The Sand Castle
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jerome Hill
Barry Cardwell
Laurie Cardwell
George Dunham
Alec Wilder
Maybelle Nash
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Early on a summer day in California, a mother leaves her young son and daughter at a nearby beach while she goes shopping. Unwelcome in the war games of a group of older boys, the youngsters wander off alone along the water's edge. The boy finds a lovely seashell and imagines that he hears a voice inside it telling him to build a sand castle. As he works on his fortress, the beach attracts other visitors: a fat woman burdened down with paraphernalia, including a canopy, a radio, a bird in a cage, and binoculars; a bikini-clad sun worshipper; an eccentric painter; two lovers; a fisherman; a fat man who drinks from a bottle of gin; muscle-builders; a skin diver; and a group of nuns who play softball. The visitors mill about, admiring the boy's beautiful castle until a sudden rainstorm drives them away. Sheltered by a beach umbrella, the boy and his little sister fall asleep near the castle. His head filled with the events of the day, the boy has a dream in which his sand castle becomes real and the people he has seen on the beach become its inhabitants. An alarm sounds; the castle begins to tremble; and the boy awakens to the voice of his mother calling in the distance. As he leaves the beach, the tide rushes in, and the sand castle is washed into the sea.
Director
Jerome Hill
Cast
Barry Cardwell
Laurie Cardwell
George Dunham
Alec Wilder
Maybelle Nash
Erica Speyer
Charles Rydell
Allegra Ahern
Lester Judson
Martin Russ
Ghislain Dussart
Mabel Mercer
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed in 16mm. Live-action, black-and-white sequences filmed on location in Laguna Beach, California. The style of the animated, color dream sequences, involving stop-motion photography of paper figurines against paper sets, was inspired by the "juvenile drama" paper cutout theaters of the 19th century. Originally released in 16mm by Louis de Rochemont Associates; subsequently released in 35mm by Barney Pitkin Associates and in 16mm by Contemporary Films.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Fall September 1961
Released in United States September 1961
Shown at Stratford (Ontario) Film Festival August 23, 1961.
c Eastmancolor and b&w
Released in United States Fall September 1961
Released in United States September 1961
