Lawrence Johnston’s meticulously researched documentary begins with an exploration of the life and work of author Nevil Shute and his best-selling novel On the Beach. Published in 1957, Shute wrote the novel as a cautionary response to the devastating bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and as a warning of the dangers of nuclear proliferation. Remaining faithful to the novel's Australian setting, producer-director Stanley Kramer and his crew travelled to Melbourne to shoot the film over four months in early 1959 with a marquee cast of actors that included Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, a young Anthony Perkins and talented newcomer Donna Anderson.
Not only a compelling primer on Shute's novel and Kramer's film – Johnston's documentary features on camera interviews with Shute's daughter Heather Mayfield, Kramer's widow Karen Kramer and actor Donna Anderson among several authoritative voices – Fallout also chronicles the frenzied media reception Kramer and his star cast received, offering a fascinating social history of Melbourne at the end of the 1950s.
