MartinHafer As an American and World History teacher, I find that cartoons like DUCK AND COVER are wonderful windows into the 1950s. Nowadays, kids have no idea of the fear about nuclear war that gripped the world as well as the insane belief that perhaps such a war would be survivable and perhaps even fun! Fun?! Well, that's what many kids might just take from this film. With a cute turtle, a very catchy song and its direct appeal to children, this public service film distributed to schools must have made the prospect of such an awful war a bit exciting! Today, when you watch it, you can't help but laugh at the ridiculous methods by which kids will supposedly survive an atomic blast. By covering your face with a newspaper or lying crouched under a desk, you'll apparently survive and thrive such an attack according to this film!! Such naive notions perhaps were intended to give people a false sense of control so they wouldn't panic when Armageddon arrives--but newspapers are actually not the best blast-resistant devices, believe me (though it is true, I am no expert--maybe there's something in the ink that will block all the radiation and 10,000,000,000 degree wall of heat).Overall, a stupid film that manages to entertain even if it is giving you rather shabby advice.

Michael_Elliott Duck and Cover (1953) ** (out of 4) Atomic scare film is part animation and part live action. The animated part has Bert the Turtle walking when a monkey lights a firecracker behind him. The turtle then teachers the kids how to duck and cover. We then get a narrator telling us what we should look for an expect in case of an atomic attack. Looking at these films today you can't help but roll you eyes but at the same time it's somewhat scary because of what we're told in this film. Had an atomic explosion really went off you can't help but this about how unhelpful films like this would have been. Informing people to put a newspaper on your head to prevent burns? Cover your necks with your hands to avoid burns? On a technical level this thing is pretty poorly done because if you pay close attention you'll notice then telling you how to "duck" during one scene at yet others showing us how to duck are wrong or at least don't match up with what was told earlier.

Tubular_Bell That the "Duck and Cover" technique would be virtually useless in the event of a nuclear attack, I guess we all know. But the real question in this is whether the movie was a honest, genuine attempt at saving lives; a worthless but effective way of soothing down panic; or, more cynically speaking, a way of building fear of child-eating-commies in school children back then. We, in our modern 2000's in which we sit before Pentiums in comfortable chairs in air-conditioned rooms, can just chuckle and enjoy nine minutes of campy entertainment on YouTube or Google Video, but it makes you wonder how watching this must have been back then. This is a flashback from a dramatically different era, in which you'd expect a nice gentleman to cordially point you the way to a fallout shelter as if he was showing you the way to the movie theatre.Of course, stranger aspects arise when you realise that the only black kid in the film is given focus when the narrator talks about "dangers that are around us all the time". Just noticing that and wondering whether it was an intentional, almost subliminal notice, or the nastiest goof one could make, is already worth the price of admission alone.And if you are more interested in the scarier, more fatalistic aspect hidden behind the friendly cartoon turtle and the smiling kids training "Duck and Cover", check out the British "Protect and Survive" series from the 70's and its evil synthesizer jingle.

deltajuliet Being too young to have been in school in the '50's, I had the privilege of viewing this little gem in US History.Starting off with a very catchy song about Burt the turtle, "Duck and Cover" describes how ducking and covering will make you safe in a nuclear blast. Needless to say, it's very amusing.I also liked it just for its '50's vibe (i.e. "Little Timmy knows what to do!"). This combined with the government's reassurance that a nuclear blast is not that big a danger made me utterly love every second of it, however ludicrous it might be."Duck and Cover," however, is also an interesting look at government propaganda. Again, very amusing for its not-so-subtle approach in this department.So if you have some time, check it out. It can be viewed on the internet (http://www.archive.org/details/DuckandC1951), and it's 9 minutes where you can just shake your head and laugh.So remember children, when you see a flash, DUCK AND COVER!