On the Beach: Atomic Apocalypse in 1959
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*
As always there are spoilers ahead! Trigger warning for a lot of discussion of suicide with analysis of the plot along with a side of dark humour. If you would like to support the podcast and get ad free versions you can subscribe for $3 or £3 a month at You can follow the podcast on , and . If you want to watch the film before you listen you can check the Just Watch website to see where it is available in your region. On the Beach is available online to buy and rent from Apple and other sources in many places. I can’t believe I am almost done and dusted with this...
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The World, the Flesh and the Devil: Harry Belafonte, Race and Apocalypse
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*
As usual there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media: Instagram, Threads and BlueSky.
You can support the podcast and get ad-free episodes on info_outline
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* If you would like to support the podcast and get ad free versions you can subscribe for $3 or £3 a month at https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* You can find the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. In 1992 Ishiro Honda sat down for his info_outline
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* You can find the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* As usual there are spoilers ahead! Somewhere in the late 1950s society began to come to terms with the idea of the teenager. Teens were heading to the cinema leaving younger siblings and parents at home. The Blob (1958) isn‘t a tale of rebellion or film warning about teenage delinquency but a thoroughly enjoyable time with a catchy theme tune. I have two wonderful guests to help us unravel this classic 1950s sci-fi. The Experts Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Bi Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* For this bonus episode I’ve teamed up with the excellent History Daily podcast. Very exciting! History Daily tells fascinating stories of what happened “on this day” in history with a new episode every weekday. The early 1950s in the USA stand out as not just a time of economic prosperity but also one of paranoia. The country faced the fear of the atomic bomb, the Red Scare and a moral panic around juvenile delinquency. (Teenagers were new and unpredictable!) During this Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* You can find the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. The Worst Film of All Time by The Worst Director of All Time. So claimed the 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards by Michael and Harry Medved regarding the film Plan 9 from Outer Space and director Edward Wood Jr AKA Ed Wood. But this very title is one of the Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* As usual there are spoilers ahead! I would love to know what you make of the ending of this film if you watched it. Best place to do that is on social media. Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.&nb Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* As usual there are spoilers ahead! Forbidden Planet (1956) is a somewhat overlooked 50s classic. Although it often fails to make lists of the greatest sci-fi films of all time it has come across often in my written research and when 
I Married a Monster from Outer Space was released as part of a double bill (with The Blob) in 1958. The story focuses on newlywed couple Marge and Bill Farrell but unbeknownst to his new bride and the whole town Bill has been replaced by an alien on the eve of th
As always there are spoilers ahead!
Trigger warning for a lot of discussion of suicide with analysis of the plot along with a side of dark humour.
If you would like to support the podcast and get ad free versions you can subscribe for $3 or £3 a month at https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
You can follow the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you want to watch the film before you listen you can check the Just Watch website to see where it is available in your region. On the Beach is available online to buy and rent from Apple and other sources in many places.
I can’t believe I am almost done and dusted with this film! I did really like the film and have to admit that perhaps I have been giving it a hard time. Perhaps because it gave me a hard time! There are moments of fun, flirtation and enjoyment but it is all within the backdrop of undeniable impending annihilation. I am definitely someone who prefers some depth and thematic discussion of the ethics of humanity in my science fiction (as well as some good old pew-pew led heroism) but I did find this film to be so very sad. Luckily I have two absolutely wonderful guests to keep me company and help me keep a stiff upper lip in the face of doom.
Thomas Doherty is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, he is a cultural historian with a special interest in Hollywood cinema on which he has written extensively.
John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including 1950s American and Nuclear film.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:10 Nuclear war is apparently not fun
08:09 Not your usual sci-fi
09:21 Scope, scale and cultural impact
13:43 We are ALL doomed
15:58 Gregory & Ava: Dwight & Moira
20:51 Fred Astaire as the scientist!
23:45 Peter and Mary contemplate suicide and murder
27:27 Love in the time of annihilation
30:03 Submarine: Signals and San Francisco
36:58 The Final Ferrari Race
39:30 Suicide
46:16 Legacy
49:09 Recommendations
Correction:
At 9:54 Tom mentions the film has not been revived but a joint US-Australia TV film released in 2000 was made.
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be discussing Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). It is a low budget indie film which seems to fit into the “bad film” category and so will not be for everyone! But I found it a relief full of lots of sci-fi tropes, funny parts, a coherent plot and likeable characters.
The film is in the public domain. You can watch it on the Internet Archive website and there is also a weirdly colourised version of the film on YouTube where you can also find the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode on the film. I found that very funny too.