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On the Beach

1959

Stanley Kramer

Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins ...

6.6

1,841

Drama. Sci-Fi In 1964, nuclear war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other? [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Mike Clark USA Today	"Critics overpraised Stanley Kramer's doomsday drama in a year when they undervalued North by Northwest and Rio Bravo, and it's still dramatically mushy."	NEU
United States	Variety Staff Variety	"U solid film of considerable emotional, as well as cerebral, content. But the fact remains that the final impact is as heavy as a leaden shroud"	POS
United States	Tom Shales The Washington Post	"In retrospect, and viewed as either a once-topical curio or a nostalgic artifact from Hollywood's golden era, 'On the Beach' doesn't seem lousy. It seems naively, even innocently, preachy."	NEU
United Kingdom	Time Out	"Fine photography, but the script is a typically numbing affair, and the cast, aside from Peck and Meillon (whose part was considerably cut), seem totally out of their depth."	NEG
United States	TV Guide	"Though it occasionally goes over the top with its melodrama and lacks some technical credibility, On The Beach remains a powerful, well-acted, deftly photographed film"	NEU
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"Kramer has brilliantly directed a strong and responsive cast, headed by Gregory Peck as the submarine commander and Ava Gardner as the worldly woman who craves his love"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Tribune	"Stanley Kramer issues the final warning to Mankind, in a tiresome, talky 1959 film set in the shrunken aftermath of World War III."	NEG

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