Released in 1959, Stanley Kramer’s On the Beach is widely considered the first ‘important’ entry in the doomsday genre. Based on Nevil Shute’s novel, the film is set in 1964 when virtually all life on earth has been exterminated by the radioactive residue of a nuclear war. Only those survivors now in Australia have been spared – but it seems only a matter of time before they too succumb to the spreading radiation cloud.
As they await their fate, people react in wildly different ways. Some embark on a non-stop binge of revelry, while others consider the suicide pills being offered by the government. Against this backdrop, faint radio signals emanating from San Diego appear to offer a ray of hope, and one submarine commander (Gregory Peck) and his men embark on a voyage to discover whether life clings on elsewhere on Earth.
This screening is presented in collaboration with Derby CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) and will feature an introduction.