Classic 50s Movie: “On the Beach”
May is Classic 50s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Liz Warner.
Movie Title: On the Beach
Year: 1959
Writers: John Paxton (screenplay), Nevil Shute (novel, 1957)
Starring: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Director: Stanley Kramer
IMDb Plot Summary: After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must face the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
Here’s a link to the dramatic opening (credits) scene, scored so beautifully.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 50s Movie: This movie confronts a theme which troubled people deeply in its day (and yet still rings true today): that of the potential for wholesale destruction of the human race through nuclear holocaust. Remember this was the Cold War era when school children were drilled on how to “duck and cover” under their desks in case of bombing. The story is set in then-futuristic 1964, shortly after a hypothetical World War III.
The casting, too, makes On the Beach a 1950s classic.
My Favorite Moment In The Film: When Captain Towers steps up to use the periscope to look at America’s West Coast, he realizes it’s devoid of human life, and steps back down, speechless. Then another military man does the same thing. And another. They say nothing. What can they say? Their expressions say it all. There is no life and no hope for life. Why speak the unspeakable?
My Favorite Dialogue In The Film: Despite the overall bleakness of this film, there are moments, like this, when the characters, just chatty ordinary people, say something quite funny:
JULIAN OSBORNE: I shouldn’t drink, you know. I inevitably say something brilliant.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching The Film: Note that Nevil Shute wasn’t all that happy with the film version of his novel, which had placed blame for the nuclear bombing and its subsequent fallout. (The movie, conversely, intimated it was a tragic accident.) But despite Shute’s misgivings, Stanley Kramer received a “Best Director” award from BAFTA in 1960 for his work on this film.
The movie was filmed in b/w which artfully depicts the black and white, or good and bad, of humankind’s reaction to the life or death (and also black and white) choice here. Yet there is a full palette of reaction and emotion.
[Spoiler Alert] You’ll know how the film ends, and it’s dark. But watch how each of the characters face their anticipated demise and the choices they make in their short remaining time. Look for the steps they take to pretend there’s hope, for example, by planting a garden they will never enjoy.
Notice some of the ways the film seeks to create suspense, despite its inevitable outcome. For example:
1. The survivors get a Morse code signal and sail north to find the source. Will they make contact?
2. Australia issues optional “suicide” pills or injections for citizens to prevent prolonged suffering from radiation sickness. Will they really use them? Could a parent rationalize euthanizing a child?
3. Might the so-called “Jorgensen Effect,” the dispersion of Arctic radiation prior to reaching the Southern Hemisphere, save them or buy them time?
Finally, consider the ending. In another story context, the sign “there is still time, brother” might seem too on the nose or in your face, but somehow, it works here as this was, in essence, a cautionary tale of the day.
FYI: “On the beach” is an Aussie way of saying “retired from the Service.” “On the Beach” was remade into a made-for-TV movie in Australia in 2000.
Thanks, Liz! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
Twitter: @writeonliz.
We already have a set of classic 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 50s movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got 31 movies in the works! Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!
12 Angry Men — Ipsita Barik
A Place in the Sun — Zach Jansen
A Star is Born — Melinda Mahaffey
A Touch of Evil — David Joyner
All About Eve — Ricardo Bravo
American in Paris — stefani1601
Bridge on the River Kwai — Tom Peterson
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — uncgym44
Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe — J Nilsson-Acosta
File on Thelma Jordon, The — David Joyner
Harvey — Felicity Flesher
High Noon — Jeff Messerman
Invasion of the Body Snatchers — Rick Dyke
Kiss Me Deadly — John Henderson
Marty — jetwillie69
Night of the Demon — David Hutchison
Night of the Hunter — Mark Twain
On the Beach — Liz Warner
On the Waterfront — Bilbo Poynter
Pickpocket — Zach Jansen
Pick Up on South Street — Vincent Martini
Quiet Man, The — Traci Nell Peterson
Rear Window — Roy Gordon
Rebel Without a Cause — Jack McDonald
Searchers, The — mkm28
Seven Samurai, The — Paul Graunke
Singin’ in the Rain — Maegan Kelly
Some Like It Hot — Will King
Stalag 17 — James Schramm
Sunset Blvd. — Lisa Byrd
Tokyo Story — Jeff Messerman
Vertigo — Jason Pates
Thanks to everyone!
For the original post explaining the series, go here.
For all of the 50s movies featured in the series, go here.