If Moscow Strikes
Cast & Crew
Jack Glenn
Westbrook Van Voorhis
Vannevar Bush
Dr. Bixler
Jack Bush
Nicholas Cavaliere
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Using documentary footage, re-enactments, newsreels, diagrams and animation, narrator Westbrook Van Voorhis details how to react to news of an atomic explosion. From his classroom at Colby College in Maine, college president Dr. Bixler leads a discussion group about atomic bombs. At his invitation, Vannevar Bush, president of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, traces the development of weaponry from World War I to World War II. In the first World War, scientists and engineers work together to develop the tank. After the war, inventors create electric razors, the television, aircraft carrier and early forms of radar. The concept of arms changes when Hitler attacks Europe, and the Allied powers turn to mines, bazookas, the recoil-less rifle and rocket launchers for defense. Bush then explores what could transpire during World War III, when rapid bombers, guided missiles and atomic warfare may be the norm. An animated sequence depicts an attack by Russia, and America's organized counteraction.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Modern Arms and Free Men. If Moscow Strikes was based on the book Modern Arms and Free Men by Vannevar Bush (1890-1974), which called for greater responsibility in science and public policy. Bush served as dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1919-1938, after which he became the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development for the American government during World War II. He then went on to head the Carnegie Institute and act as an advisor to the government on scientific policies. The New York Times review states that the United States Army, Air Force and Navy and the British Ministry of Supply, among other sources, contributed footage to the film. According to a May 3, 1952 New Yorker article and reviews, the film was shot on location at Colby College in Waterville, ME and in Washington, D.C.
