On the Beach
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Short description
On the Beach takes place in 1964, after a nuclear war has destroyed the northern hemisphere. An American submarine, the Sawfish, surfaces in Australia, one of the few places still capable of sustaining life. Its commander, Dwight Towers, has lost his wife and children in the catastrophe but refuses to accept that they are gone. In Melbourne he meets Moira Davidson, a woman worn down by worry and drink, and a cautious attachment forms between them as the radioactive fallout that wiped out the north drifts steadily southward. Townspeople respond to the approaching end in different ways, some clinging to ordinary routines, others chasing long-delayed ambitions, while the submarine is sent out to gather information about the contamination.
Stanley Kramer directed and produced the film, from a screenplay by John Paxton. It followed his The Defiant Ones and preceded Inherit the Wind. Gregory Peck plays Towers, Ava Gardner plays Moira, and Fred Astaire appears as Julian Osborn, with Anthony Perkins, Donna Anderson and Guy Doleman in supporting roles.
The film was released in December 1959 and runs 134 minutes. Made for about 3 million dollars, it returned roughly 2 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 16,000 votes; on TMDB it has 6.7 from about 251 votes. A critics' rating stands at 7.1 from 23 reviews, in line with the larger audience sample.
What's left behind the scenes
- Based on the novel "On the Beach" by Nevil Shute.
- Some streets in the Australian suburb of Berwick, where filming took place, were subsequently named after members of the project: Gardner Street, Schute Avenue, Kramer Drive.
- The Strugatsky brothers mention this film in their "A Tale of Three" and "Distant Rainbow."
- The film is also mentioned in Stephen King's novel "Needful Things." It is playing on television when one of the characters, Netty Cobb, is posting notes in Danforth Keaton's house. Another character, Wilma Jerzyk, also wants to watch the film after Sunday service.
- The film is mentioned in the first volume of Haruki Murakami's novel "1Q84."
- With this film, Fred Astaire began his non-dancing career in cinema. Director Stanley Kramer couldn't decide who to give the role to, and Kramer's wife, who was watching one of Astaire's films on television at the time, suggested Astaire to him.
- This was Ava Gardner's first film after completing her 20-year contract with MGM, during which she worked for a weekly salary and received nothing if she was 'loaned' to other studios. After fulfilling her contract with MGM, she was able to choose her own roles and negotiate fees.
- The US Department of Defense and the US Navy refused to assist the filmmakers with the project. They also denied the filmmakers access to a nuclear submarine, so they had to film with the non-nuclear British submarine 'HMS Andrew'. (Until 1967, submarines of the Royal Navy were based in Australia, after which the Australians acquired their own submarine fleet.) Scenes at the naval base were filmed at the Williamstown Naval Dockyard in the Australian state of Victoria.
- Director Stanley Kramer was greatly inconvenienced by the thousands of onlookers who watched the filming, wading into the water up to their shoulders and applauding the actors after each take. The audience's enthusiasm was often frankly irritating, especially when they constantly wandered into the frame, wanting to get a closer look at Ava Gardner.
- Before filming the finale, Stanley Kramer appealed to the city's residents via radio and local publications, asking them to stay home to capture footage of deserted streets.
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