The man who predicted nuclear winter before it had a name.
During the 1940s, Nevil Shute had a steady job as an engineer in the British military but in his spare time, he wrote novels that were being well-received. Once the war was over, Shute choose to move to Australia and focus on writing, soon becoming an internationally acclaimed novelist. His novel On The Beach, particularly hit a chord with the international community, depicting the impact of global nuclear destruction. This documentary studies Shute's career and the adaptation of his most famous novel into a feature film in Melbourne, as his predictions of a post-Hiroshima world seem to be foreboding in their accuracy.
Direction
Johnston excavates forgotten Cold War terror beautifully.
Production
Rare archive footage of Peck and Gardner in Melbourne.
Director
Lawrence Johnston
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Nevil Shute's real name was Nevil Shute Norway — he dropped the surname to avoid embarrassing his prominent family with his 'lowbrow' novel-writing.
The 1959 film was one of the first Hollywood productions shot entirely on location in Australia, effectively launching the country's international film industry.
AU
US
