On the Beach (1959)

Directed by Stanley Kramer. Starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins, Donna Anderson, Harp McGuire, John Tate, Lola Brooks, John Meillon, Ken Wayne, Guy Doleman, Lou Vernon.

Film version of Nevil Shute’s book illustrating the aftermath of a devastating war where nuclear fallout results in the depopulation of the entire Northern Hemisphere, and the deadly radiation is heading south on air currents. Peck’s submarine commander goes to investigate a Morse Code signal coming from the West Coast of the U.S. while survivors in Australia brace for the end. Not as preachy as the average Stanley Kramer message movie, but this bleak melodrama is still talky, long-winded, and outdated. The central themes are relevant and true, possessing haunting power even in a naïve form, but the spurious character drama comes off as trite, and far too much time is devoted to mannered tragedy and doomed romance. Astaire is okay in his first true dramatic performance, but at least he comes off better than stiff Perkins and shaky Gardner. One key harrowing sequence is defeated by the innate dottiness of a man in a boat conversing with a periscope poking out of the water like the eyestalk of the garbage monster from Star Wars. John Paxton is credited for the script adaptation; music by Ernest Gold. Remade for television in 2000.

55/100