On the Beach

Like watching paint dry.

Stanley Kramer and John Paxton adapt from Nevil Shute's novel. Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and Donna Anderson star, with music by Ernest Gold and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno.

After a global nuclear war, the inhabitants of Australia realise that the radiation clouds are heading their way. A group of people try to come to terms with this fact.

A well regarded film by the critics, and lauded by the makers at the time as an important and potent piece of cinema, On the Beach is still a film that's not for everyone.

The star appeal holds weight, though much of the narrative is tired and weary, trite and cheesy. In fact Shute himself was less than happy with what Kramer made ...

Well acted story with an obvious anti-war theme, written during the cold war provided an interesting portrayal of how different people may react facing impending doom. Fearful, Angry, Fatalistic. It developed feelings for the characters as they dealt with the situation each in their own way. Overall, at the end, there was a sadness that prevailed and led one to contemplate the possibility of this occurring. That is the success of the film and the book that inspired it, to create an atmosphere against nuclear war. I saw this film in the 1960's and enjoyed it immensely and read the book because of it. Watching it again as an adult I understood it with a different point of view and enjoyed it more. for what it is worth, I would recommen...

With nuclear warfare having eradicated most of the population of the world, it seems that only Australia still has a population - and they know that it is only a matter of time before the irradiated dust reaches their coastline and death will follow. Just ahead of that, though, is the USS Sawfish under the command of the now widowed Towers (Gregory Peck) who arrives with a grateful but demoralised crew. Their hosts welcome them with open arms, and swiftly he befriends local sailor Holmes (Anthony Perkins) whose wife Mary (Donna Anderson) has just given birth to a baby and he is also introduced to a rather dejected figure of Moira - thats m.o.i.r.a, she explains. Now Im not sure there are many actresses who can play a drunk better than Ava G...