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      On the Beach

      Released Dec 17, 1959 2 hr. 13 min. Sci-Fi List
      78% 23 Reviews Tomatometer 69% 2,500+ Ratings Audience Score After World War III, Australia is the only remaining haven for mankind. However, wind currents carrying lingering radiation all but condemn those on the continent to the same fate suffered by the rest of the world. When the survivors receive a strange signal from San Diego, Cmdr. Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) must undertake a mission with Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) to see if there is hope for humanity -- leaving behind Moira (Ava Gardner) and Mary (Donna Anderson), the women they love. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (262) audience reviews
      Dusty The World won't go out with a BANG... it goes out with a vimp On The Beach End Scene: There Is Still Hope ...Brother,,,,,, No there wasn't Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/11/23 Full Review Dave S Stanley Kramer's On the Beach, a remarkably faithful adaptation of Neville Shute's novel, is an apocalyptic nightmare that still packs a punch today, more than sixty years after its release. The story is simple – the residents of Melbourne are forced to face the reality that the radiation from a nuclear war that has decimated humanity elsewhere has reached the shores of Australia, resulting in what will be certain death. The cast is fantastic (Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins, etc.), Giuseppe Rotunno's black and white cinematography is stunning, and the individual stories are heartbreaking. If you can ignore the inappropriately jaunty music score early on, On the Beach proves to be a thoughtful and impactful movie experience. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/14/23 Full Review RANDALL W I am a Boomer and remember the Drills hiding under the desks or against the Wall of the east side of the shop building. It kinda showed how foolish we were to thing we could survive in underground bunkers and survival food. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Russ G I clicked on this on TCM to check it off my cinematic bucket list but if I'd known sooner that Ava Gardner was in the cast I would have watched it much earlier. Peck is OK, Miss Gardner is still gorgeous in her maturity, as she was even later in "Night of the Iguana." I have no idea what Fred Astaire was doing in this especially as a Brit when his top hat and tails are nowhere to be seen. As for Anthony Perkins, I can't blame him for the fact that modern audiences are going to expect Norman Bates to strangle or stab his young wife in every shared scene. Oh, back to the film: it's preachy especially the closing shot that insists on hitting Mr. Kramer's audience upside the head with a two-by-four, and the premise is total bollocks made more implausible by scenes of major West Coast cities still standing while their populations have been entirely killed off. Speaking of implausible, really, Gregory, you couldn't find room on that submarine for Ava? Gimmie a break; leaving her "on the beach" is just too ludicrous. I guess this film had to be made in its time but it certainly hasn't aged well, not least because we know that "MAD" didn't happen because neither side was that stupid, though Fred Astaire tried to convince us otherwise. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Red T Yes, it's certainly a gloomy and sobering picture about what if a nuclear war, think it's purpose was to make one think and that it does. How man or nations or a handful developed the ability to wipe out mankind, thus the name MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) during the Cold War you lived with that reminder. Signs of Fallout shelters and drills and sirens. Grew up in a major big city and remember the sirens about noon. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Liam D It's definitely a relic of its time but the amazing cast and smart writing makes it a much watch Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/03/22 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      On the Beach

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (23) Critics Reviews
      Dave Kehr Chicago Reader A tiresome, talky 1959 film. Nov 7, 2007 Full Review Geoff Andrew Time Out Fine photography, but the script is a typically numbing affair, and the cast, aside from Peck and Meillon, seem totally out of their depth. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times The great merit of this picture, aside from its entertaining qualities, is the fact that it carries a passionate conviction that man is worth saving, after all. Rated: 5/5 May 20, 2003 Full Review Roger Moore Movie Nation One of the most influential films ever made, and the saddest Rated: 3/4 Sep 18, 2022 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Together, they don't exactly light up the screen with burning passion, but it's a subdued, plagued romance that still reaches levels of emotional potency. Rated: 3.5/5 Nov 4, 2020 Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine ...the haunting "fallout" of the drama lingers deeply in the mind, and Kramer in my catalogue was the producer of the year for daring to make a movie about the atomic destruction of the human race-and to release it a few days before Christmas. Oct 7, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis After World War III, Australia is the only remaining haven for mankind. However, wind currents carrying lingering radiation all but condemn those on the continent to the same fate suffered by the rest of the world. When the survivors receive a strange signal from San Diego, Cmdr. Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) must undertake a mission with Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) to see if there is hope for humanity -- leaving behind Moira (Ava Gardner) and Mary (Donna Anderson), the women they love.
      Director
      Stanley Kramer
      Screenwriter
      John Paxton
      Distributor
      United Artists
      Production Co
      United Artists
      Genre
      Sci-Fi
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Dec 17, 1959, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Feb 29, 2000