The House in the Middle (1954)

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

OMFG. Like one of the other reviewers I too recorded this from TCM (9/4/2010) and expected to see mushroom clouds and damage to different types of objects, but never expected it to be saying the a clean house and yard will be protected from an atomic blast.It seems like the US govt. would have been a little more realistic in their messages to the public by telling them to kiss their asses goodbye if an atomic bomb was detonated in their town, rather than wasting money on a film telling them their property would be spared if it was clean and well maintained. Of course this from a government who would later develop the neutron bomb which preserves property but kills everyone more quickly.Good for a few chuckles with horrible production values and (as mentioned by another reviewer) the same narrator (seemingly) as some other classic government propaganda films. Enjoy!

No matter what your political leanings are, The House In The Middle should tickle your funny bone. I recorded this from Turner Classic Movies (which I'm sure will repeat it someday and it's also on the internet to watch), and I was expecting to see various atomic blast targets as they got blasted. Things like barns, telephone poles, trees, goats, pigs, mannequins in sofa's, etc etc. Nope if you were thinking like me you would realize immanently that this was presented by The NATIONAL Clean it Up, Fix It Up, Paint It Up Bureau (oh brother!). One wonders how many non national chapters there were, and I'm amazed that no one has used that name as a joke of some sort, I guess this film has remained buried a long time, and for good reason. The whole point of the film is to tell you to be clean so your house can survive a nuclear attack. They didn't care so much about your survival even though they said it's for that reason, but rather America needs it's houses standing after the Commies take us to the woodshed. They go so far as to say that even IN your house to not be a slob as your house is going to burn from all those old newspapers lying around when the A bomb hits the city next to yours and your house gets the heat blast. I can see the very patriotic America of the 50's laughing out loud about this film, it's way over the top. I can see neighbors gripping about how their spotless clean WHITE (yes they do mention it has to be WHITE, lol) home is going to burn up because the next door neighbors house was not as clean and got torched and the fire spread. Thankfully its only 15 minutes long, this is definitely a so bad it's good film and worth a 10 of 10. Now, go clean your room Junior, for America's survival, lol.

House in the Middle, The (1954)** (out of 4) The National Clean Up- Paint Up- Fix Up Bureau produced this documentary teaching people how to save their houses if an atomic blast was to take place. The Nevada Test Site is the setting for the short that shows various houses and how well they take an atomic blast. I'm really not sure how true the details provided in this short are but we're told that if you clean and paint your house then it won't be destroyed by an atomic blast. If you leave newspapers around your living room or trash bags by your house then you're going to die when the blast comes. Again, I'm not sure how true this research is but the short comes off as a neat freak trying to use an atomic scare to get his neighbors to clean up the yard. The film is rather boring in all of its tests but those who enjoy the atomic scare films should get a few laughs. Telling someone to mow their lawn before an atomic blast is pretty funny in its own right.