A Day at the Beach

A Day at the Beach
A Day at the Beach
Directed by	Simon Hesera
Written by	Roman Polanski
Produced by	Gene Gutowski
Starring	Mark Burns; Beatie Edney; Maurice Roëves; Jack MacGowran; Eva Dahlbeck; Graham Stark; Fiona Lewis; Peter Sellers
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Edited by	Alastair McIntyre
Music by	Mort Shuman
Production; companies	ASA Filmudlejning; Paramount British Pictures
Release date	1970;
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

A Day at the Beach is a 1970 British film based on the 1962 book Een dagje naar het strand by Dutch author Heere Heeresma.^[1] The screenplay was written by Roman Polanski, who was originally intended to be the director, although most of the direction was finally done by first-timer Simon Hesera.^{[citation needed]}

Plot

Set in a rundown Danish seaside resort, it depicts a day in the life of Bernie, a self-destructive alcoholic, as he takes Winnie, a young girl with a leg brace, to the resort despite constant rain. Though Winnie calls Bernie "uncle", he is likely her biological father.^{[citation needed]} Over the course of the day, they encounter various people whom Bernie alternately berates and scams for alcohol, while Winnie is often left alone to fend for herself.

Cast

Mark Burns as Bernie
Beatie Edney as Winnie
Fiona Lewis as Melissa
Maurice Roëves as Nicholas
Jack MacGowran as ticket seller
Eva Dahlbeck as café proprietress
Thomas Heathcote as dice player (credited as Tom Heathcote)
Joanna Dunham as Tonie
Graham Stark as Pipi
Peter Sellers as stallholder (credited as "A. Queen")

Release

The film was never released in theatres at the time of its completion, but has seen limited runs at film festivals since then. A small clip of the film appears in the documentary The Unknown Peter Sellers: Sellers himself has a cameo role as a small shop owner with his partner (played by Graham Stark), and both are homosexual. Sellers used the pseudonym "A. Queen" in the credits.

Restoration

The film spent two decades in a vault at Paramount in London and was restored in 1993 by its director and shown at the American Film Market. It had been lost due to a paperwork error.^[2]

Home media

The film is available on DVD in the U.S from Code Red DVD. It's available for streaming on Fandor.

References

^ "A Day at the Beach". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ Ayscough, Suzan (11 February 1993). "Polanski pic found in Par vault". Variety (published 15 February 1993). p. 5. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

External links

A Day at the Beach at IMDb
Review at DVDTalk

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[BFIsearch-1] "A Day at the Beach". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[2] Ayscough, Suzan (11 February 1993). "Polanski pic found in Par vault". Variety (published 15 February 1993). p. 5. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

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