Putting things on lay-by was very popular when I arrived in Australia in the 1960s. I guess they are not so popular these days, but that hasn't stopped today's Australian government to give the USA a cheque for US$500 million (some AUS$790 million) on 8 February 2025 as a first instalment for three nuclear submarines it may never see.
I paid far less for Nevil Shute Norway's 1957 book "On the Beach" - he used "Nevil Shute" as his pen name to separate his writing from his career as an aeronautical engineer - and its 1959 film adaptation, which stays pretty close to the book for the most part, but then changes the ending. In the book, Dwight follows military norms to the end, scuttling the submarine so it can't fall into the hands of a now non-existent enemy. In the film, he and his crew set out for home, wishing to die in America. This also ruins the book's sad end for Moira, choosing to die looking out over the bay where Dwight's body lies in his sunken vessel.
and Melbourne sure is the right place to film it - click here.
This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
