the novel was adapted for the screenplay of a 1959 movie featuring Gregory Peck (USS Sawfish captain Dwight Lionel Towers), Ava Gardner (Moira Davidson), Fred Astaire (scientist Julian Osborne) and Anthony Perkins (Australian sailor Peter Holmes). It was directed by Stanley Kramer, who won a 1960 BAFTA for best director. Ernest Gold won the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Score.

There was likewise the 2000 television movie featuring Armand Assante, Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward and directed by Russell Mulcahy.

Plot

A story is placed around what was so a touching-term new (1964, in the earlier flick, 1963 in the book) some period fallowing World War III has devastated a northern hemisphere, polluting the atmosphere by having nuclear fallout, which is gradually existence carried south per spherical air currents. A lone a share of the planet however habitable is the far south of the earth, specifically Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, and a southern area of South America.

From either on this text, survivors detect the mysterious gibber Morse code radio signal emitted from a United States. By having hope that a few life has remained in a infected regions, hypothesized by what is known as the "Jorgensen Theory", one of a go U.s. nautilus, a Scorpion, sails n from either its port of refuge within Australia to try to call for whomever is sending a signal. Captain Dwight Towers leads the operation, allowing behind him a woman of recent acquaintance, Moira Davidson, whom he's fallen gaga by using despite his feelings of guilt by owning respect to the demise of his married woman & toddlers.

Fallowing sailing virtually to the Arctic Circle the expedition determines that radiation levels are not diminishing, however intensifying, & discovers that a emitted signal is in point of fact the symptom of a broken window frame that is moved per wind. A undersea crew go to to Australia to survive a little instance that remains prior to a radioactive air arrives & kills everyone.

Despite their better efforts to enjoy their previous remaining instance patch it might, a characters descend into frustration innate of inability to put a past behind the two, possibly pertinent of fulfilling duties which, whenever momentarily contemplated, come ridiculous. This is better exemplified by Captawithinside Towers, like than remaining by having Moira, finding to lead his crew in ingesting their submarine retired beyond a dozen mile limit & scuttle her on the open seas, like than stand her rattle astir, unsecured, in a foreign port - this despite the perceptible observation that everyone is dead anyway, thus how come should this matter? Virtually all of the Australians opt for the government-promoted option of suicide by cyanide pills, rather than wait to die from either a radiation. An additional interesting aspect of the plot, commented upon per characters, is that inside Shute's globe largely humans don't flee southwards when refugees however like seem to assume their fate another time a deadly radiation levels email a latitude where they survive.

A incident which is stated in a book, though non mentioned in the film, to stand begun the war is the bombing of the Usa by Egyptians. A aircraft specified were found from either a Soviets. It seems to refer to the contemporary Suez crisis.

Tremendously of the novel's action requires place around Melbourne, as a southmost a share of the Australian mainland. Shute is said to develop scorned a 1st moving-picture show version, which was discharged little to a higher degree a year before his dying, feeling that his characters experienced been altered as well greatly.

A film shoot in a area of & around Melbourne was a great novelty for that city at the period. Ava Gardner wwhen claimed to keep close at hand described a city as 'a hone place to produce a film just about the prevent of the globe'; a putative quote was actually invented by journalist Neil Jillett.