Daily Archives: August 16, 2018

Return from the Ashes
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Written by Julius J. Epstein from a novel by Hubert Monteilhet
1965/UK/USA
Orchard Productions/The Mirisch Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Stanislaus Pilgrin: If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell, and no immortality, then anything is permissible.[/box]

“Diabolique” wannabe doesn’t quite cut it but does offer a few thrills.

The story starts in Paris just prior to the outbreak of WWII.  Polish chess master Stanislaus Pilgrin (Maximilian Schell) is thoroughly amoral.  Despite this and her sense that he may be incapable of love, he gains the love of beautiful rich Jewish doctor Michele “Mischa” Wolf (Indrid Thulin).  When war is declared Stanislaus breaks down and marries Mischa.  She is later hauled off to Dachau and is assumed dead after her failure to return for several years after the end of the war.  Stanislaus begins an affair with Mischa’s unstable young stepdaughter Fabi (Samantha Eggar).

Mischa does eventually return to Paris but assumes another name and hairstyle.  She does not want to reveal herself to Stanislaus until she has regained her former beauty. However, Fabi spots her unexpectedly and notes the resemblance to her stepmother.  This launches a plot to persuade the woman to impersonate Mischa so that the three can claim Mischa’s huge inheritance.  Eventually Mischa admits to her real identity and then things get really complicated …  With Herbert Lom as Mischa’s friend.

Before I watched this I thought the story might stress the Holocaust elements but no.  It is played strictly for suspense and thrills.  Schell and Eiger are admirably evil and Thulin suitably touching.  The problem is the script could have been considerably tightened.  The story drags such that I found the pay-off to be strangely anti-climactic. Your mileage may vary.

No clip or trailer

The Loved One
Directed by Tony Richardson
Written by Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood from a novel by Evelyn Waugh
1965/UK/USA
Filmways Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Dennis Barlow: They gave me this ticket, so I thought I’d come here. I mean it was either Los Angeles or Calcutta and I thought, what the hell.[/box]

The “Dr. Strangelove” of funeral industry spoofs also takes on Hollywood.  A cast of thousands provides the laughs.

Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) is a naive young British poet who wins an airline ticket to Los Angeles.  He plans to stay with his uncle Sir Francis Hensley (John Gielgud), portrait painter to the stars.  When Sir Francis is fired after 30 years faithful service to the movie industry, he hangs himself.  Dennis finds himself in charge of funeral arrangements and approaches Whispering Glades Funeral Home (a clear send-up of Forest Lawn Cemetery).

After Sir Francis’s bizarre funeral, Dennis gets a job there and falls in love with Aimee Thanotagenous (Anjanette Comer), a make-up artist whose ambition is to become the nation’s first female embalmer. This set up provides limitless opportunity to skewer funeral practices in America in some of the most outrageous ways possible.  With Jonathan Winters in a dual role, Rod Steiger, Liberace, Dana Andrews, Tab Hunter, Milton Berle, Robert Morley, and Roddy MacDowell in roles big and small.

Robert Morse could have done a better job with his English accent but this is a pretty funny satire of an easy target.  I particularly enjoyed John Gielgud both as a live actor and as a corpse.  The scene in which Rod Steiger manipulates his face while applying the funeral make-up is hilarious.  The movie overstays its welcome to some extent but is well worth seeing.  Recommended.