A Day Called X (1957) watch online HD

This is a narrated piece of how Portland Oregon would handle an evacuation in case of a "possible" nuclear bomb attack in 1957.

The procedures are fairly sound. Some people actually stay in the city, to handle essentials. Most are evacuated.

Does the enemy plane drop the bomb? Probably not on the original target area, as a population as large as Portland would obviously have spies relaying messages back about the evacuation. A dropped bomb would only take out a few people and needed materials for invaders. The people who would evaporate would be the self sacrificing people an enemy would prefer to have as a civilian population they could control.

So an attack would probably be changed to a new target, and the fallout would be a huge problem.

How relevant is it today? While the attack by plane is unlikely, evacuation is still something that must be considered. Not just from missiles, but from tsunamis, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and other disasters.

Since 1957, the roads have changed, and more people drive. Jams are a major issue, due to lower classes who are abused by dishonest mechanics, whose cars would probably die on the road. Eventually, because of corrupt, greedy, dishonest mechanics and garage owners, the dead vehicles would be an impassable mountain, much quicker than most people could imagine.

That would mean "alternate routes" to be taken into consideration, and this film goes into that. The method of transmitting information is more high tech today, and the hugest problem would be too many "chiefs" trying to play God, especially in a metropolitan U.S. area.

Where do people go? The film touches upon that, ironically more so than most modern educational videos. If a million people leave an area into about six vectors, then each vector will see over a hundred thousand immigrants, literally a new city. It would be nice to see how that would be handled. How a rural community could adapt to being a new government to a new city.

A Day Called X (1957)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This documentary was produced by CBS and features Glenn Ford playing host and narrator. The story is pretty simple as we're shown a dramatization of Portland, Oregan being evacuated after reports of planes in the air and ready to drop the H bomb.

Back during this era there were all sorts of education films like this one preparing people what to do in case we were attacked. The majority of these shorts scared people but today they're viewed for their camp value. After all, we know now that we never got attacked and no one ever dropped the H bomb on us so we can view these shorts today the same way we view something like REEFER MADNESS.

This film doesn't have any camp value as it's played completely straight and it's a lot more mature than most like it. It's clear that its purpose was just to educate and not really to try and scare people. It also had an upbeat feel to it as if it's trying to assure people that if we were attacked we would be prepared and could handle it.

Ford does a nice job with his narration and for the most part the film is well-made and entertaining. It'a also worth pointing out that CBS didn't want another Orson Welles/War of the Worlds scandal as there are warnings on the screen letting those watching know that this show is just a re-enactment.

I found this ultra-bizarre public service film on archive.org and apart from its historical value, I can't see a lot of reason for you to rush to copy this to your computer for viewing. The film is a very dry documentary about what the good folks in Portland, Oregon have planned in order to try to survive a nuclear attack. It all sounds very sensible, civilized and easy as Glenn Ford narrates...never mind that most of the town would be vaporized long before they could evacuate. Back in the 50s and 60s, there was a big effort here in the States to try to make nuclear war seem survivable and such nonsense as 'duck and cover' was drilled into peoples' heads. Seen today, it's all very strange and surreal. Despite being very dull and probably pointless, it is interesting when seen today as a historical artifact of this bygone era. If I had a copy of this film back when I was teaching world history, it might have been interesting to show the kids so that they'd understand what it was like growing up in the shadow of the Bomb.