Portrait from Life
| Portrait from Life | |
|---|---|
.jpg) British quad poster (1950s re-release) | |
| Directed by | Terence Fisher |
| Written by | Muriel Box Sydney Box Frank Harvey |
| Story by | David Evans |
| Starring | Mai Zetterling Robert Beatty Guy Rolfe Herbert Lom Patrick Holt |
| Cinematography | Jack Asher |
| Edited by | Vladimir Sagovsky |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date | 15 December 1948 (London) |
Running time | 90 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £132,800[1] |
| Box office | £150,000 (by 1953)[1] 245,405 admissions (France)[2] |
Portrait from Life (also known as Lost Daughter, and in the U.S. as The Girl in the Painting)[3] is a 1948 British drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Mai Zetterling, Robert Beatty and Guy Rolfe.[4]
Plot
A British Army Officer Major Lawrence (Guy Rolfe) is on Leave from being Stationed in Germany just after WW2 when he sees a painting of a beautiful young girl in a London Art Gallery. While viewing the painting he is approached by an old man Professor Franz Menzel (Arnold Marlé), who escaped from Nazi Germany in the 1930s having to leave his fanily behind and who claims to be the young girl's father. Major Lawrence agrees with the old man to find the young girl when he returns to Germany.
Partial cast
- Mai Zetterling as Lidia
- Robert Beatty as Campbell Reid
- Guy Rolfe as Major Lawrence
- Herbert Lom as Fritz Kottler Hendlemann
- Patrick Holt as Ferguson
- Arnold Marlé as Professor Franz Menzel
- Sybille Binder as Eitel Hendlemann
- Thora Hird as Mrs. Skinner
- Gerard Heinz as Heine
- Yvonne Owen as Helen
- Philo Hauser as Hans Ackermann
- Pete Murray as Lt. Keith
- Gordon Bell as Captain Roberts
- Nelly Arno as Anna Skutetsky[5]
- Cyril Chamberlain as Supervisor
- Betty Lynne as Interpreter
- Anthony Steel as Bridegroom
- John Blythe as Club Manager
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote, "the new picture at the Little Carnegie stems from an intriguing idea, and there are several very effective sequences in the drama, plus a fine performance by the Swedish actress, Mai Zetterling. Indeed, if the whole of The Girl in the Painting were as good as its parts, the posting of this notice would be a much more pleasant task. Too much, rather than too little, story and plodding direction are the principal faults";[6] while Allmovie described it as "an over-orchestrated "guilty pleasure" from the glory days of British romance pictures."[3]
Box office
The film made a profit of £4,100.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Andrew Spicer, Sydney Box Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 211
- ^ Box office information for Terence Fisher films in France at Box office Story
- ^ a b Hal Erickson. "Portrait from Life (1948) - Terence Fisher - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ Hal Erickson. "Portrait from Life (1948) - Terence Fisher - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ "Nelly Arno". BFI. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DEEDE133FE33BBC4A51DFBE668382659EDE
External links
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