''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 Simon Heere Heeresma (9 March 1932 – 26 June 2011) was a Dutch author and poet. Heeresma was born in Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The ...

. The screenplay was written by

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...

, who was originally intended to be the director, although most of the direction was finally done by first-timer Simon Hesera.

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. 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 Beatrice Edney (born 23 October 1962) is an English television actress. Born in London, she is the daughter of actress Sylvia Syms and her husband Alan Edney. Her brother is Benjamin Edney and her cousin is musician Nick Webb. Edney first came ...

as Winnie *

Fiona Lewis Fiona Lewis (born 28 September 1946) is a British actress and writer from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; acc ...

as Melissa *

Maurice Roëves John Maurice Roëves (; 19 March 1937 – 14 July 2020) was a British actor. He appeared in over 120 film and television roles, in both the United Kingdom and the United States. His breakthrough performance was as Stephen Dedalus in the 1967 ...

as Nicholas *

Jack MacGowran John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett. Stage career MacGowran was born on 13 October 1918 in Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He establi ...

as Ticket Seller *

Eva Dahlbeck Eva Elisabet Dahlbeck (8 March 1920 – 8 February 2008) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film ''Brink of Life'' (1958). Dahlbeck retired ...

as Café Proprietress *

Thomas Heathcote Thomas Heathcote (9 September 1917 – 5 January 1986) was a British character actor, a former protégé of Laurence Olivier. He was educated at Bradfield College in Bradfield, near Reading in Berkshire, England. His films included '' A Night ...

as Dice Player (credited as Tom Heathcote) *

Joanna Dunham Joanna Elizabeth Dunham (6 May 1936 – 25 November 2014) was an English actress, best noted for her work on stage and television. She also appeared in several major films. Career Dunham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, the daughter of Peter Bro ...

as Tonie *

Graham Stark Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director. Early life The son of a purser on transatlantic liners,

as Pipi *

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

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 The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...

. It had been lost due to a paperwork error.

Home media

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

References

External links

* *https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/36968/day-at-the-beach-1970-a/ 1970 films 1970 comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films Films about alcoholism Films based on Dutch novels Films set in Denmark Films with screenplays by Roman Polanski 1970 directorial debut films 1970 comedy films 1970 drama films 1970s British films {{1970s-UK-film-stub