Nearly 60 years ago, Hollywood came to Phillip Island when Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire filmed “On The Beach”, a 1959 post-apocalyptic science fiction drama film.

Produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and also starring Anthony Perkins, the black-and-white film was based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel of the same name depicting the aftermath of a nuclear war.

Filming took place from mid-January to March 27, 1959 with beach scenes filmed on the Cowes foreshore.

The “Australian Grand Prix” in the novel had the racing sequences filmed at Riverside Raceway in California and at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.  

As in the novel, much of On the Beach takes place in Melbourne, with filming around Melbourne city streets, Berwick, Canadian Bay and Marysville.

Ava Gardner was famously believed to have said: “On the Beach is a story about the end of the world, and Melbourne sure is the right place to film it”.

Apparently, she said no such thing, but with media coverage during filming driving stars to distraction, she later admitted she felt like that at the time.