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Le démon est mauvais joueur

Original title: Return from the Ashes
  • 1965
  • Approved
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
Maximilian Schell, Samantha Eggar, and Ingrid Thulin in Le démon est mauvais joueur (1965)
Psychological ThrillerCrimeDramaMysteryThriller

A Polish chess master plots murder after his Wife returns from a Nazi death camp.A Polish chess master plots murder after his Wife returns from a Nazi death camp.A Polish chess master plots murder after his Wife returns from a Nazi death camp.

  • Director
    • J. Lee Thompson
  • Writers
    • Julius J. Epstein
    • Hubert Monteilhet
  • Stars
    • Maximilian Schell
    • Samantha Eggar
    • Ingrid Thulin
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    1.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • J. Lee Thompson
    • Writers
      • Julius J. Epstein
      • Hubert Monteilhet
    • Stars
      • Maximilian Schell
      • Samantha Eggar
      • Ingrid Thulin
    • 34User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos32

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    Top cast28

    Edit
    Maximilian Schell
    Maximilian Schell
    • Stanislaus Pilgrin
    Samantha Eggar
    Samantha Eggar
    • Fabienne 'Fabi' Wolf
    Ingrid Thulin
    Ingrid Thulin
    • Dr. Michele 'Mischa' Wolf
    Herbert Lom
    Herbert Lom
    • Dr. Charles Bovard
    Talitha Pol
    • Claudine
    Vladek Sheybal
    Vladek Sheybal
    • Paul, Chess Club Manager
    Jacques Cey
    • Hotel Desk Clerk
    Jacques B. Brunius
    Jacques B. Brunius
    • 1st Detective
    • (as Jacques Brunius)
    Jean Marc
    • 2nd Detective
    Andre Charisse
    Andre Charisse
    • Restaurant Captain
    Danièle Noël
    • Nurse
    Arnold Diamond
    Arnold Diamond
    • Neighbour
    Franco De Rosa
    • Boy in Nightclub
    Doreen Moore
    • Girl in Nightclub
    Harriet Harper
    • Girl in Nightclub
    Yvonne Andre
    • Woman in Train
    Henri Vidon
    • Man in Train
    • (as Henry Vidon)
    Pamela Stirling
    • Mother in Train
    • Director
      • J. Lee Thompson
    • Writers
      • Julius J. Epstein
      • Hubert Monteilhet
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews34

    7.01.3K
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    Featured reviews

    jbuck_919

    Plot summary and comment

    This film has suffered a strange fate. It used to be shown on tv all the time and was inevitably given two stars, when it is in fact a four-star movie. It is inconceivable that there is not plot summary here, so here goes:

    Michelle, a currently single middle-aged medical doctor with a young daughter [already daring for the time], encounters the young fortune hunter Stanislaus in a casual meeting and makes him her boy toy. Michelle happens to be Jewish in Nazi-occupied Paris. When the Nazis do their thing, gentile Stan marries her in a moment of bravura that belies his true character. Nevertheless, they carry Michelle off to concentration camp. Several years after the war ends, she turns up and reunites with Charles, her former colleague at the hospital. She is so worn and haggard that she is hardly recognizable. Charles performs some plastic surgery, then she runs into Stan, who has taken up with Michelle's beautiful and still somewhat girlish daughter Gabby. Stan sees the striking resemblance and asks "Mme. Robert" if she will impersonate his supposedly late wife because French law won't give Gabby access to her mother's assets without a dead or alive body. Michelle agrees because she thinks it might be fun, but soon reveals herself as the real Michelle. Stan pretends to be reconciled with Michelle but plots with Gabby against her life.

    This is the longest summary I have written because it is a very convoluted but masterfully managed plot. This is a much more convincing movie about mistaken/not mistaken identity than Hitchcock's "Vertigo." It is a three-character movie and all three are magnificent. I have left enough out of the summary to keep you in considerable suspense.
    8arichmondfwc

    This Return Deserves a Comeback

    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.
    8hammerogod-496-137451

    Impossible to find, Impossible to forget.

    Classy mid 60s thriller with plenty of meat in the burger and almost no cheese. "Return" goes to all the familiar places but never lingers long on cliches. I remember the theater cards in the lobby saying "Nobody enters the theater after Fabienne enters her bath". It's twisty and pushes the plausibility envelope some, but the ride is good enough to cover the bumps.

    This is one of the last films to use lobby hype, and it didn't need any hype. Ingrid Thulin shines in a truly convincing way, what a talent. Samantha Eggar simmers with heat and hate. Schell and Lom both set their person bars a little higher in this one..

    Bottom Line: Just Find It And Watch It.
    kakanimal

    Excellent

    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!
    MrPie7

    An unknown classic.

    One of those excellent films that has never been released on video or DVD. The first time I watched this there were only 2 other channels and both were showing programs I hated at that particular moment, so I ended up watching this film by default. What luck! I was treated to a beautiful, haunting film that featured great performances by Herbert Lom, Samantha Eggar, Maxmillian Schell and Ingrid Thulin. Thulin's performance in particular is flawless. She is utterly convincing as a death camp survivor trying to return to the world. If cable ever gets tired of endlessly re-running "Jaws", "The Breakfast Club" and "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (Excellent films but shown 5 nights a week) and happens to air this true gem, be SURE you see/record it. The second time I caught it was on PBS--20 years after my initial viewing.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Julius J. Epstein, the screenwriter of this film, also co-wrote the screenplay for Casablanca (1942).
    • Goofs
      Ingrid Thulin's clothes and hairstyle in the beginning of the film are very mid-1960s, although the film begins around 1940.
    • Quotes

      Dr. Michele 'Mischa' Wolf: Don't grovel. If I have to remember you at all I want to remember Stan the actor, the cynic, the complete bastard.

    • Connections
      Version of Phoenix (2014)

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    FAQ15

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 14, 1966 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Return from the Ashes
    • Filming locations
      • MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Orchard Productions
      • The Mirisch Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 44m(104 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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