Nuclear Holocaust at the Movies Quiz

Answer: The Day After

'The Day After' aired on ABC on November 20th 1983 and was watched by almost 100 million people including then-President Reagan, who was depressed and moved by the film and in his memoirs made a direct link between its showing and the introduction of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty at Reykjavik three years later.

Moments to watch for: Jason Robards as the Surgeon Dr. Oakes, silently embracing the dying squatter family in the ruins of his Kansas City home, as a voiceover track reads out the desperate attempt of a radio operator to contact someone, anyone else...

Answer: The War Game

'The War Game' was made by documentary maker Peter Watkins, who had produced an award winning 'mockumentary' about the Battle of Culloden a few years before. It should have been shown on the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1965 but was withdrawn at the last moment, ostensibly because the 'effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting', but actually due to political pressure from the Civil Service who did not want attention drawn to the UK's lack of adequate Civil Defence.

Although black and white and clearly belonging to another era, it still has considerable power even today. Clips of it exist on Youtube and are definitely worth a look.

Answer: Miracle Mile

This creepily unsettling film is rather like a long episode of 'The Twilight Zone', as Harry tries to get the message out to the people he meets - but is it a prank call, with him as hopeless dupe, or is the apocalypse about to really happen?

I won't blunt the ending in case you haven't seen it, but I recommend you look it up - there are excellent performances from the two leads (Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham) and a superb script that keeps you guessing until the end.

Answer: Malevil

'Malevil' showed the survivors of a nuclear attack on France establishing civilisation of a sort from the ruins of an old castle, the 'Malevil' of the title. The film was based on an award-winning French novel from 1972 and follows the plot of the book very closely.

Answer: Threads

For people of my generation asked what the scariest piece of TV they saw in their lives, 'Threads' is often the answer. The calm, matter of fact presentation of the appalling facts and the understated yet powerful acting added to the impact of the production, showing complacent pre-war Sheffield reduced to hell on earth.

It has lost none of its power in the intervening years and can still unsettle now.

Answer: Letters From a Dead Man

The title refers to the letters that the unnamed main character writes to his son, although aware that the probably-dead man may never read them.

This film had only the most limited release in the West, but was shown at a handful of arthouse theatres. It is short at 88 minutes (but seems much longer) and is mainly notable in that the political climate had warmed enough in the USSR for it to be made at all. I understand some clips exist of it on Youtube; they may be under the alternative title, 'Dead Man's Letters'.

Answer: When The Wind Blows

Peter Sallis and Dame Peggy Ashcroft provided the voices for the old couple who are the focal point for the events of the war happening around them. Some people find elements of anti-nuclear lobby smugness and patronisation in this film (I might even be one of them) but the clash of the cosy visuals and the fondness for each other makes Jim and Hilda's inevitable end even more harrowing.

Answer: Testament

The nuclear explosion happens 'off-screen' as it were, and the impact of 'Testament' comes from the secondary effects of the bomb on San Francisco - the communications breakdown, the end of food distribution and the death of the very young and very old due to the effects of fallout and malnutrition. On a lighter note, there are early appearances by Kevin Costner, Lukas Haas and Rebecca de Mornay amidst the largely unknown cast.

Answer: On the Beach

One of the bleakest films to come out of Hollywood in the Fifties, 'On the Beach' depicts the imminent death of all mankind due to a spreading cloud of nuclear fallout gradually engulfing the world.

Although departing at points from Shute's original novel, it stays remarkably faithful to the general outline of the story and remains a very powerful film even so many years on.

Answer: The Bed-Sitting Room

This film was written by Spike Milligan at his most manic and has the feeling of an episode of 'The Goon Show', entirely stripped of its BBC cosiness and with the insanity allowed to run wild. The plot defies description - it is easier to say that it showed the madness that would prevail in the UK after the bomb as survivors tried to maintain the old forms of class and government in the face of utter devastation.

It seems unlikely that people would genuinely mutate into parrots, wardrobes or bedsitting rooms, though.