Lost Treasures
On the Beach (1959)
director: stanly kramer
cast: gregory peck, ava gardner, fred astaire, anthony perkins, donna anderson, john tate, harp mcguire, lola brooks, ken wayne, guy doleman, richard meikle, john mccormick, lou vernon, kevin brennan
In
1959 Stanly Kramer produced and directed an off-beat movie called On the
Beach, which was distributed by United Artists (U.A. was the Miramax of
its day—a studio/distributor that tried to combine art with commercialism).
The plot was simple. It takes place 5 years in the future (1964) and a nuclear
war has rendered the whole of the northern hemisphere dead from lethal radioactive
fallout. Australia is the only place left inhabited, at least for the moment.
Surviving scientists predict that the radioactive shroud enveloping the planet
will reach Down Under in less than 6 months and kill what's left of the human
race. Surprisingly, an American nuclear submarine, The Sawfish, turns
up in Melbourne harbor and we witness humanity's last months through the eyes
of the U-boat's commander and the Aussies who befriend him. Unlike most post-nuclear
war movies, On the Beach depicts humanity's ending… our ending…
not with a dramatic bang but with a quiet whimper.
In On the Beach,
the character's try to carry on with as normal an existence as is possible
under the circumstances. In this vision of the apocalypse, social chaos doesn't
erupt and civil strife doesn't put the few survivors at each other's throats.
If you think about it, it's a very different view of The End than depicted
in movies with a similar premise. People aren't battling in the badlands over
"a tank of juice" (The Road Warrior), over possession of
fertile women and men (A Boy and His Dog), or primate supremacy (Planet
of the Apes). Although all these films are classics, they envision a very
different, exciting end to the human story and are filled with action. A more
subtle finish, though unusual, is not necessarily less realistic. Think about
the musicians on The Titanic, they really did continue to play right
until the water was rising around their ankles. They could have spent their
last hour running around, screaming and pulling their hair out, but what would
be the point? What could be more calming and comforting than sticking with
life-long habits in the face of oblivion? Why not stay true to those things
we love most about living? Why not hang on to romance, family or fulfilling
unrealized dreams?
Stanley Kramer obviously felt On the Beach to be an important film.
It helps to keep in mind that it pre-dates the Cuban missile crisis (October
1962) by only 3 years, which was the closest that The Cold War ever came to
becoming hot—much closer than anyone would care to dwell on today. Its
social relevance or captured historic mood is not the reason why HO
has picked On the Beach as a Lost Treasure. Nor are we picking it for
its sometimes-annoying Oscar nominated score or its use of Gregory Peck, Ava
Gardner, and Fred Astaire as "average Joes". It's a Lost Treasure
because of its unique approach to mortality.
Don't
get down but all of us, from the newest newbie to the oldest codger, are faced
with the same eventuality as the people depicted in this movie (most of who
have passed on now). The characters presented in On the Beach are simply
more immediately aware of this fact than you or I. It's a bit like Don McKellar's
Last Night, but rather than condensing the action into the final few
hours (with the attendant drama of a count down), On the Beach presents
us with an un-dramatic length of time as the character's carry on with the
business of living before the end. Even the last moments are ephemeral. This
presents the characters and the audience with the question: what is it that
makes life worth living? If you were hyper aware that you (and everyone else)
were living on borrowed time, how would you spend it? How would you live your
life and what does it mean?
The plot revolves around two couples; Anthony Perkins as Lieutenant Commander Peter Holmes of the Australian Navy and Donna Andersen as his wife and a new mother, Mary; Gregory Peck plays the Commander of the U.S. nuclear submarine Sawfish, Dwight Lionel Towers, and Ava Gardner portrays his boozy would-be lover, Moira Davidson. Anthony Perkins gets one of his great screen roles, ranked only after Fear Strikes Out and Psycho, doing what he did best—subtle portrayals of characters in inner turmoil. In On the Beach, Peter is a helpless husband and father who knows that radiation sickness and then death is in his family's not too distant future. On the flipside, his wife, Mary, is an eternal optimist and just can't accept the fact that their infant daughter will never get the chance to grow up. Mirroring her denial is the U.S. sub commander—prepared to die in war but unprepared to survive a war and lose his family. When Mary learns that Peter has invited the American to a weekend party, she is peeved at the thought that he might get drunk and start crying about his loved and lost. Beautiful party-girl, Moira, is invited to chaperon and distract the grieving widower.
The
movie is dated in its attitudes about sex and romance. Luckily, the swelling
violins of the romantic scenes are snapped by Dwight's bizarre habit of speaking
of his dead sons and wife, not only in the present tense, but in the future
tense. Moira says nothing and just listens in uncomfortable silence. Peck
is great as he turns in another one of his patented dark, silent and strong
characters—but here he rhapsodizes over the futures his family will never
have. Very creepy!
Ava Gardner has the toughest role in the film portraying Moira, a woman whose shallow relationships with men have left her emotionally empty. This emptiness she tries to forget by drowning herself in booze. To Moira, Dwight represents a last chance at having a "substantial" relationship. Unfortunately for her, it quickly becomes apparent that Dwight is pretending that she is his deceased wife, complete with a scene where he accidentally calls Moira by his wife's name. Moira's self-esteem is so low that she later offers to actively play the role of his deceased wife confessing, "I don't like myself very much anyway." It's tough for an audience to like a character that doesn't like herself very much. On the other hand, it's Ava Gardener for Christ's sake. It doesn't take much to feel empathy for her.
Fred Astaire plays
a scientist that wants to realize an unfilled dream before it's all over.
He spends a good bit of his time tinkering with a Ferrari that he intends
to race in the planet's last Grand Prix. Here's another example of people
carrying on in the face of oblivion. The car race itself is mostly rear-screen
projected shots of peanut-head Astaire as he battles with his fellow racers
for the finish line. It's a deadly competition with lots 
of
fiery crashes. It almost seems comical when an ambulance speeds out to check
for smoking survivors of a multi-car pileup. There's an antagonistic tone
in the film about the role and responsibility of scientists in Armageddon.
Interestingly enough, no one ever turns on the American nuclear sub commander
with an accusatory comment. To its credit, the film doesn't take the easy
road of assigning blame to the Soviets or Americans. It's all hazy. The war
happened quickly and those that would know the sequence of events have been
obliterated.
The best part of the film involves The Sawfish's new mission to investigate the northern climate's effect on the radiation levels and a mysterious Morris Code signal originating from San Diego. The journey north is eerie and haunting. They steam under the Golden Gate Bridge and observe an empty San Francisco. One of the crew members jumps ship in order to die in his home town. This entire sequence in the film is handled in a surprisingly understated way. It carries a lot of emotional weight and may be one of the best sequences to capture the sad fact that humanity has a large self-destructive streak. The scene where they uncover the sender of the Morris Code signal in San Diego is a classic movie moment. If for no other reason, it's a good reason for a movie fan to check out this flick.—Tom Graney
© 2003 Hollywood Outsider