On the Beach

Heavy going indeed as Mr Liberal Conscience himself, Stanley Kramer, wades turgidly through Nevil Shute's story of the aftermath of nuclear apocalypse. Set in Australia, where the radiation effects of war in the Northern hemisphere have still to take effect, it follows a group of characters as they wait for death to arrive. 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.