Very well executed

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

"The House in the Middle" is an American 12-minute documentary short that shows us how effective housing in terms of cleanliness can help you in being prepared the best way possible in case America gets hit by a nuclear attack as back in 1954 2 World wars happened in the last 40 years, the Cold War was an imminent danger and after all it happened to Japan, so better be safe than sorry. A bit of a pity we don't have any names attached to this project, but the production company National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau says perfectly how seriously you can take this bizarre little presentation. To me it felt like another adaptation of the Three Pigs vs. Big Bad Wolf story than a really politically motivated insightful work, but I never had the impression this was really an interesting, memorable or at least entertaining work. No clue why the National Film Registry decided to pick it up as really it cannot just be the political references about life in the 1950s. Don't watch.

... and this film is a big example of that. Small examples are when people ask "How are you?" and the only acceptable reply is "Fine, How are you?". It doesn't matter if your marriage is on the ropes or your parents are dying of cancer. The actual truth disrupts people's day. As for this film, I'm pretty much going to tell you all about it, but I don't think spoiler warnings are necessary on so-called public service information shorts.The narrator shows three very small houses lined up in a row on the Nevada atomic proving grounds. One is in disrepair on the outside - not painted for a long time, no external maintenance at all. Another one looks fine on the outside, but has untidy housekeeping inside which amounts to lots of extra papers and things in disarray that can act as kindling. The "house in the middle" has none of these problems. It is well kept inside and out. Then a nuclear blast 15 miles away occurs. The narrator notes how the unpainted house burns first. The house with the untidy inside looks like it will escape burning, but then begins to blaze from the inside out. The "house in the middle" escapes burning to the ground, the narrator says, because of its well kept condition inside and out.The narrator then encourages people to organize and go from neighborhood to neighborhood to clean up trash and encourages better housekeeping on the inside. He even instructs that people plant flowers around their house? Hey, won't plants act as kindling too? But I digress from what I think that the Federal Civil Defense Administration already knew - that good housekeeping and neighborhood clean-up efforts and gardening, just like duck and cover, are distractions to make people feel like they can actually do something to escape the certain death they would face if a nuclear blast ever hit anywhere near them. The lucky ones would die first, the unlucky ones would die a slow death of radiation poisoning or an even slower death from cancer years later, like almost the entire cast of 1956's "The Conqueror" which was filmed not long after the Atomic Bomb test in the Yucca Flats area. Merry Maids is not going to save you from the carnage of a nuclear attack. Recommended as a lesson in human nature.

The "National Clean-Up Paint-Up Fix-Up Bureau" was an arm of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association. I don't know who was the intended audience for this film (homeowners? hardware store jobbers?), but the unintended hilarity is of a piece with other Cold War atomic-survival films.The film does take pains to point out that this advice is meant for suburban homeowners who live on the "outer fringes" of a target area. There is enough truth in the advice here -- paint your house white to reflect heat, keep your grounds free of trash and clutter to prevent the spread of fire -- that the casual viewer of the 1950s might begin to think seriously about doing a little maintenance work. It was not enough to urge people to keep things neat and tidy because, well, they really should; the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association clearly felt that homeowners had to be scared into doing so. I wonder if it worked?You'll be happy to know that the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association is still around. After a merger in 2010 with a like-minded organization, it's now called the American Coatings Association. I'll bet there's a p.r. guy in the ACA keeping a close eye on the movements of the Chinese Navy.

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.