Duck and Cover - 1951 | Bert The Turtle (Social Guidance Film)

Duck and Cover - 1951 | Bert The Turtle (Social Guidance Film). Duck and Cover is a 1951 American civil defense animated and live action social guidance film that is often mischaracterized as propaganda. It has similar themes to the more adult-oriented civil defense training films. It was widely distributed to United States schoolchildren in the 1950s, and teaches students what to do in the event of a nuclear explosion.

The film was funded by the US Federal Civil Defense Administration and released in January 1952. At the time, the Soviet Union was engaged in nuclear testing and the US was in the midst of the Korean War. It was written by Raymond J. Mauer, directed by Anthony Rizzo of Archer Productions, narrated by actor Robert Middleton, and made with help from schoolchildren from New York City and Astoria, New York.