| On the Beach | |
|---|---|
 On the Beach DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Stanley Kramer |
| Produced by | Stanley Kramer |
| Written by | Nevil Shute (novel) John Paxton |
| Starring | Gregory Peck Ava Gardner Fred Astaire Anthony Perkins |
| Editing by | Frederic Knudtson |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | December 17, 1959 (U. Stanley Kramer ( September 29, 1913 &ndash February 19, 2001) was an Academy Award -nominated American Film director Gregory Peck (April 5 1916 &ndash June 12 2003 was an Academy Award -winning and four-time Golden Globe Award-winning American Film Ava Lavinia Gardner ( December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an Academy Award -nominated American actress Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 &ndash June 22, 1987) was an American Academy Award Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American Frederic Knudtson ( April 9 1906 &ndash February 15 1964) was an American Film editor with 79 credits over his career which spanned This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila The year 1959 in film involved some significant events Events The Three Stooges make their 180th and last short film S. release) |
| Running time | 134 min. |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
On the Beach is a 1959 post-apocalyptic drama film based on Nevil Shute's novel of the same name featuring Gregory Peck (USS Sawfish captain Dwight Lionel Towers), Ava Gardner (Moira Davidson), Fred Astaire (scientist Julian – John in the novel – Osborne) and Anthony Perkins (Australian naval officer Peter Holmes). English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The year 1959 in film involved some significant events Events The Three Stooges make their 180th and last short film A drama film is a Film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes Nevil Shute Norway ( 17 January 1899 - 12 January 1960) was both a popular novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world novel written by British-Australian author Nevil Shute after he had immigrated to Australia Gregory Peck (April 5 1916 &ndash June 12 2003 was an Academy Award -winning and four-time Golden Globe Award-winning American Film First and second war patrols January – June 1943 Sawfish proceeded to waters off southwestern Japan where she attacked several targets and concluded Ava Lavinia Gardner ( December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an Academy Award -nominated American actress Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 &ndash June 22, 1987) was an American Academy Award Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American It was directed by Stanley Kramer, who won the 1960 BAFTA for best director. Stanley Kramer ( September 29, 1913 &ndash February 19, 2001) was an Academy Award -nominated American Film director Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation Ernest Gold won the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Score. Ernest Gold ( July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999) born Ernst Gold, was an American award-winning composer Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and Television programs given out each year during a formal dinner
Contents |
Plot summary
The story is set in 1964, what was then the near future (1963 in the book) in the months following World War III. World War III (also WWIII, or Third World War) denotes a successor to World War II (1939&ndash1945 that would be on a global scale with The conflict has devastated the northern hemisphere, polluting the atmosphere with nuclear fallout and killing all life. Northern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is North of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a Nuclear explosion, so named because it "falls out" of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion While the nuclear bombs were confined to the northern hemisphere, global air currents are slowly carrying the fallout to the southern hemisphere. The only part of the planet still habitable is the far south of the globe, specifically Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, and the southern parts of South America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a
From Australia, survivors detect a mysterious and incomprehensible Morse code radio signal originating from the United States. Morse code is a Character encoding for transmitting telegraphic information using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters numerals With hope that some life has remained in the contaminated regions, one of the last American nuclear submarines, the USS Sawfish, placed by its captain under Australian naval command, is ordered to sail north from its port of refuge in Melbourne (Australia's southernmost major mainland city) to try to contact whoever is sending the signal. First and second war patrols January – June 1943 Sawfish proceeded to waters off southwestern Japan where she attacked several targets and concluded Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 The American captain, Dwight Towers (Peck), leads the operation, leaving behind a woman of recent acquaintance, the alcoholic Moira Davidson (Gardner), to whom he has become attached, despite his feelings of guilt regarding the certain deaths of his wife and children in the U. S. He refuses to admit that they are dead and continues to behave as though they are still alive, buying them gifts and writing them letters.
The Australian government makes arrangements to provide its citizens with free suicide pills and injections, so that they will be able to avoid prolonged suffering from radiation sickness once it arrives. Radiation poisoning, also called " radiation sickness " or a " creeping dose " is a form of damage to organ tissue due to excessive exposure to One of the film's poignant dilemmas is that of Australian naval officer Peter Holmes (Perkins), who has a baby daughter and a naive and childish wife, Mary (Donna Anderson), who is in denial about the impending disaster. Because he has been assigned to travel north with the Americans to search for signs of life, Peter must try to explain to Mary how to euthanize their baby and kill herself with the (unspecified) poison should he be unable to return in time. Mary, however, reacts badly, almost violently, at the prospect of killing her daughter and herself.
By one theory postulated by an Australian scientist, the radiation near the Arctic Ocean could be less than that at mid northern hemisphere latitudes, and if so this would indicate the possible survival of southern hemisphere populations. The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major One of the goals of the expedition is to determine the Arctic radiation level.
After sailing to Point Barrow in the Arctic Ocean, the expedition members determine that radiation levels are intensifying. Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast of the U The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major On the way back, they stop at San Francisco. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The views through the periscope indicate what they have seen elsewhere; there are no signs of life, and minimal or no damage. One crewmember, who is from San Francisco, jumps ship to spend his last hours in his hometown. He is last seen in a motorboat, fishing and awaiting his death.
The Sawfish then travels to an abandoned oil refinery in San Diego (in the book, it is a naval base located near Seattle), where they discover that, although the city's residents have long since perished from radiation poisoning, the hydroelectric power is still on-line. The ship's communications officer is sent ashore in a radiation suit to investigate. The mysterious signal is the result of a Coca Cola bottle being nudged by a window shade teetering in the breeze and occasionally hitting a telegraph key. Coca-Cola is a carbonated Soft drink sold in stores restaurants and Vending machines in more than 200 countries Bitterly disappointed, the submariners return to Australia to live out the little time that remains before the radioactive air arrives and kills everyone.
The characters make their best efforts to "enjoy" what time and pleasures remain to them before dying from radiation poisoning. Radiation poisoning, also called " radiation sickness " or a " creeping dose " is a form of damage to organ tissue due to excessive exposure to Scientist Julian Osborne (John Osborne in the novel) and others organize a dangerous motor race that results in the violent deaths of several participants. Moira and Dwight share a brief romantic interlude on a fishing trip. When they return, Towers finds out one of his crew members has developed radiation sickness. The deadly radiation has arrived. Some citizens seek spiritual guidance from religious leaders from the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is a Christian charity and church that is internally organised like a military service. They hang a banner from City Hall that states, "There Is Still Time . A city hall or town hall is the chief administrative building of a City or Town 's administration and usually houses the city or . Brother". Others line up outside hospitals to receive their suicide pills. Later, Mary Holmes gets ill and she and Peter share a tender moment together before Mary decides that she has been "foolish and impractical" and asks her husband to "take care" of her and their daughter. Dwight wants to stay with Moira, but his remaining crew wants to head for home. In the end, Captain Towers chooses not to remain with Moira but rather to lead his crew in a final attempt to make it back to the States.
Unlike the novel, no blame is placed on who started the war -- it is hinted that it may have been an accident.
Like the novel, much of the film takes place in Melbourne, close to the southernmost part of the Australian mainland. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Nevil Shute is said to have despised the film (which was released little more than a month before he died), feeling that his characters had been altered too greatly, especially the scene where Moira and Dwight sleep together. However, the film shot in and around Melbourne was a great novelty for that city at the time.
The racing sequences were filmed at Riverside Raceway in California. Riverside International Raceway (Sometimes known as RIR or Riverside Raceway) was a Race track or road course in Riverside California These scenes include an impressive array of late 1950s sports cars, including examples of the Jaguar XK150 and Jaguar D-type, Porsche 356, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL "Gullwing", AC Ace, and Chevrolet Corvette. The Jaguar XK150 was a Sports car produced by Jaguar between 1957 and 1961 The Jaguar D-Type, like its predecessor the C-Type, was a factory-built Race car. The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat closed Sports car with characteristic Gull-wing doors Later it was offered as an open AC Ace is a car made by AC Cars of Thames Ditton, England AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the staid Two-litre range The Chevrolet Corvette is a Sports car that has been manufactured by General Motors since 1953
It should be noted that the uniform southward drift of the nuclear fallout as portrayed in the story is scientifically implausible. Global fallout levels would have been unlikely to be so high as to be so uniformly and promptly lethal, nor would fallout be likely to drift southwards so gradually and uniformly. In the book, Shute attributes this lethality to cobalt-salted bombs, but this detail is omitted from the film. A cobalt bomb, a type of salted bomb is a Nuclear weapon originally proposed by physicist Leó Szilárd, who suggested that it would be capable of destroying It would also be unlikely that a major strategic center such as San Francisco would not have been hit by an enemy bomb, with both San Francisco and the naval installation near San Diego left physically unscathed. In the novel, San Francisco was found to be heavily damaged and San Diego was not mentioned at all.
Differences between the novel and film
Nevil Shute was displeased with the final version of the film, feeling that too many changes had been made at the expense of the story's integrity. [1] Gregory Peck agreed with him, but in the end, producer/director Stanley Kramer's ideas won out. Stanley Kramer ( September 29, 1913 &ndash February 19, 2001) was an Academy Award -nominated American Film director
- In the novel, the submarine is named USS Scorpion. USS Scorpion may refer to one of six vessels of the United States Navy, a block sloop that was part of Joshua Barney's Chesapeake Bay flotilla in In the film, it is called the USS Sawfish. First and second war patrols January – June 1943 Sawfish proceeded to waters off southwestern Japan where she attacked several targets and concluded
- The novel describes Moira Davidson as a slender, petite pale blond in her mid-twenties. In the film, she is portrayed by the tall, curvaceous, brunette 37-year old Ava Gardner.
- A naval base in Seattle is the location in the novel where the strange Morse signals are detected. The film uses an oil refinery in San Diego as its location.
- San Francisco is shown as undamaged in the film, while in the novel it has been largely destroyed with the Golden Gate Bridge having fallen. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension Bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean
- The northernmost point of the submarine's journey in the novel is the Gulf of Alaska, while the film uses Point Barrow. The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and In reality, ice cover would have made it impossible for the submarine to have surfaced off Point Barrow.
- The nuclear scientist in the book is named John Osborne, a thirty-something bachelor. In the movie, he is portrayed by 60-year old Fred Astaire, and is renamed Julian. Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 &ndash June 22, 1987) was an American Academy Award Moira and Julian (John) are cousins in the novel, but formerly romantically linked in the film.
- Admiral Bridie and his secretary, Lieutenant Osgood, are in the film, but not in the novel.
- Moira and Dwight never sleep together in the novel; Dwight remains faithful to the memory of his wife and Moira, though disappointed at first, comes to respect his stance. Film director Stanley Kramer believed that audiences would not believe that Dwight, as played by Peck, could resist the charms of sex symbol Gardner, so a love scene was inserted. Stanley Kramer ( September 29, 1913 &ndash February 19, 2001) was an Academy Award -nominated American Film director
- The novel ends with a dying Moira sitting in her car, taking her suicide pills, while watching Scorpion head out to sea to be scuttled. Unlike the book, no mention of scuttling the sub is made in the film; instead Captain Towers' crew requested that he try take them back to the United States, where they can die on home soil. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the film, Ava Gardner is seen merely watching Dwight's submarine disappear, and not committing suicide.
Academy Awards
| Category | Person | |
| Nominated: | ||
| Best Score | Ernest Gold | |
| Best Editing | Frederic Knudtson | |
The film score played heavily on the motif of "Waltzing Matilda". The Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically Ernest Gold ( July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999) born Ernst Gold, was an American award-winning composer The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934 Frederic Knudtson ( April 9 1906 &ndash February 15 1964) was an American Film editor with 79 credits over his career which spanned "Waltzing Matilda" is Australia 's most widely known country Folk song, and has been referred to as 'the unofficial national anthem of Australia'
Ava Gardner's supposed Melbourne remark
It has often been claimed that Ava Gardner described Melbourne as 'the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world'. However, the purported quote was actually invented by journalist Neil Jillett, who was writing for the Sydney Morning Herald at the time. The Sydney Morning Herald ( SMH) is a daily Broadsheet Newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia His original draft of a tongue-in-cheek piece about the making of the film said that he had not been able to confirm a third-party report that Ava Gardner had made this remark. The newspaper's sub-editor changed it to read as a direct quotation from Gardner, and it was published in that form. It entered Melbourne folklore very quickly. [2]
Miscellany
- The U. S. Department of Defense as well as the United States Navy refused to cooperate in the production of this film, not allowing access to their nuclear-powered submarine. The film production crew was forced to use a non-nuclear, diesel-electric Royal Navy submarine, HMS Andrew. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Film career HMS Andrew was used in the 1959 film On the Beach, playing the part of the fictional USS ''Sawfish''.
- The film premiered simultaneously in several major cities around the world, including Moscow. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of
- The movie was shot in part in Berwick, then a suburb outside of Melbourne, Australia and part in Frankston, also a Melbourne suburb. Berwick ( pronounced Berrick) is a Suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne Frankston is a seaside suburb of Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, Australia. The well-known scene where Peck meets Gardner, who arrives from Melbourne by rail, was filmed on platform #1 of Frankston railway station, now demolished, and a subsequent scene where Peck and Gardner are transported off by horse and buggy, was filmed in Young Street, Frankston.
- Some streets which were being built at the time in Berwick were named after people involved in the film, as shown in Melway Edition #1 (1996), [1]. Melway (also commonly referred to as Melways or The Melways) is the most ubiquitous Street directory for Melbourne, Australia Some examples are: Shute Avenue (Nevil Shute) and Kramer Drive (Stanley Kramer).
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- The Davidson farm is now a large housing estate, a part of the outer South Eastern suburb of Narre Warren North. However the electricity pylons on the hill visible in the film are still there, although there are 4 lines instead of one. The hill has not been built upon.
- Among the uncredited bit players was Graham Kennedy. Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO ( 15 February 1934 &ndash 25 May 2005) was an Australian radio television and Film
Notes
- ^ Nevil Shute filmography
- ^ "Review" lift-out magazine in The Weekend Australian, 18-19 December 1999
External links
- On the Beach at the Internet Movie Database
- On the Beach at Allmovie
- Filming of crash sequences at Riverside International Raceway
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