The Woman on the Beach

The Woman on the Beach

Year: 1947

Runtime: 71 mins

Language: English

Director: Jean Renoir

RomanceDrama

Go ahead and say it…I’m no good! A sailor suffering from post-traumatic stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – The Woman on the Beach (1947)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Woman on the Beach (1947). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Seaside town, Shipyard by the sea, Cliffside shoreline

A coastal town setting with a working shipyard and a rugged shoreline. The landscape features a shipwreck protruding from the sand and a cliffside edge where tensions escalate. The environment underscores the film’s mood, blending maritime work with eerie, dreamlike seascapes.

🌊 Seaside town 🛠️ Shipyard 🗿 Cliffside shoreline

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:20

Main Characters – The Woman on the Beach (1947)

Meet the key characters of The Woman on the Beach (1947), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Scott Burnett (Robert Ryan)

Scott is a mounted Coast Guard officer haunted by nightmare visions of a shipwreck and skeletons beneath the sea. He is duty-bound and protective, yet drawn to Peggy, which threatens his objectivity. His suspicions of Tod drive him to test the others while trying to safeguard Peggy from danger.

🛡️ Duty-bound 💘 Romantic 🕵️ Suspicious

Tod Butler (Charles Bickford)

Tod is a retired artist who has gone blind, clinging to past artistic identity. He tests Peggy and Scott to see how far they can go, displaying ambivalence and controlling tendencies. His pride and obsession with art lead to destructive acts, including burning his paintings and the life he shared with Peggy.

🎨 Obsessive 🕶️ Controlling 🌧️ Enigmatic

Peggy Butler (Joan Bennett)

Peggy is Tod's wife who shares metaphysical anxieties with Scott and develops feelings for him. She navigates manipulation, loyalty, and desire while concealing Tod's nude portrait. Her choices drive the emotional center of the story as she contemplates her future.

💖 Independent 🤝 Torn 🗝️ Secretive

Eve Geddes (Nan Leslie)

Eve works at the shipyard serving the Coast Guard and becomes entangled in the love triangle as she accepts Scott's proposal, only to grow distant as Peggy's feelings intensify. She embodies practicality and loyalty while wary of the unfolding conflict.

💖 Loyal 🧭 Pragmatic 🌊 Jealous

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:20

Major Themes – The Woman on the Beach (1947)

Explore the central themes of The Woman on the Beach (1947), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💔 Forbidden Love

A dangerous attraction forms between Scott and Peggy while Tod's ambiguous behavior tests the limits of trust. The love triangle builds as Peggy wrestles with loyalty to Tod and desire for Scott. The tension intensifies near the sea and wreckage, highlighting the peril of pursuing love at any cost.

🎨 Art & Obsession

Tod is a blind, former painter clinging to his past glory and the value of art. He manipulates Peggy and Scott to measure loyalty, equating artistic worth with existence after losing sight. His destruction of his own paintings signals the destructive grip of obsession on identity and reality.

🌊 Sea & Fate

The sea acts as an indifferent force shaping the characters' fates and testing their choices. The cliffside test and the Coast Guard rescue anchor the story in mortal risk and renewal. The climax uses fire and escape to mark a break from obsession toward a new, uncertain future.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:20

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Noir Love Triangles like The Woman on the Beach

Tense affairs set against bleak landscapes, where desire becomes a trap.Discover movies like The Woman on the Beach, featuring tense and atmospheric stories of obsessive and destructive love affairs. These films share a moody, fatalistic tone, complex character motivations, and a focus on the psychological dangers of desire within a constricting triangle.

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Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread follow a pattern where a new, often damaged, outsider is drawn into an existing, dysfunctional relationship. The initial spark of passion quickly ignites underlying tensions, leading to a series of psychological games, betrayals, and often violent confrontations that threaten to destroy all involved.

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These films are grouped by their shared focus on a specific type of romantic conflict—the explosive love triangle—presented through a noir lens. They share a tense, melancholic mood, a steady pacing that builds dread, and a high emotional intensity rooted in themes of obsession, jealousy, and psychological turmoil.

Movies about Isolation and Trauma like The Woman on the Beach

Stories where remote settings mirror characters' internal psychological storms.If you liked The Woman on the Beach for its portrayal of PTSD against a stark coastal backdrop, explore these films. They feature characters dealing with heavy psychological burdens in remote settings, creating a potent mix of atmospheric dread and deep character study.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a character escaping to or being trapped in a remote location to cope with, or run from, a psychological wound. The isolation forces them to confront their demons, often through interactions with a small number of other characters, leading to crises that are as much internal as they are external.

Why These Movies?

These movies are linked by their central premise: the intersection of severe psychological distress and an isolated setting. They share a heavy emotional weight, a tense or melancholic tone, and a steady pacing that allows for a deep, often uncomfortable, immersion into a character's fractured mental state.

Unlock the Full Story of The Woman on the Beach

Don't stop at just watching — explore The Woman on the Beach in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what The Woman on the Beach is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

The Woman on the Beach Summary

Read a complete plot summary of The Woman on the Beach, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

The Woman on the Beach Summary

The Woman on the Beach Timeline

Track the full timeline of The Woman on the Beach with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

The Woman on the Beach Timeline

The Woman on the Beach Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of The Woman on the Beach that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

The Woman on the Beach Spoiler-Free Summary

More About The Woman on the Beach

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about The Woman on the Beach: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

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