This Cold War civil defense film attempts to persuade viewers that building a home fallout shelter is a smart thing to do, and they are easy and economical to build. The film shows how to construct a durable, concrete shelter suitable for surviving a nuclear blast; it was made in 1963 and presented by the Department of Defense. The basic premise of the film is that it follows Civil Defense Director Hank Adams as he guides the Warren Family through construction of their own basement fallout shelter. The original catalog entry for this movie noted that: “This film is designed not only for those living in suburban or rural areas too far removed from the nearest community shelter-but also for those in urban sections who, for reasons of personal preference or convenience, would rather rely on a family shelter for fallout protection.”

Opening: Clock on a large commercial building in an urban downtown shows 5:00 p.m. An elevator door opens and people exit. People leave the building as others enter. Titles (:08-:58). Exterior of a building, with Fallout Shelter signage visible. Two men talk in front of a van. Food and water is being carted into the building to stock the fallout shelter on the side of the building. People leave work and exit the building. A man gets into his Ford Falcon automobile. Drives off. Drives through a city (:59-2:28). Car drives onward. Exterior of multiple buildings. Exterior of an industrial plant. School, apartments, many of them have fallout shelters. The man in the car pulls up in front of a suburban home on a quiet street. Outside the house (2:29-4:39). A couple who is interested in having a home fallout shelter talks with Civil Defense Director Hank Adams. Adams shows the couple a model of an above ground shelter, he describes it and points with a pencil. He shows another metal shelter followed by a basement shelter. He points at a model for an underground concrete shelter (4:40-7:16). The couple sits at a table inside their house. The homeowner decides to build a shelter himself. He measures in his basement. Two younger boys move stuff around to help him. A premixed mortar is being made with water. The man measures from the wall to the middle. The man starts laying the mortar. He places a concrete block onto it in place. Measures to make sure it’s straight. He lays mortar for the second block nearby. He places mortar on one end of the new block and lays it down connecting the two (7:17-10:40). He pounds the block down with his hand. He uses a carpenter’s tool to make sure there is a true right angle. The man starts laying more mortar. He lays more blocks. The wall is rising as he does it. A right angle corner is built six courses high. The younger boys continue to assist in some capacity. The man stretches a guideline along the wall to assist in placing the blocks correctly. he places a new block down. The woman visits them as they are pausing during work. She takes the boys away and the man lays more mortar. The woman writes a list. She takes a can of beets out of a cabinet, looks at it, puts it back (10:41-15:06). The man continues to build the wall. Mortar placed on a block and then its put in place. More mortar is laid with a trowel. The trowel is scrapped against excess mortar to smooth it out. The outer walls are almost all complete. The man bolts upright posts to the wall for the roof structure. He then places a piece of wood on top and hammers it. The boys help the man lift wood. One of the boys guides it. The man hammers some nails into the wood. He is putting beams across the roof (15:07-18:22). More wood for the roof is put across. The man then fills the roof with mortar and evens it with a trowel. The boys carry concrete blocks. Wood and concrete help make the roof. No mortar is needed (18:23-20:40). The boys move a concrete block. They hand it to the man and he put it on the roof. He smooths out concrete with a trowel. The woman is outside and hands the boy a bag of groceries. The younger boy leads the woman into the newly constructed shelter. The other boy and man come in as well. The woman has her shelter all set with food and a bed. The man comes in and praises her good work. He hands her a flashlight. The boys bring in board games. Exterior of the house (20:41-23:28). End credits (23:29-24:09).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com