beach·comb·er / ˈbēchˌkōmər/ • n. 1. a vagrant who makes a living by searching beaches for articles of value and selling them.2. a person who searches beaches for useful or interesting items.

Beachcomber ★★★ Vessel of Wrath 1938

Comedy set in the Dutch East Indies about a shiftless beachcomber (Laughton) who falls in love with a missionary's prim sister (Lanchester), as she attempts to reform him. The real-life couple of Laughton and Lanchester are their usual pleasure to watch. Remade in 1954. Story by W. Somerset Maugham. 88m/B VHS . GB Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Robert Newton, Tyrone Guthrie; D: Erich Pommer.