This depressing doomsday drama sent the public reeling
when it debuted in 1959, near the middle of the cold war. It premiered
simultaneously all over the globe, including Europe, Japan, and even Russia. It
was a true first for Communist Russia to host such an American debut, and it was
a big hit there. Director Stanley (THE DEFIANT ONES) Kramer and scriptwriter
John Paxton developed this post-nuclear war tale in such a vague way, that it is
unclear which country started the nuclear war, or which counties were even
involved. Because the movie does not point fingers, it was accepted by virtually
all countries and societies. The script barely hints at why the nuclear war went
down, and focuses on the plight of the survivors.
ON THE BEACH features a first rate cast. Gregory (MOBY
DICK) Peck stars as submarine commander Dwight Towers, a man who lost his wife
and children in the nuclear holocaust. Ava (KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE) Gardner
plays his alcoholic love interest, the emotionally insecure Moira Davidson. A
young Anthony (PSYCHO) Hopkins is Peter Holmes, an Australian Naval Lieutenant
with a wife and baby to worry about. Fred Astaire, known for his musicals, makes
his dramatic film debut as nuclear scientist Julian Osborn.
The film is set in 1964. After a nuclear war, the only
continent on Earth not bombarded by fallout is Australia. But the remaining
scientists predict that in five months time, even Australia will be exposed to
the high radioactivity levels, thus signaling the end of mankind. A US submarine
named The Sawfish has survived the nuclear holocaust because they were
deep underwater when the bombs went off. The Sawfish is commandeered by
hardened naval commander Dwight Towers (Peck). The submarine discovers that that
Australia is still a functioning society, so Towers and his surviving submarine
crew enter the port in Melborne.
Lieutenant Holmes (Perkins) is summoned to the Naval
Headquarters by Admiral Bridie (John Tate). Holmes leaves behind his wife and
newborn for a new assignment. Admiral Bridie instructs Holmes to meet up with
Towers, and together they will take The Sawfish on a reconnaissance
mission to monitor and assess the rising radiation levels. Holmes and Towers
become quick friends and Holmes invites Towers to stay the weekend at his house,
and attend his cocktail party. Mrs. Holmes (Donna Anderson) asks her friend
single friend Moira (Gardener) to be Tower’s date for the affair.
At the party, Towers meets Julian Osborn (Astaire), a
nuclear physicist who will be accompanying Holmes and Towers on their
reconnaissance mission. After the party, a drunken Moira makes a play for
Towers, but passes out. In the remaining days before the mission, Towers and
Moira get to know each other. Towers (still delusional over the loss of his
family) calls Moira his wife and talks about his kids as though they were still
alive.
As the Sawfish departs Melbourne Harbor on it’s
mission, the crew detects an erratic SOS frequency signal from North America.
Hope dawns on Tower that some pockets of humanity may still exist in America.
The priority, however, is the mission at hand. The submarine heads north, and
Osborn begins the radioactivity detection procedures. As feared, the
radioactivity levels are high and Osborn relays the information back to
Melbourne. Having completed their mission, Towers decides to head for the source
of the signal near San Franciso. The ship enters US waters and monitors civilian
activity. But the city streets are empty with no trace of survivors. Sending an
away team to locate the source of the signal, they find that wind has caused a
screwdriver to push down on a radio beacon—causing it to send unmanned
signals. Towers and the crew of the Sawfish are devastated and return to
Melbourne.
The last act of the movie focuses on the residents of
Melbourne. Knowing that they only have months to live, the people try to enjoy
themselves and do things they never got a chance to do. Moira and Towers frolic
like newlyweds. Julian decides he wants to race cars. Holmes wants quality
family time with his wife and daughter. All the while, many residents of
Melborne starting exhibiting signs of radiation poisoning…
ON THE BEACH provides a look at an alternate Earth history
and makes a powerful statement. Because of this, ON THE BEACH is an important
film. But the film is by no means perfect. For instance, the casting of Ava
Gardener as an Australian party girl finding love too late distracts from the
main theme. Although you can’t really blame Gardener; her character is rather
poorly conceived. Anyway, the relationship between Peck and Gardener is too
cliched. The filmmakers choose to make their doomed romance the centerpiece of
the film, and the narrative does not spend enough time with the other
characters. Instead of focusing on the tragedy of war and the impending doom for
the survivors, the film follows Gardener and Peck behaving like lovesick
teenagers. ON THE BEACH works best when the narrative focuses on the main theme,
and fails when depicting the soap opera elements.
The film also suffers from some obvious production flaws.
The depiction of the local Australians is sometimes ridiculous. Stanley seems to
think that Australians spend their leisure time getting drunk and singing
"Waltzing Matilda" all day. Some characters seem to fluctuate between
American and Australian accents. Fred Astaire uses the worse British accent I’ve
ever heard. The crew of the submarine are American sailors played by Australian
actors! When combined, these production flaws jolt the viewer out of total
involvement with the story.
On the opposite side of the coin, there are some moments
which work. It is interesting to observe the characters coming to term with the
Grim Reaper. First, everyone hangs in a huge cloud of denial. Then as the time
passes, anger and madness take denial’s place. Finally, all have accepted
their fate. The government gives out poison pills to the people for a quick
release (as opposed to long, painful period of radiation sickness). The rest of
the populace turn to their religious faith. For the most part, the film is about
people and their families and how they all react to the knowledge that their
lives and their world will soon come to an end.
The performances by all are fairly compelling. Gregory
Peck gives a career performance. Fred Astaire, despite the poor British accent,
breathes three dimensional life into his character. Anthony Perkins was not yet
typecast as Norman Bates, and gives a career defining performance as well. Even
Ava Gardener, despite her Moira’s shallow character, makes the best of her
melodramatic lines.
Except for the soap opera aspect, Stanley Kramer imbues
the film has an air of pseudo-believability that no other post-nuclear film has
ever possessed. The conclusion has to be one of the most depressing endings in
the history of Hollywood. In fact, ON THE BEACH goes against the very
foundations of Hollywood conventions. There is a scene where Julian drives his
Ferrari in a car race. The opposing cars careen off the highway and explode on
impact. You would expect scenes like this in DEATH RACE 2000, but not in a 1950’s
mainstream movie. Also, the wise decision to film in black & white does much
to heighten the forbidding sense of doom, and the film covers the whole gamut of
negative emotions associated with the end of the world.
