| Surprise Attack | |
|---|---|
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| Starring | |
Production company | Crown Film Unit Production. A Central Office of Information film for the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Central Council for Health Education. |
Release date |
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Running time | 10 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Surprise Attack is a British short film released in 1951 by the Crown Film Unit, and commissioned by the Ministry of Health, depicting the fictional story of a young unvaccinated girl who contracts smallpox after her father returns from the Far East. The film shows how control of a smallpox outbreak in an ordinary English town takes place, co-ordinated by the local medical officer of health (MOH). Although the girl survives the disease, she has to be sent to an isolation hospital and is left permanently scarred. Eleven further cases of smallpox occur, of which four children die.
John Le Mesurier played the role of the general practitioner (GP) physician in the film, which aimed to demonstrate the risks of ignoring official vaccination advice. The final scene sends a message to parents of the early 1950s that by the time their children are grown up, air travel will be common, creating an opportunity for infectious diseases to enter Britain.
Despite recent outbreaks of smallpox in Britain occurring in 1949 and 1950, the film was a one-off and not part of a wider health education campaign. At least until the early 1960s, no further efforts were made to update or replace the film. Smallpox was ultimately certified to have been globally eradicated in 1980.