The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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.

... 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.

Unintentionally funny short 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. But it's really hard to buy what they're selling. If I'm going to be killed instantly by the blast or die slowly from radiation poisoning, I really don't give a squat if my house survives. Anyway, this is pretty interesting from historical and sociological perspectives, not to mention good for some laughs.

I actually am affiliated with the successor to the organization that sponsored this, but no one in the organization even knew about this. So far over the top that people may have been embarrassed to admit to it. It seems to be a parody, but it isn't. Amazing how someone convinced the federal government to test the proposition of the film, but they apparently did. And the narrator seems to be the guy who narrated all of this genre of movies (which include the driver's ed and scary health education films I recall. I suspect this guy had cornered the market on the VD prevention movies they showed to poor GIs back then too. Anyway, worth the time to watch -- a real hoot.

I'm not sure who in the movie business went all ape-crap in the mid 50's, but somebody sure did. My god, why did anyone think this was a good idea? Fascinating and funny, it makes you wonder how we even got past slavery. There is not much to say about this except, DAMN!Paint your house, or die! Nice message. Can't imagine who sponsored it (Sherwin Williams, perhaps?). The point of this 13 minute short seems to be that we should paint and keep our houses clean, so that our homes can survive a nuclear attack, even if we don't. Perhaps the commies put this film out, so that they would have somewhere nice to stay when they nuked us and came over here and took over.Being born in the 50's myself, I try to give a break to the stupidity of the era, but this load of a movie short is just indefensible. The 50's equivalent of the government telling us to buy duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect us against terrorist attacks in the 21st century.Oh, BTW, don't miss it. Funny stuff.