THE ATOMIC CAFE is alternately funny, sobering, and shocking. Funny, as when Kruschev and Nixon verbally joust in a comedic Tricky Dick and Nicky routine during the former's visit to the States. And the training films depicting citizens, singly and in large groups, on the streets and in schools, doing the "duck and cover" drill in response to the hypothetical Big One. Sobering, as when a priest discusses the merits of excluding non-family members from your personal bomb shelter. (In a departure from Christian charity, he was all for it.) Or the message given to Army troops assigned to the near vicinity of test explosions, which was that in a real atomic war it would be the blast that kills them, not the radiation. And shocking, as when we see the disfiguring burns and blisters affecting the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the pigs exposed to subsequent test detonations in the desert Southwest. (My wife, an animal lover, left in horror after seeing the latter.)

Released in 1982, THE ATOMIC CAFE is a pacifist and anti-war statement produced, I suspect, in response to President Reagan's confrontational stance vis-a-vis the Evil Empire after his 1980 election. While the film inspires many different emotions, its consistent and overall tone is to mock the U.S. government for the nuclear fix it got the country into with the development of the A and H-bombs, the wild-eyed propaganda it disseminated to rally the citizenry against the Commie Hordes, and the Best Face the Civil Defense authorities put forward on the possibility of surviving a nuclear holocaust.

As a child of the 50s, I also remember the periodic tests of the air raid siren, and the "duck and cover" exercises. My Dad built us an elaborate bomb shelter under the garage around the time of the Cuban Crisis. While I found THE ATOMIC CAFE fascinating, it certainly wasn't balanced. (For example, the narrative tellingly ends prior to Kennedy's election. Bay of Pigs and nuclear brinkmanship? Say what?) I would also like to have seen some of the equivalent anti-American propaganda the Soviets disseminated to their citizens during the period. Perhaps, best of all, the film would be better produced today after decades' distance from the events.

Hopefully the film will be re-released on DVD, but, for now, this is a must for anyone curious about public mis-information and conspiracy theorists

It is important to remember that by the end of the 1950's, and for quite some time after that, it was assumed that one day there would be World War III and that it was going to be an all-out nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union (the original "Star Trek" series took that for granted). The manner in which Americans cheerfully prepared for a nuclear war cannot help but seem patently absurd to us today, but these images are unforgettable. Still, you have to admire the spirit of American inventiveness that would come up with radiation suits and quickie shelters, even if they would not do anybody a bit of good.

"The Atomic Cafe" manages to inform us about the mentality of the American people during that period of the Cold War, while harshly critiquing that view from our informed perspective of today. I have always been impressed by how this could be achieved simply by arranging the order in which we view these historic bits of film and adding a dramatic counterpoint through the use of music. Very simple but quite powerful. Final Note: be prepared for Hugh Beaumont (a.k.a. Ward Cleaver) to show up in a military training film to explain what happens when an atomic bomb goes off.