Portrait from Life

Guy 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

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.

Historically 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.

Guy 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.

Main 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.