Wrap Shot: On the Beach
Long before Fallout, the nuclear nightmare of the Cold War inspired a multitude of captivating screen stories, including this sobering 1959 drama.
Based on Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel, this classic feature — set in the “near future” of 1964 — depicts a dystopian world in which a nuclear Armageddon following World War III has left most of the planet uninhabitable. Melbourne, Australia is the only safe haven left for humanity, but time is running out there as well. After receiving a mysterious, repetitive Morse code signal coming from San Diego, California, the survivors in Australia dispatch a United States Navy submarine, helmed by Commander Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) and Lieutenant Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins), to investigate.
Here, the British submarine HMS Andrew is used to portray the fictional, nuclear-powered sub USS Sawfish during location filming at the Williamstown Dockyard in Williamstown, Victoria, Australia.
Directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, the picture was photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno, ASC, AIC, a key collaborator of Federico Fellini’s who received a 1979 Academy Award nomination for Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz and, 20 years later, the ASC’s International Award.
All of these production photos were taken by Frank Shugrue and donated to the ASC.
