This 1962 silent color 8mm home movie documents the work and leisure activities of “Luke” and his army buddies during the Cold War. The first portion of the film appears to center on a base in Missouri, possibly Pleasant Hill, KC-30, Kansas City, featuring proving grounds, poolside relaxation, and family gatherings. A second section features testing of the surface-to-air Nike Hercules missile (SAM-N-25, MIM-14/14A/14B) at a missile base, likely White Sands in New Mexico. The reel concludes with footage from a rodeo bullfight (TRT: 48:54).
A man with a cadet’s cap in the foreground. Tanks marked “handle with care” in the background. He works at a control panel inside a missile base, joined by a superior officer (0:07). A clock in the base’s tool room. The two men meet in an office (1:57). Exterior proving grounds. A truck carries a tank of fuel (2:22). Signs “U.S. Army Restricted Area, No Civilian Vehicles.” A backlit, shirtless man at the barracks. An outdoor gathering with a woman at a shaded table (4:49). Smiling women in a swimming pool. A man takes a series of dives. A mother and child. Sunbathing smokers. Kids on an inflatable raft (5:42). A woman applies sunscreen (7:15). A man in a small novelty sombrero pantomimes strumming a guitar. Men share drinks and use a diving board. Women recline. A truck, “Panaderia Juarez” (9:25). A reluctant swimmer is carried to the pool by two companions (12:54). Passing women draw the cameraman’s attention (14:29). A woman washes her legs, is splashed by a diver (15:30). A woman sleeping (16:39). Army personnel in uniform. One man holds a guitar (17:05). A blue sky. A rooftop panorama shows terracotta roofing tiles, a parking lot (17:51). Inside a diner. Outside at a grill. A man holds up cans of Budweiser beer. A woman burns her hand. A man sneezes. A picnic table (19:28). The “Lodge of the Ozarks” motor inn (22:18). A dock with recreational motor boats. A distant water skier (22:51). A passenger ferry, the “Larry-Don” Excursion Boat at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, a helipad (24:40). The “Loc-Wood Boat Dock.” A helicopter takes off (26:24). Back on base, spectators watch a military parade (27:01). A party on a residential home’s front lawn. Smoking, guitar, Pabst Blue Ribbon. An army wife does the twist. Children dance (29:26). “The End” (33:48). POV from a moving automobile approaching a base (33:57). U.S. Air Force missiles and weapons on display (34:43). Contrails across a blue sky (36:21). The test launch of a series of missiles and distant explosions (37:08). Spectators (39:45). Aerial photography from above the clouds (40:18). Missile tests continue (41:20). A man runs into an underground missile silo. A Nike Hercules missile launch (43:00). Smoke fills the sky (46:20). A rodeo with a pair of bullfighting toreadors. A man with elephantitis displays a swollen leg as part of the show (46:40).
The Nike Ajax system was tested in the early 1950s, spurred on by Cold War era concern over a potential Soviet airstrike. The Hercules followed, contracted by Western Electric, with Bell Labs providing guidance systems and Douglas Aircraft subcontracting the airframe. It was equipped with a High-Powered Acquisition Radar (HIPAR) and Alternate Battery Radars (ABARs). Initial test firings were conducted at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) near Las Cruces, New Mexico and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The Mach 3.65, 41-foot missile used solid propellant and had a range of over 75 miles, reaching altitudes of 150,000 feet. 145 Nike Hercules batteries were deployed over the course of the Cold War, with all sites deactivated by 1975.
