Return from the Ashes (1965)
107 mins | Melodrama | 13 October 1965
Director:
J. Lee ThompsonWriter:
Julius J. EpsteinProducer:
J. Lee ThompsonCinematographer:
Christopher ChallisEditor:
Russell LloydProduction Designer:
Michael StringerProduction Companies:
Mirisch Corp., Orchard ProductionsA news item in the 26 Apr 1963 DV announced that British director J. Lee Thompson would make Return from the Ashes in Hollywood, CA, as a co-production between his Malibu Productions and Arthur P. Jacobs’s Apjac Productions. Rights to Hubert Monteilhet’s 1961 novel, Le retour des cendres, upon which the film was based, had reportedly been acquired from filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot, who had previously planned to make a French adaptation. An article in the 9 May 1965 NYT explained that Clouzot had initially sent the Monteilhet novel to J. Lee Thompson’s agent, with the remark that Thompson might be interested in adapting it; years earlier, the two had met and befriended each other at the Cannes Film Festival.
Peter Fonda, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon, and Warren Beatty were offered roles, according to DV items published between Aug 1963 and Aug 1964. Gina Lollobrigida was initially cast as “Dr. Michele Wolf,” as announced in the 11 Nov 1964 DV. However, two months later, the 9 Jan 1965 LAT reported that Lollobrigida was suing United Artists and Mirisch Corp. for $1 million, over a “contractual controversy.” Her replacement by Ingrid Thulin was announced in the 13 Jan 1965 LAT. Filming began the following week, on 18 Jan 1965, in London, England, where the picture qualified for an Eady subsidy, the 8 Apr 1966 DV reported. The final budget was cited as $1.4 million.
Sources conflict in crediting the actors portraying the roles of “2d detective” and “Man in the train.” ...
A news item in the 26 Apr 1963 DV announced that British director J. Lee Thompson would make Return from the Ashes in Hollywood, CA, as a co-production between his Malibu Productions and Arthur P. Jacobs’s Apjac Productions. Rights to Hubert Monteilhet’s 1961 novel, Le retour des cendres, upon which the film was based, had reportedly been acquired from filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot, who had previously planned to make a French adaptation. An article in the 9 May 1965 NYT explained that Clouzot had initially sent the Monteilhet novel to J. Lee Thompson’s agent, with the remark that Thompson might be interested in adapting it; years earlier, the two had met and befriended each other at the Cannes Film Festival.
Peter Fonda, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon, and Warren Beatty were offered roles, according to DV items published between Aug 1963 and Aug 1964. Gina Lollobrigida was initially cast as “Dr. Michele Wolf,” as announced in the 11 Nov 1964 DV. However, two months later, the 9 Jan 1965 LAT reported that Lollobrigida was suing United Artists and Mirisch Corp. for $1 million, over a “contractual controversy.” Her replacement by Ingrid Thulin was announced in the 13 Jan 1965 LAT. Filming began the following week, on 18 Jan 1965, in London, England, where the picture qualified for an Eady subsidy, the 8 Apr 1966 DV reported. The final budget was cited as $1.4 million.
Sources conflict in crediting the actors portraying the roles of “2d detective” and “Man in the train.”
Scarred and prematurely aged Michele Wolf returns to Paris, France, in 1945 after having been liberated from the German concentration camp at Dachau. She persuades an old friend and fellow doctor, Bovard, to reconstruct her face to look as it did before the war. As Bovard goes to work on her, she dreams of her past. Because she is Jewish, Michele flees from Germany to Paris and there meets the brilliant chess player and handsome gigolo, Stanislaus Pilgrin. She falls in love with him, and they are married. Shortly afterward, the Germans, who have occupied Paris, arrest her, leaving no traces of her; and Stanislaus and her friends assume that she is dead . Meanwhile, Stanislaus and Michele's stepdaughter, Fabienne, have been living together in her house and now plan to obtain a large inheritance bequeathed to Michele. Since they cannot prove that Michele is dead, however, they must wait thirty years before they can control the estate. Michele's operation is a success, and Fabienne, who does not recognize her stepmother, proposes to use the resemblance to gain the money. When Michele reveals her true identity, Stanislaus still plans to get the money and run away with Fabienne. Michele catches them conspiring and orders Fabienne from her house. Fabienne plots Michele's murder, but Stanislaus murders Fabienne while also planning the death of Michele. Dr. Bovard intervenes and thwarts Stanislaus's plans. Stanislaus is arrested, and Michele and Bovard remain ...
Scarred and prematurely aged Michele Wolf returns to Paris, France, in 1945 after having been liberated from the German concentration camp at Dachau. She persuades an old friend and fellow doctor, Bovard, to reconstruct her face to look as it did before the war. As Bovard goes to work on her, she dreams of her past. Because she is Jewish, Michele flees from Germany to Paris and there meets the brilliant chess player and handsome gigolo, Stanislaus Pilgrin. She falls in love with him, and they are married. Shortly afterward, the Germans, who have occupied Paris, arrest her, leaving no traces of her; and Stanislaus and her friends assume that she is dead . Meanwhile, Stanislaus and Michele's stepdaughter, Fabienne, have been living together in her house and now plan to obtain a large inheritance bequeathed to Michele. Since they cannot prove that Michele is dead, however, they must wait thirty years before they can control the estate. Michele's operation is a success, and Fabienne, who does not recognize her stepmother, proposes to use the resemblance to gain the money. When Michele reveals her true identity, Stanislaus still plans to get the money and run away with Fabienne. Michele catches them conspiring and orders Fabienne from her house. Fabienne plots Michele's murder, but Stanislaus murders Fabienne while also planning the death of Michele. Dr. Bovard intervenes and thwarts Stanislaus's plans. Stanislaus is arrested, and Michele and Bovard remain together.
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