Other mistake: According to the plot, no life is possible in the Northern Hemisphere by the time the film is set. Yet, when the sailor who has been sent ashore to look around the San Diego refinery enters the premises (more precisely, when we see the smoking-prohibited sign on our right and his left) a bird can be seen flying in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
On the Beach (1959)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Stanley Kramer
Starring: Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins, Ava Gardner
... "This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper." The last of humanity all die. Either by radiation poisoning or hopefully by the suicide pills issued by the government. Captain Towers sails away to ditch his nuclear sub while Moira watches him from a hilltop. The last scene shows a Salvation Army banner, the message now directed at the movie audience: "THERE'S STILL TIME BROTHER"
Guy Holladay
More mistakes in On the Beach
Moira Davidson: All I want to know is: if everybody was so smart, why didn't they know what would happen?
Dwight Towers: They did.
Moira Davidson: Well, I - I can't take it. I - oh, yes, I can take it! But, it's unfair. It's unfair because I didn't do anything. And nobody I know did anything.
Trivia: When Moira and Bill Davidson are strolling in the pasture, they pause to admire a beautiful mare that is posing for them, and Bill offers the horse something to eat from the palm of his hand (sugar cubes or some other treat, presumably, but it's not visible). However, the horse does not react to the treat nor eat anything that Bill offers, because the actor's hand was actually empty. The trained horse was obeying cues from her trainer, off-camera, and only her trainer carried the real treats.
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