t the height of the Cold War, numerous science-fiction films were released addressing the aftermath of nuclear annihilation. While these pictures were often quite outlandish, with exploitative titles like The Day the World Ended, Panic in Year Zero! and The Last Woman on Earth, one of the few movies to handle the subject with poignancy and compassion was On the Beach. Along with deft performances by ace actors like Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Anthony Perkins, the film also boasted a haunting, heroic and heart-rending score from composer Ernest Gold.
Issued on CD for the first time as part of Film Score Monthly magazine's Golden Age Classics soundtrack series, the album commences with "Main Title," a robust work that introduces the production's key motif. This memorable theme, based upon the revered Australian folk song "Waltzing
Matilda," crops up in abundant variations throughout the picture, particularly on such dramatically diverse cuts as "Let's Call Moira," "The Boat Race," "Homecoming" and "There's Still Time." On other tracks, including "The Desolate City" and "The Mysterious Signal," serial French horn sequences supply grim, lonely tones, with muted violins imparting a tranquil, affectionate air on bittersweet numbers like "Peter and Mary" and "I Love You."
In addition to the dozen On the Beach cues, the collection contains 13 supplementary Gold pieces—also previously unavailable on compact disc—from The Secret of Santa Vittoria, a 1969 comedy set during World War II. The wide-ranging liner notes, written by Film Score Monthly movie-music experts Jeff Bond and Lukas Kendall, provide detailed historical information about the composer, the creative process behind each production and Stanley Kramer, the man who directed both pictures.
Moving music for a poignant picture
Unlike most of the post-apocalyptic SF movies released during the late 1950s and early 1960s, On the Beach does not focus upon the ragged remnants of civilization battling mutated creatures or angrily fighting among themselves. Instead, the 1959 film presents a sincere, subdued and decidedly adult exploration of the grim yet inevitable result of a global nuclear conflict. The score splendidly reflects that mature and meaningful approach, adroitly balancing elements of sadness, devotion, grief, joy and, perhaps most plangently, dignity.
Gold brilliantly indicates despair, denial and unrealized dreams on "Australian Summer Time," a touching cut that utilizes bucolic strings to emphasize the wistful emotions confronting the unlucky, and at times unbelieving, survivors. Conversely, the low tones and calm, deliberate rhythm of "Take the Final Step" generate a substantially more somber ambiance, although toward its conclusion the piece unexpectedly builds to a bright crescendo. This sudden climax subtly but superbly suggests that, even
at the bleakest of moments, willpower and self-determination are crucial human qualities.
Now and again the "Waltzing Matilda" theme becomes a tad tiresome—in Gold's defense, the liner notes reveal that Kramer demanded the tune serve as the film's chief musical motif—but overall the compositions remain captivating and affecting. It's also somewhat jarring to hear the consistently upbeat mood of the second half of the collection (devoted to The Secret of Santa Vittoria) juxtaposed with the sorrowful, understated atmosphere of the preceding works. All the same, the album
persuasively demonstrates that the On the Beach score is both elegant accompaniment to an important SF film and an impressive and surprisingly effective elegy in and of itself.
