Duck and cover: History and Collection Facts

Catalogue description

Through animation, focuses on the steps to be taken for maximum safety in the street or in school in the event of an enemy attack by atomic or other weapons.

Collection details

• Original format: Film, video
• Medium: 1 video file (digital) (ca. 9 min.) : sd., b&w.
• Genre: Children's films; Sponsored films; Instructional films; Short films; Nonfiction films
• Language: English
• Location as catalogued: United States
• Collection: MacDonald (J. Fred and Leslie W.) Collection (Library of Congress)
• Catalogue date: 1952
• Catalogue subjects: Atomic bomb--United States--Safety measures; Civil defense readiness; Cold war--Children
• Named contributors: Carr, Leon, composer; Archer Productions, production company; Langlois, Leo, film producer, actor, composer; Middleton, Robert, 1911-1977, narrator; Calonius, Lars, 1916-1995, art director; United States. Office of Civil Defense, contributor; National Education Association of the United States, contributor; Lambert, Dave, 1917-1966, arranger; Castle Films, inc., film distributor

Catalogue notes

• This film was selected for the National Film Registry.
• "Produced in co-operation with the public schools of Astoria and New York, New York"--Credits.
• Director of photography, Drummond Drury ; art director, Lars E. Calonius ; musical arrangement, Dave Lambert ; song "Duck and Cover" by Leo Carr, Leon Corday, Leo Langlois.
• Vincent Bohan, Leo "Hitch" Langlois III, Ray W. Mauer.
• Sources used: Variety, December 26, 1951, p. 17 viewed June 23, 2022 via the Internet Archive; Eagan, D., America's film legacy, 2010, p. 451-453; Library of Congress catalog: Motion pictures and film-strips, 1953-1957, p. 159.

Sources and reuse

This guide reorganizes bibliographic facts and catalogue descriptions from the Library of Congress Free to Use and Reuse data package, a published snapshot documented in 2024. The original item record identifies the source material. Audio, films, scores and full-text works are linked through the original record rather than reproduced here.