Portrait from Life

CinemaSerfJul 2022

3.5

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.