The House In The Middle | 70 Years Later (UHD/4K)

The House in the Middle is the title of two American documentary film shorts (13 minutes), respectively from 1953 and 1954, which showed the effects of a nuclear bomb test on a set of three small houses. Courtesy of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, this helpful (lol) short shows you how good housekeeping and fresh paint can protect you and your family from the worst of an atomic blast.

Wanna Know How to Survive a Nuclear Attack? Ask Sherwin Williams!

Unintentionally funny short film put out by the National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau (yes, really) and the Civil Defense Administration. The gist of it is that you should keep your house clean and tidy with a fresh coat of paint because if there's a nuclear war your house will survive it. You'll be atomized but your house will still be standing. Small consolation to most people. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt that the intention here was earnest and it wasn't just a scare tactic to get people to properly maintain their homes so suburban property values stay high. Pretty interesting from historical and sociological perspectives, not to mention good for some laughs.

1954 version
A color version was released the next year by the American Coatings Association, a "bureau" invented by the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association trade group (now known as the American Coatings Association).

Production
Footage for the film was recorded during the Upshot-Knothole Encore test at the Nevada Test Site on May 8, 1953. The Mk-6D bomb was airdropped from 19,000 feet by a B-50 Superfortress. The bomb detonated at 2,423 feet and yielded twenty-seven kilotons.

Legacy
In 2001, the Library of Congress deemed the 1954 film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

You should also know that, in the middle of the desert there aren’t a whole lot of trees, so the United States Forest Service delivered 145 Ponderosa pines from a nearby canyon and cemented them into the ground. Fences in various stages of disrepair were constructed along with a total of five tiny homes.

At the 2:44 Mark of this enhanced version, the Bomb is Dropped
“The light flash and the heat or thermal wave, then the blast wave.”

This was the moment that the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association realized they needed to carve themselves out a piece of the atomic advertising pie. The fences are hit with the heat first and the blast a moment later. The three in the middle, as predicted go up pretty quickly, while the other two are ‘slower to ignite.’ It’s the first real hint that people who take pride in their surroundings have less to worry about when it comes to nuclear war.

There IS something you can do to prepare yourself for the possibility of the end of the world.

In this 1954 extended and colorized, director’s cut. Things get real, quickly. There’s a clock ticking followed by a man that uses his serious voice to count down from five to one. We see the three houses and then we see a mushroom cloud. This is off to a hot start with better production value and added sound effects. Then we’re offered some very serious music and a title screen that moves and comes at the viewer like something from a 3-D movie.

The next screen loads up and it says, “Produced by the National Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up Bureau.” Wait, what? Why?

The National Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up Bureau was a “bureau” invented by the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association trade group.

“In every town, you’ll find houses like this. Rundown, neglected. Trash and litter disfigure the house and yard.” The announcer says.
The voice continues.
“An eyesore? Yes, and as you’ll see, much more. A house that’s neglected is the house that may be doomed in the atomic age.”
For reference, doomed is pronounced with six or seven o’s.
This 1954 version ends with the host answering all of your pressing, “What can I do to help?” questions. Well, the answer you seek is in the name of the bureau. You can start by getting off your posterior and participating in one of the nationwide ‘Clean up, Paint up, Fix up campaigns’ or ‘CUPU F.U.’
The final message is that it’s up to you what kind of house you live in. You must choose wisely and choose the white one in the middle, otherwise you may not survive.
In Conclusion
Cleanliness leads to survival. Forget to stain your fence? Dead. Leave your kid’s soccer net on the lawn? Dead. Throw away your newspapers when you’re done reading them and keep your pillows fluffed accordingly? Live forever.