Return from the Ashes (1965)

Lack of good storyline.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

About 25 years ago, I bought a record called "Movies and Me" featuring themes from movies composed by John Dankworth. I knew "Darling" and "The Servant" but I had never heard of the one I liked best: the theme from "Return from the Ashes". Much later, when I finally saw the movie, I realised how perfectly that lilting melody married with the film."Return from the Ashes" works despite credulity being stretched to breaking point along the way. The true quality of this film is not revealed from a reading of the plot. The movie plays far better than it reads.Shortly before WW2 in Paris, Michelle Wolf, a doctor played by Ingrid Thulin meets a Polish refugee, Stanislaus Pilgrin played by Maximilian Schell. Although warned that he is only after her money, she falls in love with him. When the Germans capture Paris, Stanislaus – in his self-confessed, one gallant act of his life – marries Michelle, who is Jewish, to stop her being deported by the Nazis. But she is sent to a concentration camp anyway.Years later, Michelle returns to Paris under an assumed name. But she is a changed woman emotionally and physically. Thought to be dead, no one recognises her at first. Although she is reacquainted with Stanislaus and her stepdaughter, the beautiful Fabi, played by Samantha Eggar, they believe that she simply bears a strong resemblance to the Michelle they knew. They want her to play Michelle in a complicated plot to retrieve funds that have been frozen since the war. Michelle goes along with the plan not realising that Fabi and Stanislaus have become lovers.After revealing her true identity, Michelle moves into her old apartment with both Stanislaus and Fabi. From there the story becomes darker and darker. After many developments, the movie still has enough energy left to deliver one final twist at the end."Return from the Ashes" boasts three of the most attractive stars you are likely to see in one movie – Ingrid Thulin, Maximilian Schell and Samantha Eggar. For me, Ingrid Thulin is the standout. Beautiful, calm and sophisticated, she gave the impression that there was a lot more going on beneath the surface. It's surprising Hollywood didn't seek her out more often – possibly she would have made one of the great Hitchcock stars – in an interview, he once singled her out as the epitome of the kind of sexiness he admired, especially in her work for Ingmar Bergman.Despite a "Vertigo" like sequence when Michelle is coached to play what is in reality herself, "Return from the Ashes" does not seem overly influenced by either Hitchcock or film noir. The dramatic use of black and white and the moody quality of the film is due to J. Lee Thompson's personal style. The man who made "Cape Fear" proved once again that he could make a thriller to stand with the best of them.

I'm not quite the fan of this thriller that several other IMDb contributors are. I agree that it has some first-rate acting by Ingrid Thulin as a concentration camp survivor still smitten with her wastrel husband after four years of hell, Samantha Egger as her homicidal stepdaughter and Maxmilian Schell as the penniless scoundrel both women crave. And there's no question that the sensual bathtub murder, complete with a touch of foot fetishism, was well ahead of its time. But from the symbolic opening (a child falling off a speeding railway train while Thulin looks stoically on) through the climactic get-rich-quick scheme, the film is unrelentingly grim. J. Lee Thompson's direction, which assumes that slow-moving and suspenseful are synonyms doesn't help much. And in the end, the characters (aside from Herbert Lom's likable doctor) are not only unsympathetic but don't make much sense.

This film has haunted me right from the start of its release in 1965, thanks to the top players, the tense plot, the effective direction by J. Lee Thompson and the music from John Dankworth. But most importantly (the play of) Samantha Eggar and the melodramatic role she plays in the film are the main reason of my lasting interest in this film. The famous bathroom scenes with her are unforgettable.

Why is it that films that you really love are never shown on the television? I remember this film was considered pretty risque for 1665. I think the advertising went something like, NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO ENTER THE THEATER ONCE FABBIE ENTER HER BATH... Wish I could see this one again!