Lost Daughter (1948)
"Portrait from Life" (original title)

A British army officer becomes fascinated by the portrait of a young woman. He travels to Germany to find her only to discover that she is suffering from amnesia.

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Muriel Box, Sydney Box,

Stars:

Mai Zetterling, Robert Beatty, Guy Rolfe

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mai Zetterling	...	Lidia aka Hildegarde
Robert Beatty	...	Campbell Reid
Guy Rolfe	...	Major Lawrence
Herbert Lom	...	Fritz Kottler Hendlemann
Patrick Holt	...	Ferguson
Arnold Marlé	...	Professor Franz Menzel
Sybille Binder	...	Eitel Hendlmann
Thora Hird	...	Mrs. Skinner
Gerard Heinz	...	Heine
Yvonne Owen	...	Helen
Ernest Thesiger	...	Bloomfield (scenes deleted)
John Blythe	...	Johnnie
Philo Hauser	...	Hans Ackermann
George Thorpe	...	Brigadier
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Supervisor

Storyline

A British army officer becomes fascinated by the portrait of a young woman. He travels to Germany to find her only to discover that she is suffering from amnesia.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1949 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Girl in the Painting

Filming Locations:

Gainsborough Studios, Islington, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gainsborough Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film of Douglas Sinden.

User Reviews

A snapshot of the time.

What drew me to this film was its focus on the lives of some inmates of the Displaced People's Camps in Post WW2 Europe. Its depiction, though considerably cleaned up for the consumption of the movie-going public, illustrates some of the key elements in DP camp life. The plot focusses on the attempts of a British Officer in Occupied Germany to help an amnesiac Concentration Camp inmate regain her memory. Unknown to all, a wanted Nazi war criminal is using her amnesia and the names of an exterminated Jewish family to escape Justice.

Typical for British dramas of the period, though not as excruciating as some, there is plenty of "British reserve" in Guy Rolfe's role. The consistently understated (or absent) emotion is a bit difficult for today's audiences. Also "Hildegaard", the amnesiac, seems to fall in love at the drop of a hat which, given her circumstances, I found to be quite neurotic. I'm not sure that this would have been the intention of the director.

The film's street scenes also give some fleeting insights into London's appearance in the late '40's.

On the whole I'd say it would be a worthwhile film to catch if you had a particular interest in the period.