The main character of Yves Allégret’s Une si jolie petite plage (US: Such a Pretty Little Beach) is the gloom: the rain never ceases and the gray never lightens in the little seaside town where Pierre (Gérard Philipe) arrives as a hotel guest. Unbeknownst to the locals and the inn keeper Madame Mahieu (Jane Marken) who accommodates him, Pierre was once a ward of the state who worked at the hotel when it was managed by the inn keeper’s father, who is now disabled and mute. Pierre discloses very little about himself, which provokes annoyance and curiosity among the denizens of the inn, particularly in the morose maid Marthe (Madeleine Robinson) who finds his elusiveness attractive, and the 15-year-old servant boy (Christian Ferry) who finds him intimidating. The inn is abuzz with news of the gruesome murder of a Parisian chanteuse whose name seems to raise Pierre’s hackles, especially with the arrival of Fred (Jean Servais), an older man in pursuit of him. As beach towns go, this one is remarkably dreary, a shack in the dunes providing the only respite from the meaninglessness outside, and cinematographer Alekan uses the bleakness to splendid artistic advantage. The film is unusual in its portrayal of orphaned boys falling into the gigolo lifestyle (essentially prostitution) and the dangers therein (a postscript clarifies that most “charity wards” become upstanding members of society).