Portrait from Life

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The superb acting of Mai Zetterling really makes this film; she acts with emotion and feeling, and lives the part  ...The other four main characters are also very competent. Although the story is fantastic in places, it is interesting and contains little humorous touches, and realistic glimpses of camp life to display the effects of good direction and production. The lighting, camerawork and musical illustrations are all good drama, thrills and suspense, together with sufficient relief."^[8]

The New York Times wrote, "the new picture at the Little Carnegie stems from an intriguing idea, and there are several very effective sequences in the drama, plus a fine performance by the Swedish actress, Mai Zetterling. Indeed, if the whole of The Girl in the Painting were as good as its parts, the posting of this notice would be a much more pleasant task. Too much, rather than too little, story and plodding direction are the principal faults"^[9]

Allmovie described it as "an over-orchestrated "guilty pleasure" from the glory days of British romance pictures."^[4]

Producer's receipts were £93,000 in the UK and £43,900 overseas.^[2] According to Rank's own records the film had made a profit of £4,100 for the company by December 1949.^[10][1]

• Portrait from Life at IMDb