On the Beach (1959)

On the Beach
Directed by Stanley Kramer
Written by John Paxton from a novel by Neville Shute
1959/USA
Stanley Kramer Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Moira Davidson: I love Americans. They’re so naive.[/box]

This is a well-made and touching story about post-apocalypse humanity waiting for the end.

The nuclear submarine USS Starfish commanded by Dwight Lionel Towers (Gregory Peck) tenetatively approaches the shore of Australia near Melbourne, takes a radiation reading, and surfaces.  Thanks to wind currents, Australia is perhaps the last place on earth fit for human habitation after a global nuclear war.  The streets of Melbourne are populated with horse-drawn carriages and people on bicycles due to a scarcity of petroleum.  Scientists estimate five months before the radiation begins to kill Austalians as well.

We move from the submarine to young Aussie naval officer Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) and his wife and baby.  Holmes has been assigned as liaison to the Starfish, which is about to embark on an exploratory mission to find any other pockets of life and investigate mysterious telegraph messages emanating from San Diego.  He worries about leaving his family on its own.  His wife is not approaching events as well as he is.

Two other important players in the story are good-time girl Moira Davidson (Ava Gardner) who is assigned to squire Towers around and eventually falls in love with him and hard-drinking scientist Julian Armstrong (Fred Astaire) who accompanies the Starfish on its mission.

We follow these characters and the city of Melbourne as they prepare for the worst.

I really enjoyed this movie.  Everyone was so very civilized!  In a modern movie, there would surely be pandemonium and far worse in this situation.  The performances are strong and the emotions are real, sad without straying into maudlin territory.    Recommended.

Now I want to watch the 2000 Australian made-for-TV movie based on the novel.  It’s in parts on YouTube.

On the Beach was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Film Editing and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzEWpKKOZs

Credits – such a moving instrumental version of “Waltzing Matilda”