The Atomic Cafe (1982) on Netflix
NR19821h 26mDocumentaryHistory
A documentary compiles 1940s and 1950s newsreels, military films, and broadcasts. Without narration, the clips show how the U.S. government and popular culture minimized nuclear dangers.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.6/104,890 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
Archival newsreels, television reports, advertisements, and United States government films from the 1940s into the early 1960s make up this documentary. Presented without a narrator, the sequence of clips shows how the government and media of the period eased public fear of nuclear weapons. It opens with the Trinity Test and moves through the bomb's place in daily life and popular culture. Government shorts show schoolchildren ducking under their desks, and training exercises have soldiers walk into a mushroom cloud to study how the armed forces could kill survivors of a nuclear strike.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Atomic Cafe (1982)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Co-director Jayne Loader grew up in 1950s and 60s Fort Worth, Texas, across the street from a neighbor known as the "bomb shelter king of North Texas", and a friend of hers used her family's bunker as a clubhouse and secret party spot.
- The Atomic Cafe cost $300,000 to make and was largely funded by its three filmmakers themselves, after grants covered only a nominal part of the budget; Jayne Loader said in an interview, "Had we relied on grants, we would have starved."
Stills
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