Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "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.

calvinnme ... 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.

nyurbiz 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!

Michael_Elliott 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.