A Day at the Beach – Indicator

Director: Simon Hesera
Screenplay: Roman Polanski
Based on a novel by: Heere Heeresma (translated by James Brockway)
Starring: Mark Burns, Fiona Lewis, Maurice Roëves, Jack MacGowran, Peter Sellers (credited as ‘A Queen’), Graham Stark, Joanna Dunham, Eva Dahlbeck, Beatie Edney (as Beatrice Edney)
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 82 min
Year: 1970
BBFC Certificate: 12

Addictions like alcoholism have been the main theme or focus of some incredible critically acclaimed, powerful and well-known films over the years. Just sticking with alcoholism, we have Billy Wilder’s first Best Picture Academy Award-winner The Lost Weekend from 1945 and starring Ray Milland, the various versions of A Star is Born (the 1954 version starring Judy Garland and directed by George Cukor is the best, in my mind), and 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas, directed by Mike Figgis and featuring a Best Actor Oscar win for Nicholas Cage.

Yet one film missing from that list – and missing full stop for over two decades – is A Day at the Beach. Directed by Simon Hesera, it’s incredibly surprising now to think that the film had languished for more than 20 years after having just a handful of screenings in France.

It features a small but memorable role for the great Peter Sellers (credited as ‘A Queen’, which may explain why the film seemingly disappeared from his filmography for two decades) and was written and co-produced by Roman Polanski from a novel by Dutch author Heere Heeresma. Polanski was due to direct the film but handed over the reins in a “gesture of friendship” to Hesera, as Michal Oleszczyk points out in his excellent essay in the accompanying booklet.

The exact reason for the film being abandoned is difficult to pinpoint with varying theories and suggestions ranging from a paperwork error, to speculation that the studio Paramount felt it would diminish the value of Polanski after the success of 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby so shelved its release.

A Day at the Beach was filmed in Denmark and is set in a rundown seaside resort in the country. It follows alcoholic Bernie (Mark Burns) who takes a young girl Winnie (Beatie Edney), who may be his daughter (though she refers to him as ‘Uncle’ throughout), to the resort on a day of heavy rain. What follows is a tragic, sombre and heart-breaking study of a self-destructive man who cannot break the cycle of turning to booze, and often leaves his daughter alone and at times in peril, whilst he interacts with other people who live and work at the resort in search of alcohol.

The story is strong and filled with some lyrical and witty dialogue and memorable characters who the central duo of Bernie and Winnie meet along their journey, from a railway ticket inspector to some of the denizens of the seaside resort. Bernie is a tragic character who epitomises toxic masculinity as the film progresses, but he starts off with a tender relationship with Winnie, though that soon slowly but surely vanishes once they reach the seaside and his quest ensues for alcohol, with the booze taking over. Winnie, who wear a leg brace, is often left alone and in danger whilst Bernie searches for his next drink, though at times we do get a glimpse of the tenderness again.

The Danish setting (the film was shot in and around Copenhagen) is used to good effect and beautifully lensed by master director of photography Gilbert Taylor (credited as Gil), who had earlier shot Polanski’s Repulsion (1965) and Cul-de-Sac (1966) and would later lens the director’s Macbeth (1971) as well as The Omen (1966), Star Wars (1977), and Flash Gordon (1980) amongst others in a glittering career. There’s an almost documentary feel at times to the location filming, and each shot is meticulously framed.

It’s a pretty bleak, relentlessly so at times (perhaps due to the seemingly never ending rain), film which is utterly devastating. Winnie is an adorable little girl and to see how she’s treated by Bernie is tough to watch. The ending is a gut punch, tragic, and downbeat, and different to the source novel’s end.

In some of the analysis included in the booklet for this release, Edney’s performance is criticised as making little impact, but I thought she was great throughout with some striking scenes. Polanski apparently didn’t like Burns’ performance, feeling he was miscast, but I felt he left  a strong impression. He’s fully committed to the role and seemingly spirals further and further out of control as the film goes on and he seeks out more alcohol.

Peter Sellers and Graham Starks bring levity as gay lovers and shopkeepers in a five-minute sequence which is about the only lightness we get once Bernie and Winnie reach the seaside resort (there have been some light moments before then). Special mention also to the score by Mort Shuman, which starts off with some relative levity but becomes more ominous as the story develops.

A Day at the Beach was director Hesera’s only scripted feature film (he would direct a 1972 documentary called Ben Gurion Remembers, which also had a troubled release), which is a shame, as from this outing he had some talent which could have led to further interesting films. It’s an enthralling portrait of an alcoholic, with some great performances, a strong script, beautiful cinematography, and is utterly devastating and heart-breaking at times. A Day at the Beach is a little seen but striking piece of cinema, which packs a punch and leaves its mark.

Film:

A Day at the Beach is released on limited edition Blu-ray by Powerhouse Films on their Indicator label on 23^rd June 2025. When I see an Indicator release has a restoration by Powerhouse Films, my interest is instantly piqued. For me, their restorations are top tier and among the best around, just check out their incredible Jean Rollin releases. A Day at the Beach is no exception, with the world Blu-ray premiere featuring a superlative new 4K restoration of the original negative by Powerhouse Films for the 82-minute version, presented in 1:75:1 ratio. It looks astonishing, incredibly natural, the right contrast and crystal-clear clarity showcasing the gorgeous colour cinematography by Gil Taylor. It is exceptional. The film also sounds great.

I reviewed the 82-minute version, but also included is an alternative 84-minute version, which includes a unique scene featuring actor Jørgen Kiil. It is sourced from a 1:33:1 standard definition master and is an interesting curio and neat inclusion.

Indicator limited edition Blu-ray special features

New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse Films

Original mono audio

Two presentations of the film: the 82-minute version, newly restored in 1.75:1 from the original negative; the alternative 84-minute version, which includes unique footage, sourced from a 1.33:1 Standard Definition master

A Country Girl (2025, 6 mins): actor Fiona Lewis recalls her entry into the film industry and her work with Roman Polanski

Dancing Before the Enemy: How a Teenage Boy Fooled the Nazis and Lived (2015, 64 mins): documentary portrait of producer Gene Gutowski, directed by his son Adam Bardach, in which he vividly recalls his experiences as a Jewish teenager in Poland during WWII

The Word of an Alcoholic (2025, 15 mins): video essay by Polish film expert Michael Brooke on the fourteen-year friendship between Polanski and Marek Hłasko, author of one of the great Polish studies of alcoholism

Behind the Camera: Gil Taylor (1999, 13 mins): archival documentary by Richard Blanshard on the great cinematographer, featuring interviews with Taylor, Polanski, and filmmaker Anthony Minghella

New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both presentations of A Day at the Beach and Dancing Before the Enemy

Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with new essay by Michał Oleszczyk, a compilation of trade journal reports on the film’s production, extracts from interviews with director Simon Hesera at the time of the film’s 1993 re-release, an overview of critical responses, and full film credits

World premiere on Blu-ray

Limited edition of 4,000 copies for the UK and US

The six-minute interview with actor Fiona Lewis provides a few anecdotes about how she got into films and how she met Roman Polanski. She then worked with the director on The Vampire Killers. Lewis ends with some reflections on A Day at the Beach. Short but interesting.

Dancing Before the Enemy: How a Teenage Boy Fooled the Nazis and Lived is the standout extra, a marvellous, poignant and evocative 64-minute documentary portrait of Gene Gutowski, who produced A Day at the Beach with Polanski. The heart of the film is an interview with Gutowski who talks us through his life. His entire family were killed in 1941 following the German occupation of Lwów in what was then Poland (it is now known as Lviv in Ukraine). I won’t spoil the documentary for those who haven’t seen it, but what happened then and how Gutowski managed to escape the conflict before going on to a career as a film producer is utterly remarkable and deeply fascinating. The film was directed by Gutowski’s son Adam Bardach. Outstanding.

Michael Brooke’s 15-minute piece is typically well informed and researched, and focuses on Marek Hłasko, author of one of the great Polish studies of alcoholism, and his 14 year friendship with Polanski. We hear about how they met and background to Hłasko and spend some time looking at The Noose, a 1958 Polish film based on one of his short stories, which follows a day in the life of alcoholic Kuba Kowalski, so sharing similar elements and themes to A Day at the Beach. Hłasko is portrayed as an incredibly interesting author who had a tragic end to his life at the age of just 35. It’s another excellent video essay by the always fantastic Brooke.

Behind the Camera: Gil Taylor gives a good 13-minute overview of the cinematographer, from his early beginnings at Gainsborough Studios, through some highlights of his career including working with directors Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock. It features interviews with Taylor and Polanski, as well as an extended look at the latter’s film Repulsion, and is a welcome inclusion.

The 36-page booklet is a typically strong one from Indicator, which opens with a new essay by Michal Oleszczyk, which focuses on the depiction of poet-drunks, before looking at the character of Bernd (Bernie in the film) in the source novel of A Day at the Beach. Some of the changes Polanski made when adapting the novel in his screenplay are also highlighted. Contemporaneous trade journal reports of the film’s production follow, before a brilliant look at the rediscovery of the film in 1993, and closing with some contemporary reviews.

So, on paper it’s a small selection of extras, yet they total around 90 minutes and are all incredibly well curated, providing vivid portraits of some key figures in the film’s history and conception, in a package which is supplemented by another excellent booklet from Indicator, and headlined by a phenomenal restoration. The film itself is relatively underseen and little known, but hopefully this wonderful new release will bring it the audience it deserves.

Disc/Package