Warning Red (1956) Short | Cold War Docu-Drama

Short | Drama | USA | B&W | 14min Cast: Joseph Cunningham, Mary Reading Miller, Melvin Scheldt Warning Red portrays the atomic odyssey of suburbanite Martin Dale (Joseph Cunningham) who, while on his way home from buying some ice cream, sees the bright flash of the Bomb. Once he gets up from the rubble and puts on his charred fedora, the fourteen-minute film moves forward with its agenda to convey all of the clichéd civil defense lessons about remaining in one’s shelter, avoiding contaminated food and staying tuned to the radio. Of course, Mr. Dale ignores most of these rules by running through the fallout and fire-filled streets trying to find his family. The official coda to the movie is that “You will have a greater chance of survival in an enemy attack or natural disaster if you know what to do…To learn how you can best protect yourself and your family in such an emergency, contact your nearest Civil Defense Office.” The unofficial coda to the movie is that these civil defense-loving survivors will soon be eating ice cream again . Warning Red was nationally distributed through the auspices of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA). The production was filmed in Maryland at the National Civil Defense Training Center in Olney and its cast—including lead Joseph Cunningham (as Martin Dale)—was made up of local actors from the Sandy Spring Theatre Group. While most of the talent behind Warning Red faded into obscurity, the film’s director, Nicholas Webster (1912-2006), went on to direct 1964’s Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. The director revisited the Red Planet in 1968 with Mission Mars. Webster spent most of the rest of his career working in episodic television.