Female on the Beach
Encyclopedia
Female on the Beach is a Universal-International feature film
starring Joan Crawford
and Jeff Chandler
in a story about a widow and her beach bum lover. The screenplay by Robert Hill
and Richard Alan Simmons was based on the play The Besieged Heart by Robert Hill
. The film was directed by Joseph Pevney
and produced by Albert Zugsmith
.
) and Drummond "Drummy" Hall (Chandler), an attractive beach bum who wanders in and out of the house as though he owned it. Lynn learns the house was once rented to Eloise Crandall (Judith Evelyn
), an older woman whose cause of death (suicide, accident, or murder) remains undetermined. Lynn later discovers "Drummy" is the accomplice of card sharps Osbert and Queenie Sorenson (Cecil Kellaway
and Natalie Schafer
), and that he heartlessly pursued Crandall in order to set her up for card games with the Sorensons. Lynn's physical attraction to Drummy is overpowering and she marries him. Events on their honeymoon lead Lynn to believe he murdered Eloise. It transpires however that Amy Rawlinson killed Crandall because she wanted Drummy for herself. Others in the cast include Charles Drake
as Police Lieutenant Galley, Stuart Randall as Frankovitch, Marjorie Bennett
as Mrs. Murchison, and Romo Vincent as Pete Gomez.
noted, "Meat of the dramatics falls to Miss Crawford and Chandler and they deliver well...Joseph Pevney's direction gets quite a bit out of the players in putting them through the paces set by [the script]." Bosley Crowther
of the New York Times wrote, "[Crawford and Chandler] labor grimly toward a storm-lashed climactic scene. Their progress is rendered no more fetching by the inanities of a hackneyed script and the artificiality and pretentiousness of Miss Crawford's acting syle."
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
starring Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Jeff Chandler
Jeff Chandler (actor)
Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities...
in a story about a widow and her beach bum lover. The screenplay by Robert Hill
Robert Hill
Robert Hill may refer to:*Robert Hill , former Australian Senator, Defence Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations*Robert Andrews Hill , U.S. federal judge*Robert C. Hill , American diplomat...
and Richard Alan Simmons was based on the play The Besieged Heart by Robert Hill
Robert Hill
Robert Hill may refer to:*Robert Hill , former Australian Senator, Defence Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations*Robert Andrews Hill , U.S. federal judge*Robert C. Hill , American diplomat...
. The film was directed by Joseph Pevney
Joseph Pevney
Joseph Pevney was an American film and television director.-Biography:Pevney was born on September 15, 1911 in New York City, New York.He made his debut in vaudeville as a boy soprano in 1924...
and produced by Albert Zugsmith
Albert Zugsmith
Albert Zugsmith was an American film producer, film director and screenwriter who specialized in low-budget exploitation films through the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:...
.
Plot and cast
Lynn Markham (Crawford) visits a beach house that once belonged to her dead husband. There, she meets real estate agent Amy Rawlinson (Jan SterlingJan Sterling
Jan Sterling was an American actress.Most active in films during the 1950s, Sterling received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty , and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance...
) and Drummond "Drummy" Hall (Chandler), an attractive beach bum who wanders in and out of the house as though he owned it. Lynn learns the house was once rented to Eloise Crandall (Judith Evelyn
Judith Evelyn
Judith Evelyn was an American stage and film actress. She was born Evelyn Morris in Seneca, South Dakota.Evelyn appeared on Broadway in the following plays:* The Shrike as "Ann Downs"...
), an older woman whose cause of death (suicide, accident, or murder) remains undetermined. Lynn later discovers "Drummy" is the accomplice of card sharps Osbert and Queenie Sorenson (Cecil Kellaway
Cecil Kellaway
Cecil Lauriston Kellaway was a South African-born character actor.Cecil Kellaway spent many years as an actor, author, and director in the Australian film industry until he tried his luck in Hollywood in the 1930s. Finding he could get only gangster bit parts, he got discouraged and returned to...
and Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer was an American actress, best known as Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on CBS's sitcom Gilligan's Island .-Early life and career:...
), and that he heartlessly pursued Crandall in order to set her up for card games with the Sorensons. Lynn's physical attraction to Drummy is overpowering and she marries him. Events on their honeymoon lead Lynn to believe he murdered Eloise. It transpires however that Amy Rawlinson killed Crandall because she wanted Drummy for herself. Others in the cast include Charles Drake
Charles Drake
Charles Drake was an American actor.-Biography:Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful...
as Police Lieutenant Galley, Stuart Randall as Frankovitch, Marjorie Bennett
Marjorie Bennett
Marjorie Bennett was an Australian television and film actress who began her career during the silent film era.-Career:Bennett was born in York, Western Australia; her sister Enid was also an actress...
as Mrs. Murchison, and Romo Vincent as Pete Gomez.
Reception
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...
noted, "Meat of the dramatics falls to Miss Crawford and Chandler and they deliver well...Joseph Pevney's direction gets quite a bit out of the players in putting them through the paces set by [the script]." Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
of the New York Times wrote, "[Crawford and Chandler] labor grimly toward a storm-lashed climactic scene. Their progress is rendered no more fetching by the inanities of a hackneyed script and the artificiality and pretentiousness of Miss Crawford's acting syle."