This was kind of a mixed bag. The film starts off well, with an alarm going off in an elementary school, indicating a nuclear attack is imminent. The Principal (William Daniels) tries to get confirmation by calling the phone company (not sure why) and another school. I'd have called the cops. Also, apparently there is no radio in the school, which struck me as odd. Daniels evacuates the school. The bulk of the film involves how the school kids react as they walk home in groups. One group lock themselves in a bomb shelter, and won't allow another kid in. I expected Rod Serling to show up at this point.
Daniels sounds a bit wussy, but Nancy Marchand and Kathryn Hays do some good work. Alice Playten, as one of the kids, is rather obnoxious and bossy. If a bomb had actually fallen on her, no doubt the audience would have erupted in cheers. Linda Meyer, as another of the kids, steals her scenes when she tries to convince her mother (Estelle Parsons) that the bomb is coming. Parsons basically blows her off, forcing Meyer to hide under her bed with her goldfish. This poor kid actually looked terrified throughout. In an interview, Playten (who had some stage experience prior to this film) said that the kids discussed off-camera how they would really react during an attack. According to her, some of that dialogue was put into the finished film.
The film did involve me in one respect, because one of the girls (who is the only one to die) looks remarkably like a dear friend of mine when she was younger.
The movie was filmed at an elementary school in Gradyville, PA. Frank and Eleanor Perry screened over 2000 kids before settling on thirteen, causing Frank Perry to quip "I never knew so many kinds were out of work."
Probably worth a look, if only to relive a time when we had drills in school and did useless things like close blinds, hide under our desks, and cover our necks as if any of that would have protected our behinds when the blast came.
Daniels sounds a bit wussy, but Nancy Marchand and Kathryn Hays do some good work. Alice Playten, as one of the kids, is rather obnoxious and bossy. If a bomb had actually fallen on her, no doubt the audience would have erupted in cheers. Linda Meyer, as another of the kids, steals her scenes when she tries to convince her mother (Estelle Parsons) that the bomb is coming. Parsons basically blows her off, forcing Meyer to hide under her bed with her goldfish. This poor kid actually looked terrified throughout. In an interview, Playten (who had some stage experience prior to this film) said that the kids discussed off-camera how they would really react during an attack. According to her, some of that dialogue was put into the finished film.
The film did involve me in one respect, because one of the girls (who is the only one to die) looks remarkably like a dear friend of mine when she was younger.
The movie was filmed at an elementary school in Gradyville, PA. Frank and Eleanor Perry screened over 2000 kids before settling on thirteen, causing Frank Perry to quip "I never knew so many kinds were out of work."
Probably worth a look, if only to relive a time when we had drills in school and did useless things like close blinds, hide under our desks, and cover our necks as if any of that would have protected our behinds when the blast came.