Return from the Ashes
Encyclopedia
Return from the Ashes is a 1965 British
drama film
directed by J. Lee Thompson
. The film stars Ingrid Thulin
, Herbert Lom
, Maximillian Schell, and Samantha Eggar
.
An unspecified amount of time after the war, Michelle returns under the identity of Mme. Robert and encounters her colleague, plastic surgeon Dr. Charles Bovard (Lom), who at first does not recognize her because of her disfigured state. She undergoes plastic surgery to restore some of her looks, and then by chance encounters Stan, who has assumed and still believes that Michelle is dead. Surprised at the resemblance, Stan tells her that Michelle's daughter Fabi (Eggar) cannot inherit her mother's estate because no body was ever produced. He asks "Mme. Robert" to impersonate Michelle and she agrees. Upon moving back into her own house, she quickly becomes aware that Fabi, now a beautiful woman, resents her for her former neglect, and what is worse, is now Stan's lover. Eventually, Michelle reveals herself and insists on resuming her relationship with her husband.
While taking a bath after consuming alcohol and barbiturates, the jealous Fabi tells Stan her plan for killing her mother. Stan will go to another city on the pretext of attending a chess championship. He will set up a gun to go off when Michelle opens her safe. After establishing his alibi, he will call her and tell her that he has put a gift for her in the safe. When he hears the shot, he will know she is dead, and he can return home to adjust the scene to make the death appear a suicide.
Though it is not clear if Fabi is serious, the amoral Stan drowns her in the bathtub in such a way that it looks like an accident related to an overdose, and then carries out her plan. When he returns, he discovers what appears to be Michelle's body, but is caught by the police in the act of manipulating the scene. Charles, who has loved Michelle all along, had entered the room just as she was opening the safe and caused her to step aside to avoid the bullet.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
. The film stars Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Lilian Thulin was a Swedish film actress.-Biography:Thulin was born in Sollefteå, Ångermanland, northern Sweden, the daughter of Nanna and Adam Thulin, a fisherman...
, Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
, Maximillian Schell, and Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
.
Plot
Shortly before the Nazi invasion of France, Dr. Michelle Wulf (Thulin) encounters the younger Stanislaus Pilgrin (Schell) over a game of lightning chess, not being aware that Pilgrin is a chess master. She becomes intrigued with the fortune-hunting Pilgrin and the two begin a liaison. Upon the Nazi invasion, in order to protect Michelle, who is Jewish, "Stan" marries her, to no avail it turns out when the Gestapo arrests her and sends her to a concentration camp.An unspecified amount of time after the war, Michelle returns under the identity of Mme. Robert and encounters her colleague, plastic surgeon Dr. Charles Bovard (Lom), who at first does not recognize her because of her disfigured state. She undergoes plastic surgery to restore some of her looks, and then by chance encounters Stan, who has assumed and still believes that Michelle is dead. Surprised at the resemblance, Stan tells her that Michelle's daughter Fabi (Eggar) cannot inherit her mother's estate because no body was ever produced. He asks "Mme. Robert" to impersonate Michelle and she agrees. Upon moving back into her own house, she quickly becomes aware that Fabi, now a beautiful woman, resents her for her former neglect, and what is worse, is now Stan's lover. Eventually, Michelle reveals herself and insists on resuming her relationship with her husband.
While taking a bath after consuming alcohol and barbiturates, the jealous Fabi tells Stan her plan for killing her mother. Stan will go to another city on the pretext of attending a chess championship. He will set up a gun to go off when Michelle opens her safe. After establishing his alibi, he will call her and tell her that he has put a gift for her in the safe. When he hears the shot, he will know she is dead, and he can return home to adjust the scene to make the death appear a suicide.
Though it is not clear if Fabi is serious, the amoral Stan drowns her in the bathtub in such a way that it looks like an accident related to an overdose, and then carries out her plan. When he returns, he discovers what appears to be Michelle's body, but is caught by the police in the act of manipulating the scene. Charles, who has loved Michelle all along, had entered the room just as she was opening the safe and caused her to step aside to avoid the bullet.