This Is Not a Test (1962 film)
| This Is Not a Test | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Fredric Gadette[1] |
| Produced by |
Murray De Atley Fredric Gadette James Grandin (executive) Arthur Schmoyer (executive) |
| Written by |
Fredric Gadette Peter Abenheim Betty Lasky |
| Starring |
Seamon Glass[1] Thayer Roberts[1] Aubrey Martin[1] Mary Morlas[1] Mike Green[1] Alan Austin[1] Carol Kent[1] Norman Winston Ron Starr[1] Don Spruance[1] |
| Music by | Greig McRitchie |
| Cinematography | Brick Marquard |
| Edited by | Hal Dennis |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
This Is Not a Test is a low-budget American motion picture released in 1962. Produced at the height of the Cold War, the film was one of a number of productions of the late 1950s and early 1960s based upon the premise of the outbreak of nuclear war.
Plot
Starring a group of mostly unknown actors, This Is Not a Test begins with lone deputy sheriff Dan Colter (Seamon Glass)[2] receiving orders to block a road leading into an unidentified city (dialogue indicates the location is somewhere in central California, however).[1] Soon, he has detained several vehicles with a variety of occupants ranging from an elderly man and his granddaughter, to a man who has recently become rich and his alcoholic wife, to a trucker and a hitchhiker. The motorists and the police officer hear attack warnings over the police radio and begin to prepare for the inevitable bombing. The film focuses on the reactions to the impending attack by the motorists, and the officer's efforts to keep order.[2] Complicating matters is the revelation that the hitchhiker Clint Delany (Ron Starr) is a psychotic who is wanted for murder.[1] As the countdown to the missile attack continues, the men and women try desperately to convert a supply truck into an impromptu bomb shelter.[2] As time goes by, the deputy's behavior becomes irrational (Gary Westfahl mentioned that the film shows the ineptness that would come from ordinary people in the face of impending nuclear attack)[2] and the film ends with the deputy trying to enter the closed-up truck where the others have sheltered just as the nuclear strike happens.[2]
DVD
This Is Not a Test is presently in the public domain in the United States, and has been released in numerous DVD formats, on its own or in collections of similar films.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hughes, Howard (2014). Outer Limits: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Science-fiction Films. I.B. Tauris. p. xxi. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Sherman, Dale (2013). Armageddon Films FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Zombies, Contagions, Aliens, and the End of the World as We Know It!. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 94–95. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
External links
- This is Not a Test on YouTube
- This is Not a Test at the Internet Movie Database
- This Is Not a Test is available for free download at the Internet Archive