--- description: The Photo that Forced Polanski to Flee title: The (2nd) Biggest Mistake Roman Polanski Ever Made image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24de18ac84f3ca3d/69869854d0b6f21e48304ecb/polanski.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The (2nd) Biggest Mistake Roman Polanski Ever Made by [Krystal Grow](/author/krystal-grow/) ## Krystal Grow Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2014 2:26 PM CUT  Director Roman Polanski smokes a cigarette and drinks a beer at Oktoberfest, Sept.29, 1977. Director Roman Polanski smokes a cigarette and drinks a beer at Oktoberfest, Sept.29, 1977.Istvan Bajzat—dpa/Corbis by [Krystal Grow](/author/krystal-grow/) ## Krystal Grow Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2014 2:26 PM CUT Roman Polanski made a lot of mistakes in 1977\. The famous director of _Chinatown_ and _Rosemary’s Baby_, who had escaped the horrors of the Holocaust as a child and endured the brutal murder of his pregnant wife at the hands of the Manson Family, was on trial for the Quaalude and champagne fueled rape of a 13-year-old girl. Thanks to Judge Laurence Rittenband, who allegedly loved the media frenzy the trial inspired, Polanski was granted permission to leave the country in exchange for a guilty plea to the least legally damning of the six charges he faced: illegal sex with a minor. So Polanski flew to Europe to begin filming the massive action epic _The Hurricane_, but made an unfortunate pit stop in Germany for Oktoberfest, where he was photographed by paparazzo Istvan Bajzat. The image of Polanski, leisurely smoking a cigar, flanked on all sides by young girls and giant beer steins, was a game-changer in a case already rife with legal inconsistencies, and solidified Polanski’s public perception as a freewheeling womanizer. Polanski was ordered to return to the US, where he was immediately sent to Chino State Prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation, of which he served 42 days. Less than three months later, just hours before he was to stand trial, Polanski fled to Europe, where the 81-year-old director still lives and works. Polanski’s newest film, a racy adaptation of the stage play _Venus in Fur_, has its U.S. release today, June 20. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2901712/roman-polanski-venus-in-fur/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2901712/roman-polanski-venus-in-fur/"},"headline":"The (2nd) Biggest Mistake Roman Polanski Ever Made","datePublished":"2014-06-20T14:26:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:31:18.464Z","description":"The photo that forced Polanski to flee","url":"https://time.com/2901712/roman-polanski-venus-in-fur/","keywords":["movies","Hollywood","Scandal","paparazzi"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24de18ac84f3ca3d/69869854d0b6f21e48304ecb/polanski.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Krystal Grow","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/krystal-grow/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24de18ac84f3ca3d/69869854d0b6f21e48304ecb/polanski.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Roman Polanski at Oktoberfest","caption":"Roman Polanski at Oktoberfest","creditText":"Istvan Bajzat—dpa/Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2901712/roman-polanski-venus-in-fur/","name":"The (2nd) Biggest Mistake Roman Polanski Ever Made"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Venus In Fur Official US Trailer (2014) - Roman Polanski Movie HD","description":"Venus In Fur Official US Trailer (2014) - Roman Polanski Movie HD","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yFoReuUC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-19T18:14:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yFoReuUC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2901712/roman-polanski-venus-in-fur/","duration":"PT1M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2901712/roman-polanski-venus-in-fur/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```