Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Martin Teller The Woman on the Beach A coast guard lieutenant gets caught in the middle of a tempestuous marriage. The film has a lot of psychological angles and is anchored by three strong characters with fine performances by Ryan, Bennett and Bickford. However, the story just never takes off and seems to float around without a destination. The emotions bubbling under the surface rarely materialize into compelling plot material and I was fighting boredom a lot of the time. I also found the cinematography uninspired (except for Ryan's surreal nightmare) and the score far too oppressive.6/10

edwagreen You'd think that a film starring Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan and Charles Bickford would be far better. For one thing, Bickford, already in 1947, looked far too old to play Bennett's blinded painter husband. Ryan is a coast guard officer who falls for Bennett and at the same time suspects that Bickford is feigning his blindness. That would have been a great premise to stick to, but it didn't and the picture may have suffered as a result.Ryan allows Bickford to fall off a rock and the two battle on a raft during a ferocious storm. Amazingly, there are no fatalities, which in itself is ridiculous.When I saw the ending, I thought that they would be bringing in Mrs. Danvers from "Rebecca," and even that scene ended in what many might view as a cop out.

Michael_Elliott Woman on the Beach, The (1947) *** (out of 4) This film features a very interesting story and there are a lot of great moments but at the same time there's a lot of silly and over the top moments and all of the blame has to go towards director Renoir. There's a very good love triangle going on here with a very well done mystery but for some reason Renoir lets the film slip into several over the top moments, which get a few laughs, which certainly wasn't the intent. One problem are the performances by Bennett and Ryan. Both fit their roles very nicely but each have scenes where their characters go so over the top that you've gotta wonder if Renoir was even watching what they were doing. There's also a scene near the end where it seems like Bennett was calling the shots on her own and doesn't know how to act in the scene, which turns out being rather confusing on her characters part. Bickford on the other hand delivers a very fierce and strong performance as the blind man with a temper. He clearly steals the show and acts circles around the other two leads. The film runs 71-minutes and goes by very fast and includes a couple very suspenseful scenes including one where the man wants to know if the husband is really blind and makes him walk on the edge of a cliff. Overall, the film kept me entertained but it's a shame this didn't turn out to be a masterpiece because all the pieces are there but just don't gel as well as they should.

wes-connors Joan Bennett is "The Woman on the Beach", caught between her blinded husband Charles Bickford and their Lieutenant friend Robert Ryan. Or, maybe not… I couldn't figure out what was going on, though the actors try their best. The film keeps you wondering what motivates the three principal characters. Far too much is hinted at, and far too vaguely. As far as I'm concerned, the result is unsatisfying. I don't understand the imagery in the beginning, and I certainly can't figure out what I'm supposed to deduce by the ending. Some of what goes on in between is nice looking.You'll wonder, where is the rest of the movie? ***** The Woman on the Beach (6/2/47) Jean Renoir ~ Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan, Charles Bickford