The house on the beach

Movie
German title	The house on the beach
Original title	Female on the beach
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1955
length	114 minutes
Rod
Director	Joseph Pevney
script	Robert Hill , Richard Alan Simmons
production	Albert Zugsmith for Universal Pictures
music	Joseph Gershenson
camera	Charles Lang
cut	Joseph Shoengarth
occupation
	Joan Crawford : Lynn Markham; Jeff Chandler : Drummond Drummy Hall; Jan Sterling : Amy Rawlinson; Judith Evelyn : Eloise Crandall; Cecil Kellaway : Osgood Sorenson; Charles Drake : Lieutenant Galley; Natalie Schafer : Queenie Sorenson; Stuart Randall : Frankovitch; Marjorie Bennett : Mrs. Murchison;

The House on the Beach (OT: Female on the Beach ) is an American film with Joan Crawford . The film marked a comeback for Crawford after a few financially less successful films.

action

The widow Eloise Crandall lives in a luxurious beach house. One evening she threatens her lover, the gigolo Drummond Hall, known as Drummy, with the police. The reason: His pimps, the married couple Osbert and Queenie Sorenson, are after their fortune. Shortly after the three of them left the house, Eloise fell over the parapet to her death. While the police are investigating, the owner of the house, Lynn Markham, widow of the extremely wealthy gambler Ben Markham, shows up. She contemplates living in the property herself. Realtor Amy Rawlinson tries everything to talk her out of the plan. More out of defiance than conviction, Lynn sticks to her plan. She soon made the acquaintance of Drummy, who was standing half-naked in her bedroom one night. Lynn pretends to be horrified, but is very pleased with the intruder's physical attributes. The two argue for a while before Lynn, against her better judgment, gets involved in a relationship with Drummy. On the occasion, she exposes the Sorenson couple as cardsharps and shows them the door.

Things take a dramatic turn when Lynn finds Eloise Crandell's diary in a crack in the wall. Everything indicates that Drummy made her sexually submissive in order to raise her fortune. The entries also suggest an at least indirect involvement of Drummy in the death of Eloise. Lynn isn't sure if she should go to the police. At the same time, Amy makes dark hints about Drummy and his supposedly bad character. When Lynn confronts him, Drummy's traumatic childhood memories emerge, which have aroused in him a pronounced hatred of all women. Things come to a climax on a stormy night. Lynn thinks Drummy is trying to kill her. She escapes on a boat. After a number of unbelievable twists and turns, Amy is revealed as the murderer by Eloise. Her motive was an obsessive love for Drummy. In the end, Lynn and Drummy hug each other and confess their love to each other.

background

Joan Crawford's career was at a turning point in 1954. Her last film, Johnny Guitar - When Women Hate was financially successful at the box office, it fell through mercilessly from critics of the time. Targeted indiscretions in the gossip press presenting Crawford as a selfish, bossy person with countless affairs. The campaign cost the actress the believed role in the film adaptation of A Country Girl . Grace Kelly got the nod and won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Despite these failures, Crawford was still able to charge a fee of $ 200,000 per film at this point in her career, significantly more than, for example, Barbara Stanwyck , Joan Fontaine , Bette Davis or Claudette Colbert , who received a maximum fee of $ 75,000. In 1955 Crawford made the acquaintance of Milton Rackmil, at the time the head of the Universal Pictures studio . Both started a relationship and were about to get married. As a wedding present, so to speak, Joan Crawford got the lead role in The Beach House . The story was typical of the star's films from the late 1950s. An older woman has a problematic relationship with a much younger man. In addition, there are all kinds of entanglements and dramatic outbursts of emotion before the two find their happiness together.

The problem with The House on the Beach was the less romantic starting point of the script. Crawford easily succumbs to the sexual appeal of a male prostitute. At the same time, however, the script presents Crawford as a thoroughly washed-up cynic who can no longer be shaken. This break in logic ends up making the character of Lynn appear as a desperate woman of a certain age who has to buy affection and even begs for sexual favors. The happy ending doesn't fit either with the previous twists or with the character of Drummy, who has a pronounced hatred of all women and who always treats Lynn with contempt and without any respect. The other characters are also devoid of moral values and all seem unsympathetic. Crawford was too old for this type of role at over 50. In some scenes she still wears an almost see-through babydoll and tight-fitting swimsuits. In addition, the actress had a tendency to exaggerated gestures and outbursts of emotion.

First, should Tony Curtis play the role of Drummy, but test shots were Crawford beside him appear too old. Hence Jeff Chandler , whose gray hair made him appear more mature, got the part. The actress received consistently bad reviews for the role. That didn't stop fans from making Das Haus am Strand a huge financial hit. Joan Crawford was then able to sign a lucrative contract for three films with Columbia Pictures .

In contrast to all the critics, Crawford found words of praise for the undertaking years later to Roy Newquist.

“To be honest, it wasn't a bad movie. I think Jeff Chandler was excellent, a very intelligent and attractive actor, and I think the only flaw was the usual flaw in so many other melodramas, a lack of credibility. The scriptwriters don't really care about the plot, they are just interested in developing certain highlights and the directors just let it happen. Strictly speaking, to use a familiar quote, the parts are better than the whole. "

Reviews

The film didn't get good reviews.

Bosley Crowther had described the basic problem of the film in his sharp words in the New York Times :

“Miss Crawford and Mr. Chandler fight hard against the storm-ridden climax. Neither the absurdities of the bland script nor the artificial and false play of Miss Crawford make your development any more believable. "

With a gap of almost five decades, TV Guide online got things straight to the point:

"Everyone exaggerates excessively in the film [...] Crawford is the main culprit in this respect, she not only takes apart the sets, she is probably already tinkering with the camera by the end of the recording."

literature

Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

The house on the beach in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Background information
Essay in Scarlet Street magazine

Individual evidence

↑ See Emily Carman, "Women rule Hollywood: Aging and Freelance Stardom in the studio System", p. 23 in "Female Celebrity and Aging: Back in the Spotlight", Edited by Deborah Jermyn, Taylor & Francis Group Ltd 2 Park Square , Milton Park, Abingdon Oxford, OX14 4RN, UK. There is also referred to Crawford's male contemporaries Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart , who are named in 1955 with fee claims of $ 250,000.
↑ Seriously, it wasn't a bad picture. I thought Jeff Chandler was excellent, a very bright and handsome actor, and I suppose the only thing wrong with it was the thing that hurts so many melodramas, a lack of credibility. The writers aren't too careful about the plot, they're more concerned with building up certain scenes, and the directors go along with that. Consequently, to use another critical phrase, the parts are better than the whole.
^ Miss Crawford and Mr. 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 style.
↑ Everyone overacts in this film [...] Crawford is guiltiest in this respect; She not only chewed up the scenery, but was probably starting on the camera equipment by the time filming ended.

[1] See Emily Carman, "Women rule Hollywood: Aging and Freelance Stardom in the studio System", p. 23 in "Female Celebrity and Aging: Back in the Spotlight", Edited by Deborah Jermyn, Taylor & Francis Group Ltd 2 Park Square , Milton Park, Abingdon Oxford, OX14 4RN, UK. There is also referred to Crawford's male contemporaries Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart , who are named in 1955 with fee claims of $ 250,000.

[2] Seriously, it wasn't a bad picture. I thought Jeff Chandler was excellent, a very bright and handsome actor, and I suppose the only thing wrong with it was the thing that hurts so many melodramas, a lack of credibility. The writers aren't too careful about the plot, they're more concerned with building up certain scenes, and the directors go along with that. Consequently, to use another critical phrase, the parts are better than the whole.

[3] Miss Crawford and Mr. 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 style.

[4] Everyone overacts in this film [...] Crawford is guiltiest in this respect; She not only chewed up the scenery, but was probably starting on the camera equipment by the time filming ended.