Mod-Woman On the Beach

Peggy (Joan Bennett) feels trapped, lacking the will to break free of her husband Tod (Charles Bickford), a famed painter whose career and eyesight she destroyed during a violent quarrel. A war-traumatized sailor (Robert Ryan), eager to claim Peggy for himself, is convinced Tod feigns blindness to control her. To prove it, he'll take Tod for a stroll along the seaside cliffs and watch as the artist nears the edge. Filled with primal lust, bold imagery and murderous hearts, The Woman on the Beach, heavily recut by the studio prior to release, is Jean Renoir's (The Rules of the Game, The River) fever dream of a film noir. "What might have been is anybody's guess, but what's left is great Renoir" (Tom Milne, Time Out Film Guide).