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.
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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.