Out of Season (film)

Out of Season
1975 theatrical poster
Directed by	Alan Bridges
Produced by	Eric Bercovici Reuben Bercovitch
Written by	Eric Bercovici Reuben Bercovitch
Starring	Cliff Robertson Vanessa Redgrave Susan George
Music by	John Cameron
Cinematography	Arthur Ibbetson
Edited by	Peter Weatherley
Release date	June 1975 (1975-06)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Out of Season is a 1975 British drama film directed by Alan Bridges. It was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival. It was filmed on the Dorset coast in England, the film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Susan George, and Cliff Robertson.

Joe Tanner (Cliff Robertson) returns to Great Britain twenty years after he ended a romantic relationship with Ann (Vanessa Redgrave). He discovers her running the same picturesque seaside resort in Dorset, but now with a grown daughter named Joanna (Susan George).

The principal action of the film is the attempt of the adults to renew their relationship, with interference from the daughter, who flirts with Joe from the moment she meets him, successfully competing with her mother for his attention. Finally, she offers herself to Joe in his bedroom, and he wordlessly accepts her invitation (the sex scenes between them are virtually the only dialogue-free parts of the film). Most of the film consists of conversations between the characters, mingled with shots of the nearby seashore.

At the end, Ann catches the lovers in mid-coitus, and calmly informs Joe that she lied to him when he asked who Joanna's father was, and she said the father was dead—the father was Joe. Neither Joe nor Joanna visibly reacts to this revelation, the strong implication being that both already knew (the names alone told the story), but they didn't want it out in the open. The next day, Joanna has seemingly left for good and Joe has moved in to stay, talking about fixing the place up. He sits down to play cards with Ann, who has no response, and whose face can't be seen.