by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Operation Ivy was produced by the Civil Defense Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission. This 28-minute documentary details an experiment H-bomb detonation at Eniwetok Atoll, late in 1952. Scenes include the evacuation of the Atoll, the land and sea preparations of the Navy, and, of course, the climactic "big bang." This being a government-sanctioned film, at no time is the necessity of nuclear weaponry ever questioned. The film opens with newsreel footage of President Eisenhower's atomic-energy speech at the UN in 1953, and closes with a summing up by CD administrator Val Peterson. Operation Ivy was released simultaneously to theaters and local TV outlets, but only the theatrical version was processed in color.
