A tiresome, talky 1959 film.

Fine photography, but the script is a typically numbing affair, and the cast, aside from Peck and Meillon, seem totally out of their depth.

The great merit of this picture, aside from its entertaining qualities, is the fact that it carries a passionate conviction that man is worth saving, after all.

...On The Beach casts a huge shadow over multiple genres, from zombies to survivalist epics. It’s got soap-opera elements, but also some real downbeat poetry and a jet-black strain of bleakness…’