Return from the Ashes (1965)

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (writer)
Hubert Monteilhet (novel)

Release Date:

19 November 1965 (Finland)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

No one may enter the theatre after Fabi enters her bath!

Plot:

Stanislaus Pilgrin, a Polish chess master and handsome gigolo, marries wealthy Jewish widow, Dr. Michele Wolf...

Plot Keywords:

Chess | Bathtub Scene | Woman Drowned | Nude Woman Murdered | Drowning

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Maximilian Schell	...	Stanislaus Pilgrin
Samantha Eggar	...	Fabienne 'Fabi' Wolf
Ingrid Thulin	...	Dr. Michele 'Mischa' Wolf
Herbert Lom	...	Dr. Charles Bovard
Talitha Pol	...	Claudine
Vladek Sheybal	...	Manager
Jacques Cey	...	Hotel Desk Clerk
Jacques B. Brunius	...	1st Detective
Jean Marc	...	2nd Detective
Andre Charisse	...	Restaurant Captain
Danièle Noël	...	Nurse
Arnold Diamond	...	Neighbor
Franco De Rosa	...	Boy in Nightclub
Doreen Moore	...	Girl in Nightclub
Harriet Harper	...	Girl in Nightclub

Runtime:

USA:105 min | UK:104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Quotes:

Stanislaus Pilgrin: [voicing his thoughts] The simple closing of a door has brought me to the guillotine.

This Return Deserves a Comeback

Certain films travel just below the radar. "Return from the Ashes" is such a film. The ones who've seen it never forget it but somehow it's nowhere to be found. Never on video and so far not on DVD. I'm not going to tell you about the devilish plot because that's most of the pleasure of seeing it for the first time. Just let me wet your appetite by saying that Maximilian Schell plays a young amoral polish guy who seduces a French, older, wealthy widow, played for real by a great Ingrid Thulin. The action takes place at the dawn of the German occupation. She is Jewish he is not. When Schell asks her to marry him, she laughs it off as a surprisingly conventional request but he means it saying "At this time is not convention but defiance" So he marries the older Jewish woman...that's all I'm going to tell you about the story. Samantha Eggar, beautiful and skinny gives a powerful performance of seductive evilness. She is a stand out of major proportions. The ending seems a bit of a commercial concession but it doesn't spoil the cleverly tailored plot. If you see it announced on late night TV, set up your VCR or whatever contraption at your disposal.