SpitfireIXB The true story of the Late Doctor Gisella Perl is unforgettable and the stuff of which legends and heroines are made. She was truly a most remarkable human being. However, in my opinion this made-for-television movie did not do justice to Dr. Perl's true life story. The scenes and sets were cheap and recognizable from other contemporary movies made by the same production company. The script (by Anne Meredith) was over-dramatized, stilted and incomplete, e.g. the horror of Dr Perl having to smother to death many live birth children in order to save the lives of their mothers is not mentioned and was one horror, along with the hundreds of abortions she performed to save lives, that haunted Dr. Perl until her death. The acting and script were so stilted and so melodramatic that it deterred from the true story and made me question if the story could be true or should be taken seriously. Only because I read Dr. Perl's book and many articles about her life that I knew the story to be true. Some of the actors are guilty of terrible overacting, especially in many scenes revealing details of Dr. Perls's life that really call for, nay demand, understatement that would have been far more effective for the realization of the real Dr. Perl and her family. Beau Bridges was good as the lead immigration officer (his part scripted to make him appear as an interrogator for the Inquisition) and Christine Lahti gave a fair, albeit an over the top, melodramatic performance and was often guilty of just plain overacting. Richard Crenna and Bruce Davison are as wooden as manikins in a window display and their roles in this movie still escape me. All in all the script, sets and acting were inferior and deficient. This story deserves a better treatment than it received in this television movie because Dr. Gisella Perl was a real heroine, not just a death camp survivor. I give this movie 3/5 stars, mainly for Dr. Perl's true story, not the acting, script or cinematography.

charlytully For anyone without the patience to navigate this site, who assumes Christine Lahti won the 2003 Miniseries Lead Actress Emmy by acclamation (based on predictions made back then): Not only was Lahti overlooked for her OUT OF THE ASHES role as Holocaust abortionist Dr. Gisella Perl, but she could not take even the Showtime network bragging rights (Maggie Smith won over all for MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA, and Showtime's Jessica Lange at least made the final five for her title role in THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE).Secondly, unlike such concentration camps as Bergen Belsen in countries such as Germany (19 total), Auschwitz was one of five EXTERMINATION camps (all in Poland). Therefore, 99% of internees there died (pretty much everyone except the last group brought in, and Gisella Perl--a collective fate she well knew). Dr. Perl's moral ambivalence involved deciding for 1000 women it would be better for Dr. Perl to deliver and smother their newborns, with the moms being painfully gassed to death within a week, rather than to let actual Nazi SS officers shoot the moms and babies in the head. Whether being forced to do more of their own dirty work--instead of being assisted by Dr. Perl and the more famously documented male prisoner oven details (one of which bucked "groupthink," fought back, and killed many SS guards)--whether, again, such a stubbornly non-collaborative response to pure evil would have driven the SS too berserk to kill as many as they did (or had Hitler turned them into nonhuman orcs, capable of endless killing?), God only knows. Far from stereotyping the "bad guys," director Joseph Sargent takes Nazis=bad for a given, and presents the three immigration officers in New York City as Dr. Perl's real opponents (and not mere "straw men," as evidenced when one of the trio brings Dr. Perl up short by telling her of the son HE lost on D-Day). Certainly some of the niceties presented (Gisella's only infanticide shown here is performed outside of the new mom's view, and her post-Auschwitz baby delivery tally is given as exactly twice her death camp "full-birth" abortion toll) seem too pat.Thirdly, the DVD extras include amazingly comprehensive filmographies for Christine Lahti, Beau Bridges, Richard Crenna, and Bruce Davison, as well as a helpful map locating all 24 SS concentration and death camps. Also insightful are the cast interviews, "The Choices of Dr. Gisella Perl" among them.

lena-valdeira the actress playing the role of Dr Gisela Pearl should be nominated for her performance. the film showed the courage of the human spirit in the face of hate and tragedy. after looking at the film, I was humbled by the courage of this woman who lost all her family but decide in spite of what happened to her to survive and help other fellow humans. she also had to go through the pain of defending herself after being accused of collaborating with the Nazi. Anyone in the same position had little choices but to try to remain alive. She did more than that and for that reason she should be honoured for her heroism. I am full of admiration for the Jewish people time and time again when I see films such as this one.

OldRose "Out of the Ashes" is very nearly the best story brought to the screen, among the many I've seen. At issue here (which many may not realise) is the life-story of one Doctor Gisella Perl--a Hungarian Jew who, along with her entire family, was captured from the family's home-town of Sighet and sent by boxcar to Auschwitz--while the holocaust itself provides the backdrop for the story. Like "Sophie's Choice", this film involved the difficult 'choiceless choices' that were made by some of the survivors of the Second World War's most infamous extermination camp. In order to truly appreciate the story and the portrayal, one must know something of Hungarians and of Hungary, as well as their role in World War II. Actress Christine Lahti turned in such a marvelous and unforgettable performance, I actually thought I was seeing a Hungarian actress playing the role (to begin with), and then a really fine performance it was, to boot! I found myself on the edge of my seat with a film that, being a product of cable television, didn't garner such advance expectations. And but for one very glaring and avoidable error, which happens early in the film (only one scene), the final product was really quite well done. Bravo to Showtime!Lahti's performance was award-winning, to say the very least, whether or not she was ever properly recognised. Add: a wonderful supporting cast, recruited in the US, Canada, and Eastern Europe. The scenery is lovely (filmed mainly in Lithuania; the film-makers were able to find a beautiful town not destroyed during the war). For those who have not seen this film, please do! It's a remarkable autobiography (i.e. the book on which its based) and life story. I think the actual Dr. Perl would have been proud of, and pleased with Lahti's performance and portrayal of her. Rent the DVD rather than wait for Showtime to rerun it (even though I'm sure it will be run again and again). Rating: 4,5 stars on 5.