A Day at the Beach (1970) on Netflix
Bernie is a wanderer who likes to drink and has no plan in life. He takes Winnie, the six-year-old who calls him Uncle Bernie, for a day at the seaside.
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- IMDb6.2/10601 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
Bernie, an alcoholic, walks through the rain to the flat of his ex-wife Melissa to collect Winnie, a six-year-old with polio, and take her to the seaside. Melissa has remarried, to Carl, and Bernie asks Carl for a loan as Carl leaves for work. While Melissa gets Winnie ready, Bernie slips into the couple's supply of drink and swallows vodka. In the foyer he answers a condescending woman sharply, and Winnie, pleased, calls him Uncle Bernie. At the station a man named Louis, owed money, punches him when Bernie says he has none.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Day at the Beach (1970)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Peter Sellers, unimpressed when first-time director Simon Hesera asked for a comedy scene "with a capital C", snapped "if you wanted Laurel and Hardy why didn't you book them?" After the set went silent, Graham Stark, nudged by a nod from Roman Polanski, took over and explained how the scene should play.
- To cast the part of Winnie, Roman Polanski and producer Gene Gutowski advertised in London newspapers for "a young girl free to go abroad". The wording drew a response from Scotland Yard, and Gutowski went to court to obtain a license making him personally responsible for the child's employment conditions, including her nap times.
- Roman Polanski's involvement with A Day at the Beach ended abruptly in August 1969, when his wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered; he and producer Gene Gutowski flew straight back to California, and Peter Sellers followed and attended Tate's funeral on 13 August 1969.
- Graham Stark got his part in the film after a phone call from producer Gene Gutowski, who told him Peter Sellers had agreed to a cameo but would only do it if Stark agreed to play the other half of the gay couple. Stark agreed.
- The film was to shoot in England but was moved to Denmark, because it follows an alcoholic going from bar to bar for an entire day: England had harsh time-restricted regulations for pubs, while in Denmark you could drink all day without interruption.
- A week after agreeing to the part, Graham Stark found himself in a dentist's chair in England having two gold caps put on his teeth, because Roman Polanski thought it was the ideal detail his character needed.
