It is perhaps indicative of the place the bomb had come to occupy in popular culture that Stanley Kramer’s adaptation of Nevil Shute’s unremittingly bleak novel should have attracted a cast of stars of the calibre of Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. Following a massive exchange of weapons, humanity’s last survivors wait in Melbourne for radiation clouds to reach them from the destroyed Northern hemisphere and seal the fate of the species. The arrival of an American submarine, commandeered by Captain Towers (Peck), brings new possibilities, not least for Towers and Moira (Gardner), a local with whom he falls in love. As hopes are dashed and decisions made, each survivor must face their fate in their own way.

Screening as part of the Fallout season. Multi-film passes available from the IFI Box Office: 3 for €30, 5 for €50, and 12 for €100.

Notes by Kevin Coyne.