This is a very moving and effective film starring the young Mai Zetterling, then aged 23 but looking 18 and acting even younger than that. She has amnesia because of terrible events which she has experienced during the War, including time spent in Auschwitz because she was a Jew. She is the lost daughter of a German Jewish professor who is living as a refugee in London, and who has not seen any members of his family for nine years and does not even know if they are alive. In the camp, she is disguised as the daughter of a man who calls himself Fritz Handelmann, played by Herbert Lom at his most sinister and threatening. Zetterling does not know she is not his daughter and believes him when he tells her she is. But meanwhile, Lom is really 'the fourth in command of the SS' with a secret bunker near the camp, who is attempting to revive the Nazi cause while remaining in disguise as a refugee. Guy Rolfe plays an English officer posted to the British Army of Occupation in Germany. He is home on 21 day leave in London and meets the old professor, who tells him of his missing daughter. This is because a war artist has painted a haunting portrait of her which is on show at the Royal Academy, Rolfe visits it and hears the professor exclaim upon seeing it: 'But that's my daughter!' Rolfe is taken by the girl in the portrait and decides to help investigate. And so a considerable saga ensues, leading to dramatic events and the finding of the utterly charming young Zetterling, who at that age was enough to set any number of hearts aflutter. It's quite a story and superbly directed by Terence Fisher, who had only directed his very first film the year before. Later, in 1962, he would direct the version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA which has Herbert Lom play the Phantom and Heather Sears as Christine.
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howardmorley30 November 2014Unlike many 1940s movies, this film came from over with crisp dialogue so I did not have to turn the volume control up to listen to the screenplay.Even my wife noticed it had good sound production standards.Guy Rolfe an army officer in 1946, to kill time sees a portrait in a forces art gallery and makes the acquaintance there of the Jewish father of the girl posing for it, (Mai Zetterling).As he has just been jilted, he has time on his hands as the army has given him temporary leave from his army job in Hannover, Germany.
Fascinated by the portrait, he sets out to find the girl from the masses of "DPs" (displaced persons) in Europe who were stateless at the end of WW11 and placed in special camps by the allies.I also liked hearing authentic German spoken by the cast which included Herbert Lom at the beginning of his film career.As there is a surprise ending I will draw a veil over my comments so as not to provide a spoiler.A good production which held my interest to the end.7/10 -
richardchatten8 March 2020Historically interesting for its stark depiction of the shambles that was postwar Europe; and as a reminder of the first phase of Terence Fisher's career as a director during his brief tenure making 'A' features for Gainsborough Pictures before it closed it's doors in 1949.
It's also effectively a follow-up to Ealing's 'Frieda' with Mai Zetterling in a similarly equivocal role as a displaced person with a mysterious past. The first half has an almost documentary quality to it (with a lot of location work and German dialogue) before melodrama takes over (including a scene set in a wood at nighttime that wouldn't have been out of place in 'The Curse of Frankenstein'), to which Sybilla Binder contributes a memorably spooky cameo. -
Big Vern24 January 1999What 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. -
malcolmgsw4 February 2019Main Zetterling despite being 24 convinces as an 18 year old girl in a displaced persons camp.Also very prominent at the beginning of a long are errors.He is Herbert Lom.Lots of other familiar faces at the beginning of their new post war careers.This film is of historical interest now,showing how people were trying to sort themselves out after the war.
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geoffm6029527 January 2021Guy Rolfe, plays an army officer, on leave from occupied Germany, who visits an art gallery and is immediately captivated by the image of a young girl who he sees in a painting. The young girl's father, who happens to be a Jewish professor, realises Rolfe's interest, which prompts him to tell him that the girl in the picture is his daughter, who he hasn't seen since they were both incarcerated in different German concentration camps. Rolfe makes it his mission to see if he locate the missing girl when he flies back to Germany after his leave had expired. Strong performances from Guy Rolfe, Herbert Lom playing the sinister 'alleged' father of the girl in the picture and Mai Zetterling as the 'missing girl.' The film has a very involved storyline, which constantly twists and turns, but sometimes rather too much, with the result that's easy to lose attention. Nevertheless, the acting is top notch, and watching Herbert Lom and Mai Zetterling is always a joy. It's also a worthy film since it highlights the problems of liberated prisoners of war and refugees who are trying to rebuild their relationships as well as their lives in the immediate aftermath of WW2.
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geoffm6029528 January 2021Guy Rolfe, plays an army officer, on leave from occupied Germany, who visits an art gallery and is immediately captivated by the image of a young girl who he sees in a painting. The young girl's father, who happens to be a Jewish professor, realises Rolfe's interest, which prompts him to tell him that the girl in the picture is his daughter, who he hasn't seen since they were both incarcerated in different German concentration camps. Rolfe makes it his mission to see if he locate the missing girl when he flies back to Germany after his leave had expired. Strong performances from Guy Rolfe, Herbert Lom playing the sinister 'alleged' father of the girl in the picture and Mai Zetterling as the 'missing girl.' The film has a very involved storyline which constantly twists and turns, but sometimes rather too much, with the result that's easy to lose attention. Nevertheless, the acting is top notch, and watching Herbert Lom and Mai Zetterling is always a joy. It's also a worthy film since it highlights the problems of liberated prisoners of war and refugees who are trying to rebuild their relationships as well as their lives in the immediate aftermath of WW2. Summary: Interesting and well acted drama
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jamesraeburn200320 November 2021A British army officer, Major Lawrence (played by Guy Rolfe), returns home from duty in the Army of Occupation in Germany. By chance he visits a London art gallery hosting an exhibition of work by war artists and he is struck by a painting called 'Portrait of Hildegard', a young girl in a displaced persons camp painted by Duncan Reid (played by Robert Beatty). Lawrence is surprised when he is joined by an elderly man, Professor Menzel (played by Arnold Marle), an Austrian refugee who claims that the girl in the painting is his daughter Lydia whom he had to desert when he fled the Nazis. Lawrence agrees to help him and they locate the artist, Reid, whom they discover to be in the advanced stages of alcoholism and he dies before he can tell them anything as to where he did the work and the whereabouts of Hildegard/Lydia. Lawrence returns to Germany and searches several displaced persons camps and, at first, to no avail, until Menzel writes to him having discovered where the painting was done, Displaced Persons Camp 31. Lawrence finds the girl (played by Mai Zetterling), but she is frightened, unwilling or simply cannot remember anything about her past, which means he cannot determine whether she is Menzel's daughter or not. Lawrence persists and learns from the camp's gossip, Hans Ackermann (played by Philo Hauser), that Reid had been trying to help Hildegard/Lydia rediscover her past so she could escape the camp, return to her people and better her life whilst painting her portrait much to the displeasure of the man whom everyone accepts as her father, fellow displaced person Hendlmann (played by Herbert Lom). Neither is he happy with Lawrence trying to find about her. But why? Is it, as he claims, because he cannot bear the thought of her remembering the horrors of war? Or does he have reasons for not wanting the past to be uncovered?
One of the earliest feature films directed by Terence Fisher before he became the noted director of Gothic horrors at the Hammer studio. For anyone interested in Fisher's work in his pre-horror days, this Gainsborough drama is worth checking out. It displays the emphasis on character that would become his trademark in his better known work and for his ability to draw emotionally affecting performances from actors. Mai Zetterling is excellent in the role as the young displaced girl who is prevented from rediscovering her past before the war and, potentially, from being reunited with her real family and rebuilding her life by the man who claims to be her father, Hendlmann, for reasons of his own. Robert Beatty is very noteworthy as the unhappy, disillusioned artist who tries to help Hildegard/Lydia because he is in love with her (as she is with him) but ultimately he cannot because he is dying and succumbing to the advance stages of alcoholism. Guy Rolfe is also quite good as the British military man, Major Lawrence, who determinedly resolves to uncover the truth and find out if she really is Menzel's daughter. He provides a contrast to the other man in Hildegard/Lydia's life: self-assured, determined and successful in terms of his military career whereas Reid is weak willed, disillusioned with life in general and is succumbing to alcoholism despite his obvious talent as a painter that is being tragically wasted. Herbert Lom is also very good in the role of the sinister Hendlmann. The settings are quite good even if some of them are clearly studio bound while Jack Asher, whose vivid Technicolor camerawork would later distinguish so many of Fisher and Hammer's ground breaking Gothic horror films, atmospherically lights the proceedings in b/w. -
CinemaSerf5 January 2023Guy Rolfe is "Major Lawrence" (another one), who sees a portrait of a young girl at a London art gallery and is enthralled. On further investigation he discovers from her refugee father - who recognises his long lost child from her picture - that she is a Jewish lady and is probably still in a post-war settlement camp somewhere in Germany. He sets off to track her down, discovering when he does find her that she "Hildegarde" (Mai Zetterling) has amnesia and can remember little. Not only that, but she has been "adopted" by Herbert Lom ("Hendlemann") whom she genuinely considers to be her real father. Further digging by "Lawrence" reveals that the painter "Reid" (Robert Beatty) and her may have had some sort of relationship and that her pseudo-father has a pretty big secret of his own. Terence Fisher does well to get anything out of the usually wooden Messrs. Rolfe and Beatty, but Lom is super as is the gorgeous, sylphlike Zetterling who portrays her character with considerable delicacy and skill, especially when things turn a bit more perilous for her as Lom realises that her amnesia may be easing and that his secret might not be as secure as he had thought. It's an unusual film, this - the story is gentle and poignant, and the pace is more measured than slow, with a good score from Benjamin Frankel to help build to quite a surprising denouement. Rarely seen nowadays, but well worth 90 minutes of your time if you encounter it.
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bnwfilmbuff12 March 2017Great movie with expert direction from Terence Fisher. I appreciated how the narration was interjected by Guy Rolfe at the appropriate times in the film giving the viewer deeper understanding. Rolfe, Albert Marle (the Professor), and Herbert Lom are standouts and Mai Zetterling was radiant. Excellent suspense with a very moving ending. The storyline itself is rote - the search for a missing child after WW2 - but the telling of the story itself is wonderful. Not to be missed.
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morrison-dylan-fan19 April 2018For the last day of the Easter holidays,I started planning what the last title could be to watch with family on Monday. With seeing the likeable Hammer Noir The House Across the Lake (1954-also reviewed) on Sunday,I felt that seeing a Noir the next day by future Hammer Horror director Terence Fisher would be the perfect fit,which led to me painting the portrait from life.
View on the film:
Creating an atmosphere with a skill that would colour Hammer Horror, director Terence Fisher and regular collaborator cinematographer Jack Asher portray a frosty post-WWII Film Noir outlook,lit by dissolves layered over the passage of time in Lawrence's tries to find the mysterious girl in the painting.
Cutting into Horror territory with a killing in the woods shot in first person, Fisher seeps the ghostly memories of WWII into the movie,as Lawrence searches the cramped, dirty refugee camp,and stylish flashbacks reveal the sunny woodlands surrounding the refugee camps to contain thorns of murky family secrets keeping the truth hidden from Lawrence.
Proving that British Film Noir was in the family blood, (with Betty E. Box producing 1950's thrilling The Clouded Yellow-also reviewed) Muriel and Sydney Box are joined by co-writers David Evans and Frank Harvey in conjuring up a disturbing psychological Film Noir.
Revealing the full frame of Hildegarde at a gradual pace, the writers give the exchanges between Hildegarde and her family a sharp,clipped atmosphere, which keeps the unsettling, aggressive family bond barely hidden below the surface.
Unable to wipe the painting of Hildegarde from his memory, the writers superbly use Lawrence's dedication to find the mysterious woman to pull open the raw nerves of WWII,with every attempt Lawrence makes to gain info being met by silence over fears of being seen as "naming naming",and an excellent use of flashback, lifting the curtain on the population in the refugee camps intentionally keeping to themselves/not speaking out on misdeeds they see.
First glimpsed as a painting, Mai Zetterling gives a mesmerizing performance as Hildegarde,with Zetterling striking abrasive notes with Robert Beatty's on-edge performance of Hildegarde's dad Campbell,and holding an unnerving silence over Lawrence attempts to dig into her past.
Joined by a very good Herbert Lom and Thora Hird, Guy Rolfe gives an excellent performance as Lawrence,who carries the stiff upper lip of the era, but is also given by Rolfe the brittle bite of obsession over finding the portrait from life. -
STEPHENLHOUSE20 April 2002My partner and her mother were extras in this film , although she seems to think it was originally called "portrait of Hildgaard".It was filmed near to us at a place between Lepe Beach and Langly near Southampton England. The scene was filmed at a disused army camp.
If anyone has a copy of this film on VHS video we would be interested to hear from you.