Ladybug Ladybug
1963 Directed by Frank Perry
Synopsis
Staff and students at a rural school react to a warning of an imminent nuclear attack, not knowing whether it is real or mistaken.
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When I read the teaser summary for Ladybug Ladybug ("Panic sweeps through a rural school in the early 1960s when an air-raid system sounds, warning of a coming nuclear attack and resulting in tragedy"), I expected some starchy cautionary docudrama about the importance of heeding the warning system in a calm and efficient manner, with all-knowing adults smoking pipes and possibly wearing lab coats who save the day by leading disorderly children to a fall-out shelter where they discuss the importance of 'preserving the American Dream from those gosh-darn, no-good Commies' and finally emerging from the drill with a sermonizing lecture about keeping a cool head under pressure if (God and Lady Liberty preserve us) the worst case scenario actually…
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Just when you think you have this movie and its characters figured out, it hits you with a very disturbing ending.
- a few too many cliche characters
- some over-dramatic acting and writing -
When my folks were teenagers, the Cold War started up and then, in the 80's it ended and they lived to see that end.... just long enough for the start of Cold War II: Terrorism Boogaloo. The circle is unbroken. YAY!
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A rural school receives warning of an imminent nuclear attack. The teachers are unsure if the alarm has been tripped by accident or not, and follow protocol by evacuating the school and shepherding the children home. They find themselves in various scenarios when they get home, from empty houses to parents who are unwilling to believe what they are hearing. One of the girls has a bomb shelter and a group of the children decide to secure themselves there, which turns Lord of the Flies-esque.
Ladybug Ladybug is surely dated, and is occasionally heavy-handed in its delivery (which unfortunately undermines what should have been an amazing ending), but it's well photographed and often eerily effective. It's a shame that this seems to have become all but forgotten, because it's really kind of a cool little film.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Errbody in the sixth-grade class facin' their mortality. No good movie is depressing!
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When I read the teaser summary for Ladybug Ladybug ("Panic sweeps through a rural school in the early 1960s when an air-raid system sounds, warning of a coming nuclear attack and resulting in tragedy"), I expected some starchy cautionary docudrama about the importance of heeding the warning system in a calm and efficient manner, with all-knowing adults smoking pipes and possibly wearing lab coats who save the day by leading disorderly children to a fall-out shelter where they discuss the importance of 'preserving the American Dream from those gosh-darn, no-good Commies' and finally emerging from the drill with a sermonizing lecture about keeping a cool head under pressure if (God and Lady Liberty preserve us) the worst case scenario actually…
-
Just when you think you have this movie and its characters figured out, it hits you with a very disturbing ending.
- a few too many cliche characters
- some over-dramatic acting and writing -
When my folks were teenagers, the Cold War started up and then, in the 80's it ended and they lived to see that end.... just long enough for the start of Cold War II: Terrorism Boogaloo. The circle is unbroken. YAY!
-
A rural school receives warning of an imminent nuclear attack. The teachers are unsure if the alarm has been tripped by accident or not, and follow protocol by evacuating the school and shepherding the children home. They find themselves in various scenarios when they get home, from empty houses to parents who are unwilling to believe what they are hearing. One of the girls has a bomb shelter and a group of the children decide to secure themselves there, which turns Lord of the Flies-esque.
Ladybug Ladybug is surely dated, and is occasionally heavy-handed in its delivery (which unfortunately undermines what should have been an amazing ending), but it's well photographed and often eerily effective. It's a shame that this seems to have become all but forgotten, because it's really kind of a cool little film.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.