Dimensione della paura

J. Lee Thompson may have been only a jobbing director but he was one of the best, graduating from British studio pictures in the fifties to international hits such as "Ice Cold in Alex", "Northwest Frontier" and "The Guns of Navarone". The latter earned him an Oscar nomination and the chance to work almost exclusively in America where he made "Cape Fear", one of the best thrillers of the sixties. In 1965 he made another first-rate thriller, "Return from the Ashes", which used the War and the Holocaust as jumping off points for an almost Hitchcockian tale of murder and greed, set in Paris but filmed in a British studio with an international cast.

If the plot is more than a little convoluted, Thompson's handling of Julius Epstein's fine script and first-rate performances from Maximilian Schell, Ingrid Thulin and Samantha Eggar go a long way in making this one of his most entertaining films. Thulin is the rich Jewish doctor, thought to have died in a concentration camp, Schell the gigolo who marries her for her money and Eggar the duplicitous daughter who's having an affair with Schell and the good thing is it doesn't quite go the way you expect it to. It's also superbly shot in widescreen black and white by Christopher Challis and is certainly worth seeing.

I want this movie. I saw this as a child many times and this is my favorite movie of all time. Last time I knew it was going to be shown was when the Gulf War broke out and it never aired. I can't find it on video and it hasn't been on tv in 10 years. The plot, the actors, everything about this down to the black and white film was excellent. I have never seen another movie that I have enjoyed so much!

Certain films travel just below the radar. "Return from the Ashes" is such a film. The ones who've seen it never forget it but somehow it's nowhere to be found. Never on video and so far not on DVD. I'm not going to tell you about the devilish plot because that's most of the pleasure of seeing it for the first time. Just let me wet your appetite by saying that Maximilian Schell plays a young amoral polish guy who seduces a French, older, wealthy widow, played for real by a great Ingrid Thulin. The action takes place at the dawn of the German occupation. She is Jewish he is not. When Schell asks her to marry him, she laughs it off as a surprisingly conventional request but he means it saying "At this time is not convention but defiance" So he marries the older Jewish woman...that's all I'm going to tell you about the story. Samantha Eggar, beautiful and skinny gives a powerful performance of seductive evilness. She is a stand out of major proportions. The ending seems a bit of a commercial concession but it doesn't spoil the cleverly tailored plot. If you see it announced on late night TV, set up your VCR or whatever contraption at your disposal.

Once upon a time, before the giallos and the slasher films took over, there was an undercurrent of clever thrillers ... where you knew who had done it, but the question was could they get away with it? The earliest one I can remember is The Unsuspected with Claude Raines as a DJ with a mission ... In the '60's we had director William Castle's twisted thrillers (Homicidal is my favorite) and Bette Davis as Baby Jane and Charlotte ... then along came Return from the Ashes, at about the same time as Bunny Lake Is Missing. Ladies and gentlemen, RftA is a stunning thriller which will keep you enthralled from the expositionary opening to the wonderfully complex plot developments. Why is this not available to viewers today? This is a movie I would like to show friends. Hard to believe it was 40 + years ago I sat in a darkened theater enraptured by the clever plot with more twists and turns than you could believe. If you see this movie in any listings, record it! Ingrid Thulin, Samantha Eggar and Maximilian Schell pull out all the stops but they make you BELIEVE the lurid goings-on. Too bad movie makers can't look at these old classics and learn how to pace and plot a good thriller.

I just want to briefly agree with the previous comments here. I haven't seen this movie in over thirty years, since high school, but it stands out vividly in my memory. Intriguing story beautifully acted by three outstanding stars. Why do films fall by the wayside? I hope this isn't one of the lost films that we keep hearing about. I guess our only hope of seeing this now is if TCM broadcasts it....or if it becomes a Criterion DVD release. Criterion has been wonderful in giving us beautiful prints of rare or hard to find classics. If anyone hears of Return from the Ashes returning from the ashes (LOL) please post the info here.