 |
|
Nevil Shute |
And the winner in the
depression stakes is...
On the Beach; Nevil Shute's (1899-1960) 1957 novel about a
nuclear war that wipes out the Northern Hemisphere and sends a deadly
cloud of radioactive fallout that does more damage to Australia than a
new series of Neighbours.
Despite having six months before the outback gets hot, the Aussies are
strangely apathetic and resign themselves to their doom. Me, I'd
figure half a year, a deep mineshaft, and an operating nuclear
submarine would give a good chance to go the Dr. Strangelove route and
get some people underground.
The 1959 Stanley Kramer film opened to a worldwide audience and was
the first American film to premiere in the USSR, where it received
rapturous reviews in the Soviet press. A story designed to scare
the living crap out of the West about the prospect of fighting a nuclear war
with the USSR and the Communists loved it? I'm not surprised. |
