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Portrait from Life (also known as Lost Daughter, and in the U.S. as The Girl in the Painting)[3] is a 1948 British drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Mai Zetterling, Robert Beatty and Guy Rolfe.[4]

Portrait from Life
British quad poster (1950s re-release)
Directed by	Terence Fisher
Written by	Muriel Box Sydney Box Frank Harvey
Story by	David Evans
Starring	Mai Zetterling Robert Beatty Guy Rolfe Herbert Lom Patrick Holt
Cinematography	Jack Asher
Edited by	Vladimir Sagovsky
Music by	Benjamin Frankel
Production company	Gainsborough Pictures
Distributed by	General Film Distributors (UK)
Release date	15 December 1948 (London)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£132,800[1]
Box office	£150,000 (by 1953)[1] 245,405 admissions (France)[2]

Plot

A British Army officer, Major Lawrence (Guy Rolfe), is on leave from being stationed in occupied Germany just after WW2 when he sees a painting of a beautiful young girl called Hildegard in a London art gallery. While viewing the painting he is approached by an old man, Professor Franz Menzel (Arnold Marlé), who escaped from Nazi Germany in the 1930s leaving his family behind and claims to be the young girl's father. Major Lawrence agrees to search for the young girl when he returns to Germany. On returning to Germany and after a long search Major Lawrence eventually tracks down the young girl but she is suffering from amnesia and living with a German couple who claim to be her parents. As Lawrence investigates, the circumstances of the young girl's past become more complicated.

Partial cast

• Mai Zetterling as Hildegard / Lidia
• Robert Beatty as Campbell Reid
• Guy Rolfe as Major Lawrence
• Herbert Lom as Fritz Kottler Hendlemann
• Patrick Holt as Ferguson
• Arnold Marlé as Professor Franz Menzel
• Sybille Binder as Eitel Hendlemann
• Thora Hird as Mrs. Skinner
• Gerard Heinz as Heine
• Yvonne Owen as Helen
• Philo Hauser as Hans Ackermann
• Pete Murray as Lt. Keith
• Gordon Bell as Captain Roberts
• Nelly Arno as Anna Skutetsky[5]
• Cyril Chamberlain as Supervisor
• Betty Lynne as Interpreter
• Anthony Steel as Bridegroom
• John Blythe as Club Manager

Production

Anthony Steel has one of his earliest film appearances.[6]

Critical reception

The New York Times wrote, "the new picture at the Little Carnegie stems from an intriguing idea, and there are several very effective sequences in the drama, plus a fine performance by the Swedish actress, Mai Zetterling. Indeed, if the whole of The Girl in the Painting were as good as its parts, the posting of this notice would be a much more pleasant task. Too much, rather than too little, story and plodding direction are the principal faults";[7] while Allmovie described it as "an over-orchestrated "guilty pleasure" from the glory days of British romance pictures."[3]

Box office

The film made a profit of £4,100.[1]

References

External links

• Portrait from Life at IMDb

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