From Invasion of the Bodysnatchers to Manchurian Candidate to Psycho to Dr. Strangelove.

Played on our deepest fear, and quite effectively.

McCarthy and Nixon were very fresh in everyone's mind.

Another "D.C." film, Advise and Consent, was made around the same time. It was even filmed partially on location at the Capitol, and when they needed an extra to play a reporter for a one-line role, they grabbed the first reporter they could find. That happened to be my father, who, decades later, still got his check for 49 cents or whatever from the studio as his residual every time the film was shown on TV somewhere.

I seem to remember seeing "Seven Days in May," "Dr. Strangelove" and "Failsafe" all pretty close together. I would like to say that I was born in 1950. I don't remember ever doing a duck and cover drill in school. Perhaps it was living in New Orleans and Houston which were prime targets for a nuclear strike so there was no point. In between those to metropolises I lived in a rural area for 3 years. Still no duck and cover.

Also when I never got disrespected or spit on when in uniform. Perhaps that was more prevalent on the West Coast.