After the film, complete the following classwork: |
Description of Film Chapters:
1. (00:00 – 04:52) Trinity test, dropping the bomb on Japan (description by pilot, over newsreel footage). 2. (04:52 – 10:23) Pres. Truman on the atomic bomb, US determination to use the bomb to force a Japanese surrender, pilot describes dropping the bomb as a “thrill,” US reaction, devastation of Japanese cities, why Hiroshima & Nagasaki were chosen, graphic images of bomb victims & their injuries (warning: brief frontal nudity at 09:30 to show a woman’s radiation burns). 3. (10:23 – 16:45) Montage showing peace after WWII, testing the bomb on the Bikini atoll, risks of using the bomb & myths about the bomb. 4. (16:45 – 20:49) Newsreel explaining the Cold War situation 1947; small town communist takeover “experiment” to show that “it can happen here” too (very bizarre, but funny), ad linking shopping centers to resist communism. 5. (20:49- 27:04) Soviets get the bomb; bomb shelters and precautions in a montage with 1950s music; beginning of the Korean War and deciding whether or not to use the atomic bomb (great song on MacArthur & the atomic bomb). 6. (27:04 – 35:36) Let your congressman know how you feel about using the bomb; military training film about communist propaganda on the home front; trial & sentence of the Julius & Ethel Rosenberg including descriptions of the executions. 7. (35:36 – 41:57) Flashback to 1950: public opinion on the H bomb; scary cartoons about communism; Eisenhower’s rise to power; 1950s lifestyle juxtaposed with Eisenhower speech; H Bomb testing. 8. (41:57 – 50:46) Third World War? US military cannot stop an atomic attack; life when both Super Powers have the bomb; after-effects of atomic tests on people living in the Pacific; US army film on rumors & myths about atomic bombs; army footage of testing on pigs (note: this testing on pigs freaks some students out). 9. (50:46 – 1:01:20) Soldiers preparing for atomic bomb training exercises in the desert & actual test; clearing up misconceptions about the effects of an atomic bomb explosion and presenting the risks of atomic testing as minimal (very shocking & bizarre). 10. (1:01:20 – 1:10:21) bomb drills in school & explaining it to students, 4-H preparation for a bomb shelter; building bomb shelters; Khrushchev & Nixon argue on TV; how to protect your family with a shelter. 11. (1:10:21 – 1:19:00) emerging from your bomb shelter; atomic bomb song (Billy Haley & the Comets?); atomic bomb shelters; applause for Nixon’s willingness to use the bomb; mental health & the bomb; what if an attack happened tomorrow? Procedures for an atomic attack (from this part on is very Dr. Strangelove, with classical music & montages of an attack). 12. (1:19:00 – 1:21:08) atomic bomb detonates; total destruction. |