The Woman on the Beach
Encyclopedia
The Woman on the Beach (1947
) is a film noir
directed by Jean Renoir
, released by RKO Radio Pictures, and starring Robert Ryan
, Joan Bennett
, and Charles Bickford
.
drama about Scott, a conflicted U.S. Coast Guard
officer (Ryan), and his pursuit of Peggy, a married woman (Bennett). Peggy is married to Tod, a blind artist (Bickford).
s at the bottom of the sea
while a ghostly blond woman beckons him from afar. He thinks he is going mad
. But at the same time, he decides to propose to Eve, a young woman working at Geddes, a local shipyard catering to the Coast Guard. She accepts. Eve has a strong resemblance to the ghost
ly blond of his nightmare
s.
While riding by the seaside on his horse
, Scott meets Peggy, a brunette, the mysterious wife of Tod, a blind painter
. At first, though, he rides by her as she stands near a shipwreck protruding from the sand; she seems like an eerie echo from his nightmares. After a conversation, they discover that they share similar metaphysical
anxieties. A bond develops between the two but the situation gets more tangled when Tod tries to befriend Scott. Tod's attitude toward Scott, apart from his friendship, is also ambivalent. The retired painter tries to test Peggy and Scott to gauge how far they could go in their relationship. Outwardly Tod seems confident; he even tells Peggy that he knows she could never leave him and that he finds Scott, a much younger man, virile but banal.
However behind this facade lies a deeply wounded man who cannot come to terms with the fact that because of his blindness, he cannot paint any longer. In one exchange with Scott he tells him that dead painters' works always appreciate in value. Indeed, he expects the value of his paintings to increase, considering he is now 'dead' as a painter.
Initially Scott is suspicious of Tod's motives; he also suspects that Tod is not blind. Scott is also increasingly interested in Peggy, who returns his attentions. During an outing that Scott sets up to test the painter, he moves Tod near the edge of a cliff
, but then inadvertently lets him fall, thinking that he will be forced to see and therefore avoid the fall at the last minute. After this mishap, Tod eventually recovers. He at first thinks that Scott would now become his friend since the fall would remove any doubts about his true blindness
. But soon after Tod exhibits abusive behavior toward Peggy when he realizes that she has hid his masterpiece, his portrait of her. Seeing this, Scott tries to protect her.
As Scott grows more attracted to Peggy, he becomes ambivalent toward his earlier relationship with Eve Geddes. Eve in turn, sensing Scott's infatuation with Peggy, becomes distant and asks Scott to delay their marriage plans. The narrative reaches one climax when Scott attempts to drown both Tod and himself during a boat
outing with him that started as a fishing trip. By trying to pierce the bottom of the boat, it's apparent that Scott has put himself in danger as well, since he would be swimming helpless in the storm
y seas had he been successful at this attempt. This scene illustrates the degree of his desperation, if not madness.
This attempt by Scott to drown Tod reveals the depth of his emotional attachment to Peggy. Scott's plan fails, however, because Peggy, who seemingly went along with his plan, has a change of heart and alerts the authorities. Both Tod and Scott are eventually rescued by the Coast Guard. Eve, part of the rescue team, echoes the metaphysical
connection to the blonde of his undersea nightmare who beckoned Scott in his dreams.
In the film's finale, Tod burns all his paintings along with the house he and Peggy lived in. Peggy frantically tries to stop Tod and save the paintings: they are worth a fortune. She fails, as Scott forces her out of the collapsing house. After they have moved safely away, Scott asks Tod why he did it. Tod says the paintings were a symbol of the obsession he had with his previous, sighted life. Now that Tod's obsession with his past has been purged, he is free to go on with his life. He asks Peggy to take him to New York, where they have happy memories of their earlier life together. Afterwards she may "do as she pleases". Peggy embraces Tod. Observing this, Scott leaves them.
magazine liked the film and wrote, "Thesping is uniformly excellent with the cast from top to bottom responding to Renoir's controlling need for a surcharged atmosphere. In subtle counterpoint to the film's surface vagueness, the settings are notably realistic in their size and quality. Choice camerawork sustains the film's overall impact while sweeping through the entire production is a magnificent score by Hanns Eisler which heightens all of the film's pictorial values."
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) is a film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
, released by RKO Radio Pictures, and starring Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
, Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
, and Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
.
Overview
The movie is a love triangleLove triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
drama about Scott, a conflicted U.S. Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
officer (Ryan), and his pursuit of Peggy, a married woman (Bennett). Peggy is married to Tod, a blind artist (Bickford).
Plot
Scott, a mounted Coast Guard officer, suffers from recurring nightmares involving a maritime tragedy. He sees himself immersed in an eerie landscape surrounded by a shipwreck and walking over skeletonSkeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s at the bottom of the sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
while a ghostly blond woman beckons him from afar. He thinks he is going mad
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
. But at the same time, he decides to propose to Eve, a young woman working at Geddes, a local shipyard catering to the Coast Guard. She accepts. Eve has a strong resemblance to the ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
ly blond of his nightmare
Nightmare
A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror...
s.
While riding by the seaside on his horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, Scott meets Peggy, a brunette, the mysterious wife of Tod, a blind painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. At first, though, he rides by her as she stands near a shipwreck protruding from the sand; she seems like an eerie echo from his nightmares. After a conversation, they discover that they share similar metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
anxieties. A bond develops between the two but the situation gets more tangled when Tod tries to befriend Scott. Tod's attitude toward Scott, apart from his friendship, is also ambivalent. The retired painter tries to test Peggy and Scott to gauge how far they could go in their relationship. Outwardly Tod seems confident; he even tells Peggy that he knows she could never leave him and that he finds Scott, a much younger man, virile but banal.
However behind this facade lies a deeply wounded man who cannot come to terms with the fact that because of his blindness, he cannot paint any longer. In one exchange with Scott he tells him that dead painters' works always appreciate in value. Indeed, he expects the value of his paintings to increase, considering he is now 'dead' as a painter.
Initially Scott is suspicious of Tod's motives; he also suspects that Tod is not blind. Scott is also increasingly interested in Peggy, who returns his attentions. During an outing that Scott sets up to test the painter, he moves Tod near the edge of a cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
, but then inadvertently lets him fall, thinking that he will be forced to see and therefore avoid the fall at the last minute. After this mishap, Tod eventually recovers. He at first thinks that Scott would now become his friend since the fall would remove any doubts about his true blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
. But soon after Tod exhibits abusive behavior toward Peggy when he realizes that she has hid his masterpiece, his portrait of her. Seeing this, Scott tries to protect her.
As Scott grows more attracted to Peggy, he becomes ambivalent toward his earlier relationship with Eve Geddes. Eve in turn, sensing Scott's infatuation with Peggy, becomes distant and asks Scott to delay their marriage plans. The narrative reaches one climax when Scott attempts to drown both Tod and himself during a boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
outing with him that started as a fishing trip. By trying to pierce the bottom of the boat, it's apparent that Scott has put himself in danger as well, since he would be swimming helpless in the storm
Storm
A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
y seas had he been successful at this attempt. This scene illustrates the degree of his desperation, if not madness.
This attempt by Scott to drown Tod reveals the depth of his emotional attachment to Peggy. Scott's plan fails, however, because Peggy, who seemingly went along with his plan, has a change of heart and alerts the authorities. Both Tod and Scott are eventually rescued by the Coast Guard. Eve, part of the rescue team, echoes the metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
connection to the blonde of his undersea nightmare who beckoned Scott in his dreams.
In the film's finale, Tod burns all his paintings along with the house he and Peggy lived in. Peggy frantically tries to stop Tod and save the paintings: they are worth a fortune. She fails, as Scott forces her out of the collapsing house. After they have moved safely away, Scott asks Tod why he did it. Tod says the paintings were a symbol of the obsession he had with his previous, sighted life. Now that Tod's obsession with his past has been purged, he is free to go on with his life. He asks Peggy to take him to New York, where they have happy memories of their earlier life together. Afterwards she may "do as she pleases". Peggy embraces Tod. Observing this, Scott leaves them.
Cast
- Joan BennettJoan BennettJoan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
as Peggy Butler - Robert RyanRobert RyanRobert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
as Scott Burnett - Charles BickfordCharles BickfordCharles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
as Tod Butler - Nan Leslie as Eve Geddes
- Walter Sande as Otto Wernecke
- Irene RyanIrene RyanIrene Ryan was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway....
as Mrs. Wernecke - Glen Vernon as Kirk
- Frank Darien as Lars
- Jay Norris as Jimmy
Critical reception
The staff at VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine liked the film and wrote, "Thesping is uniformly excellent with the cast from top to bottom responding to Renoir's controlling need for a surcharged atmosphere. In subtle counterpoint to the film's surface vagueness, the settings are notably realistic in their size and quality. Choice camerawork sustains the film's overall impact while sweeping through the entire production is a magnificent score by Hanns Eisler which heightens all of the film's pictorial values."
External links
- The Woman on the Beach at Film Noir of the Week by Wheeler Winston Dixon