On the Beach (1959)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1959
Running Times: 134 mins
Length: 3670 metres     12,088 ft
Format: black and white     35mm
Ratio: 1.66:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company / Copyright: Lomitas Productions Inc
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Production Manager: Clem Beauchamp

SCRIPT
Script: John Paxton
Novel: Nevil Shute

DIRECTION
Director: Stanley Kramer
Assistant Director: Ivan Volkman

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Auto Race Director of Photography: Daniel Fapp
Camera Operator: Ross Wood
Chief Gaffer: Allen Grice
Company Grip: Morris Rosen
Assistant Company Grip: Martin Kashuk

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Frederic Knudtson

MUSIC
Music: Ernest Gold
Songs: A.B. Paterson, Marie Cowan (Waltzing Matilda); Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sabine Baring-Gould (Onward, Christian Soldiers)
Song Arranger: Orrie Lee

SOUND
Sound Engineer: Hans Wetzel
Sound Effects: Walter Elliott

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: John O'Gorman, Frank Prehoda
Hair: Jane Shugrue
Costumes: Atelier Fontana
Wardrobe: Joe King
Wardrobe For Ava Gardner: Fontana

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Lee Zavitz, Film Effects of Hollywood

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Rudolph Sternad
Art Director: Fernando Carrere
Property Master: Art Cole

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Sam Freedle
Technical Advisor: Vice-Admiral Charles Lockwood
Navy Liaison (Australia): Lieutenant Commander A.A. Norris-Smith

LOCATIONS
Locations: Canadian Bay, Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia; Frankston Beach, Frankston, Victoria, Australia; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California, USA

STUNTS
Stunts: Carey Loftin

CAST
Gregory Peck (Commander Dwight Lionel Towers)
Ava Gardner (Moira Davidson)
Fred Astaire (Julian Osborne)
Anthony Perkins (Lieutenant Commander Peter Holmes)
Donna Anderson (Mary Holmes)
John Tate (Admiral Bridie)
Harp McGuire (Lieutenant Sunderstrom)
Lola Brooks (Lieutenant Hosgood)
Ken Wayne (Lieutenant Benson)
Guy Doleman (Lieutenant Commander Farrel)
Richard Meikle (Davis)
John Meillon (Ralph Swain)
Joe McCormick (Ackerman)
Lou Vernon (Bill Davidson)
Kevin Brennan (Dr King)
Basil Buller-Murphy (Sir Douglas Froude)
John Casson (Salvation Army captain)
Paddy Moran (Stevens)
Grant Taylor (Morgan)

PLOT SUMMARY

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the northern hemisphere has become uninhabitable. A US submarine arrives in Melbourne, Australia, apparently untouched by the holocaust, where the inhabitants are preparing for the arrival of the radiation and the inevitable mass death it will bring with it. But then a signal is detected in San Diego - could there be other survivors?

AVAILABILITY

Finland
Theatrical Distributors: United Artists

Germany
DVD Distributors: MGM Home Entertainment

UK
Theatrical Distributors: United Artists Corp Ltd
Video Distributors: MGM Classics (16207S)

USA
Theatrical Distributors: United Artists
Video Distributors: MGM/UA Home Entertainment
Laserdisc Distributors: Image Entertainment Inc (ID 2251 MG)
DVD Distributors: MGM Home Entertainment (908372)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Australia
Rating: PG

Finland
Rating: K16; 15

UK
Rating: A; PG

AWARDS

1960
Golden Globes, USA
Best Motion Picture Score (Ernest Gold) - winner
Best Film Promoting International Understanding - nominated
Best Motion Picture: Drama - nominated
Best Motion Picture Director (Stanley Kramer) - nominated
Best Supporting Actor (Fred Astaire) - nominated

Laurel Awards, USA
Golden Laurel: Top Drama - 4th place

1960
Academy Awards, USA
Best Film Editing (Frederic Knudtson) - nominated
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Ernest Gold) - nominated

BAFTA Awards, UK
UN Award (Stanley Kramer) - winner
Best Foreign Actress (Ava Gardner) - nominated

Blue Ribbon Awards, USA
Best Foreign Language Film (Stanley Kramer) - winner

TIMELINE

1959
October
2: UK - rated A by the BBFC (for theatrical release)

November
25: USA - preview screening at the Screen Director's Guild Theatre. Los Angeles

December
15: UK - theatrical release
17: USA - copyright registered (LP15187); Australia, Sweden, USA, West Germany - theatrical release

1960
January
1: Denmark- theatrical release
28: Finland - rated K16 by the censor board

February
26: Finland- theatrical release

March
Day Unknown: Austria- theatrical release

1971
June
11: Finland - television broadcast (on TV1)

1973
May
20: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

1979
May
18: Finland - television broadcast (on TV1)

1983
September
16: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

1993
April
Day Unknown: USA - laserdisc release (Laserdisc Distributors: Image Entertainment Inc (ID 2251 MG))

1997
March
28: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

2000
February
29: USA - DVD release (MGM Home Entertainment (908372))

July
25: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

September
18: UK - video release (MGM Classics (16207S))

2001
January
1: UK - video deleted (MGM Classics (16207S))

2002
January
14: UK - television broadcast (on Channel Four)

2004
February
2: UK - rated PG by the BBFC (for video release)

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Dernier ravage, Le - French title
Hora Final, A - Brazilian title
Hora final, Le - Spanish title
Letzte Ufer, Das - Austrian/West German title
Ostatni brzeg - Polish title
På stranden - Danish/Swedish title
Ultima spiaggia, L' - Italian title
Viimeisellä rannalla - Finnish title

LINKS

SEE ALSO
On the Beach (2000)
Red Box, The (2000)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Cinema Papers no.91 (January 1993) pp.18-23 (Australia)
illustrated production notes (On the Beach at Berwick by Joyce Agee)

Continuum vol.15 no.3 (November 2001) pp.189-301 (Australia)
article (The Persistence of Culture: recovering On The Beach by Helen Grace)

The Daily Cinema no.8244 (16 December 1959) p.14 (UK)
credits, review (by F.J.)

The Film Daily vol.116 no.106 (2 December 1959) p.10 (USA)
illustrated review (by Mandel Herbstman)

Films and Filming vol.6 no.3 (December 1959) p.21 (UK)
illustrated credits, review (by Peter Baker)

The Hollywood Reporter vol.157 no.45 (2 December 1959) p.3 (USA)
credits, review (by Jack Moffitt)

Kine Weekly no.2724 (17 December 1959) p.153 (UK)
review

Metro no.127 / 128 (April 2001) pp.155-161 (USA)
illustrated article (Once more on to the beach by Constantine Vervis)

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.27 no.313 (February 1960) p.21 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review (by R.V.)

Motion Picture Herald vol.217 no.10 (5 December 1959) p. 507 (USA)
credits, review (by Charles S. Aaronson)

Music From the Movies no.23 (April 1999) pp.36-37 (USA)
illustrated soundtrack review (Rare vinyl: a consumer's guide by Mark Hasan)

Music From the Movies no.35/36 (December 2002) p.70 (USA)
soundtrack review (Film music review: archival by Andrew Keech)

Soundtrack! The Collector's Quarterly vol.21 no.84 (December 2002) p.11 (USA)
soundtrack review (On the Beach / The Secret of Santa Vittoria by Ross Care)

Time 28 December 1959 (USA)
review

Variety 2 December 1959 (USA)
credits, review

NEWSPAPERS

New York Daily News 18 December 1959 (USA)
review

New York Times 18 December 1959 p.34 (USA)
illustrated review (by Bosley Crowther)

BOOKS

Millennium Movies: End of the World Cinema by Kim Newman (London: Titan Books (1999) ISBN: 1 84023 060 6) pp.102, 110, 130, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153, 156, 166, 228, 235, 254
illustrated review, notes

Omni's Screen Flights / Screen Fantasies: The Future According to Science Fiction Cinema (Garden City, New York: Doubleday (1984) ISBN: 0385191995)
illustrated article (On the Beach: A Renewed Interest by Stanley Kramer)

KEYWORDS

apocalypse, australia, book into film, end of the world, nuclear war, post apocalypse, radiation, radiation sickness, submarines

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009