On the Beach (1959)

The residents of Australia after a global nuclear war must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

John Paxton (screenplay), Nevil Shute (novel)

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gregory Peck	...	Cmdr. Dwight Lionel Towers, USS Sawfish
Ava Gardner	...	Moira Davidson
Fred Astaire	...	Julian Osborne
Anthony Perkins	...	Lt. Peter Holmes - Royal Australian Navy
Donna Anderson	...	Mary Holmes
John Tate	...	Adm. Bridie
Harp McGuire	...	Lt. Sunderstrom (ashore in San Diego)
Lola Brooks	...	Lt. Hosgood (Bridie's secretary)
Ken Wayne	...	Lt. Benson
Guy Doleman	...	Lt. Cmdr. Farrel
Richard Meikle	...	Davis
John Meillon	...	Ralph Swain (ashore in San Francisco)
Joe McCormick	...	Ackerman (radiation sickness)
Lou Vernon	...	Bill Davidson (Moira's father)
Kevin Brennan	...	Dr. King (radiation diagnosis)

Storyline

In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other?

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Plot Keywords:

australia | submarine | nuclear fallout | fallout | nuclear war | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das letzte Ufer

Filming Locations:

Canadian Bay, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The only US Nuclear submarine with the hull number 623 was the SSBN Nathan Hale, a ballistic missile submarine.

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Goofs

At the very beginning of the film, a radio announcer is heard reporting that no life survives anywhere but Australia. Later Admiral Bridie suggests that it might be possible for life to continue in Antarctica, indicating that that continent is also not yet affected by radiation. In any event, the basic premise - that Australia would still harbor life while every other site on the globe has been destroyed or rendered lifeless - including, among other places, New Zealand, farther south and much less of a target than Australia would be - is illogical and physically a virtual impossibility. (By contrast, in the novel the entire Southern Hemisphere is untouched by the atomic war itself, though the radioactivity gradually drifts southward.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dwight Towers: Prepare to surface.

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Crazy Credits

and Introducing Donna Anderson

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Connections

Referenced in Australian Movies to the World (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Onward, Christian Soldiers"
(uncredited)
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by Sabine Baring-Gould

User Reviews

Powerful Without Being Pretentious

"On The Beach", despite it's heavy subject of a nuclear holocaust wiping out all human life, succeeds because Stanley Kramer is mercifully more restrained and less pretentious than he would later be in "Inherit The Wind" and "Judgment At Nuremberg", which are memorable more for their polemics than their characters, in my opinion. Except for one minor speech by Fred Astaire at one point (which as the previous reviewer noted is somewhat ironic in light of the fact that the very thing Astaire rails against, the idea that large nuclear stockpiles could keep the peace, turned out to be absolutely true) the film is for the most part about people and how they react to the knowledge that their world and their lives will soon come to an end. This is what makes the film so compelling as far as I'm concerned. The cast is excellent, with fine performances by Astaire (his first non-musical part), Anthony Perkins and Gregory Peck. But the real strength of the movie is Ava Gardner's touching performance as the lonely, alcoholic Moira Davidson who manages for one brief moment before the end to find true love with Peck. Having read much about her life, there is something almost hauntingly autobiographic in Gardner's portrayal, and that only adds to the movie's overall poignance.