A Day at the Beach

1970 British film by Simon Hesera

1970 (1970)

Running time

92 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

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. 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.

Plot

Set in a rundown Dutch 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 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.^[1]