Swedish Film 1923-1928

Edvin Adolphson directed When Roses Bloom (Na Rosorna sla ut, 1930), starring Sven Garbo. Greta Garbo had visited her brother, Sven Gustafsson while in Stockholm. The film was co-scripted by Gösta Stevens and also stars Swedish actresses Karin Swanstrom, Margita Alfven, and Anna-lisa Baude. Else-Marie Hansen was given her first appearance on the screen with the film. John W. Brunius directed two films that year, botth written by screen writer Pelle Stille, The Two of Us (Vi tva) in which Edvin Adolphson appeared as an actor with Margit Manstad, Marta Ekstrom and Anna-Lisa Froberg, the film having had been being the first film in which the actress was to appear, and The Doctor’s Secret (Doktorns hemlighet) starring Pauline Brunius, Ann-Marie Brunius and Marta Ekstrom. Julius Jaenzon photographed and directed the film Ulla My Ulla (Ulla Min Ulla), the assistant director of the film having been Per-Axel Branner, it having been the first film in which actress Karin Granberg was to appear. Gustaf Bergman directed his first film that year, The Dangerous Game (Den farliga leken), starring Jenny Hasselqvist, Olga Andersson and Elsa Wallin, his also during 1930 having directed Vera Schmiterlow and Anna-Lisa Baude in the film A Woman’s Tommorow (En Kvinnas Morgondag). Swedish cinematographer Harald Berglund in 1930 began filming under the direction of Ragnar Ring on the film Lyckobreven. Gustaf Edgren that year directed the film The Crown’s Cavaliers/ Crown escort (Kronans kavaljerer) with Stina Berg and Lisa Wirstrom in her first appearance on the screen as an actress. In 1930 G?sta Ekman and Stina Berg appeared in the film For Her Sake (For hennes skull) written by Ivar Johansson directed by Paul Merzbach, which also starred Inga Tiblad. In regard to the tradition in Scandinavian filmmaking of incorporating the enviornment into the storyline and the transition from silent film to sound, author Forsyth Hardy looks toward Hollywood to describe For hennes skull only to clarify the technique Gustaf Molander was soon to develop more fully behind the camera, ”The film had little significance beyond its proof that in Sweden, as elsewhere, the microphone wa a cramping influence on the movement natural to the medium.” And yet without mentioning how groundbreaking the films of the period were in the history of the relationship between the screenplay and the shootingscript, now that the photoplay had ended as a form of literature, Hardy continues by noting that during the early sound films photographed by Julius Jaenzon and directed by Victor Sjostrom both had tried to remain faithful to the old medium of silent film and its near precedence of plotline over dialougue by making the use of the microphone less noticeable during the film, possibly giving the new form more value. Paul Merzbach followed in 1931 with the film The False Millionare (Falska Millionaren), starring Fridolf Rhudin, Gunnar Bj?rnstrand and Annalisa Ericson and photgraphed by Elner Akesson. Swedish director John Lindlof contributed the film Den Gamla Garden with Margareta Schöström and Marta Lindlöf during 1931.

Still photograph from the film Mata Hari scanned from the original negatives and emailed through Yahoo by author Mark A. Vieira. Film clip linked with written permission of www.doctormacro.com

Gustaf Bergman continued in 1931, directing Edvin Adolphson, Inga Tiblad and Karin Swanstr?m in the film Generalen. Gustaf Bergman also that year directed Isa Quensel in her first film appearance on screen, Karlek maste vi ha, with Margit Rosengren, Anna-Lisa Baude and Valborg Hansson and the film En kvinnas morgondag starring Jenny Hasselquist, Elsa Wallin and Olga Andersson. Rune Carlsten in 1931 directed the film Dangerous Paradise (Faroranas Paradis) with Ragnar Arvedson. Carlsten that year appeared in Longing for the Sea (Langten till havet) directed by John W. Brunius. Theodor Berthels in 1931 wrote and directed the film His Majesty Will have to Wait (Hans Majestat far vanta) with Margit Manstad and Ragnar Arvedson. Greta Garbo director Eric Petschler that year directed Guken Cederborg, Greta Anjo and Marta Claesson in the film Flickan fran Varmland. The cinematographer Hilmer Ekdahl photographed his first film in 1931, En karleksnatt vid Oresund, directed by Ragnar Widestedt and S?lve Cederstrand, the first film in which the actress Maritta Marke was to appear. The film also stars Elisabeth Frisk. Per Axel Branner directed Astrid Bodin in her first film during 1931, Under roda fanor, photographed by Gösta Sandin.

Swedish film director Per Lindberg in 1931 established three theaters with actor Gosta Ekman, among them being included Vas-teatern and Konserthusteatern (The Large and Small room). Actor Hasse Ekman was given the play ”Fredja” by Per Lindberg in 1934.

Still photograph from the film Inspiration scanned from the original negative and e-mailed through Yahoo by author Mark A. Vieira

After returning to Sweden in hope that it was there that his daughters would be raised, Victor Sj?str?m also returned to the screen in a brief appearance with Swedish film directors Gustaf Molander and Gustav Edgren in the film Motley Leaves/Gaudy Blade (Brokiga Blad) with Lili Ziedner, Edvin Adolphson, G?sta Ekman and Annalisa Ericson. Sj?str?m had appeared in a short beauty contest film, Froken, Ni linknar Greta Garbo (1931), along with Lars Hanson and Karin Molander, both of whom had returned to Sweden, where Eivor Nordstrom was chosen to be the most like Greta Garbo. Its photographer was Ake Dahlquist, its director Per Axel Branner who had been the assistant director to the film, The Markurells of Wadkoping, directed by Victor Sj?str?m. Branner had directed his first film, Tango-foxtrot, in 1930. Victor Sj?str?m’s daughter, Guje Lagerwall (Guje Sj?str?m, Guje Kanter) wrote the screenplays to two Swedish films, Smeder pa luffen (Erik Hampe Faustman, 1949) and Lattjo med Boccaccio (Gosta Bernhard, 1949)- she appeared as an actress in seven films that were made in Sweden. Gustav Molander directed both father and daughter in films that were made in Sweden, Victor Sj?str?m in Love (Karlek, 1952), and Guje Lagerwall in Franskild (1951). Also starring in Molander’s film Franskild were Inga Tiblad, Irma Christensen and Marianne Löfgren.

One Night (En natt, 1931) directed by Gustaf Molander and written by Ragnar Hylten-Cavallius owes much of its construction to its assitant director, Gosta Hellstr?m. Hellstr?m had been a film critic who met with both Eisenstien and Pudovkin before returning to Sweden. It is distinct from Molander’s other film in its technique, in its editing. Appearing in the film are Gerda Lundequist, Unno Henning, Sture Lagerwall, Ingert Bjuggren and Karin Swanstr?m. The cinematographer to the film was Ake Dahlquist.

Still photographs from the film The Rise and Fall of Susan Lennox scanned from the original negative and e-mailed through Yahoo by author Mark A. Vieira. Film clip linked with written permission from www.doctormacro.com. In a series of photo captions for the negatives that were in fact chosen for publication, author Vieira notes that by the time the portraits for The Fall and Rise of Susan Lennox were shot, Clarence Sinclair Bull had decided to no longer use a soft focus lens to photograph Greta Garbo, although he still used silk-covered softlights for the series.

In 1932, Gunnar Skogland wrote and directed the film Landskamp with Fritiof Billquist, George Blomstedt, Gun Holmquist, Signhild Bjökman and Signe Lundberg-Settergren in her first film as an actress. The cinemaographer to the film was Elner Akesson. Actress Ingrid Bergman has a brief role in the film, as does Corcordia Selander, and yet in her autobiography, My Story, Bergman omits the name of Gunnar Skoglund entirely. Bergman, rather, relates an account of her having been given a screen test with Gustaf Molander. ”I knew an actress named Karin Swanstr?m came into his shop from time to time. She was a fine comedy actress, but now she was the artistic director of Swedish Films”, wrote Bergman. She quotes Karin Swanstr?m as having told her that she would arrange a screen test for her within a week but then abruptly telling Bergman, ”No, wait a minute, I’ll see if I can arrange it now.” It would be Gustaf Molander that would recommend her to Edvin Adolphson until it would later become possible for her to film with him.

Weyler Hildebrand in 1932 directed his first film, Baklaxan, as well as the films Navvies of the Crown (Kronans rallare), Muntra musikanter, starring Ulla Sorbon and Anna Olin and The Southsiders (Soderkakr), starring Sigurd Wallen. Soderkakar was the first film in which actress Rut Holm was to appear. Gosta Rodin directed his first film that year, Tva hjartan och en skuta, starring Birgit Sergelius, it being the first film in which Swedish actress Carin Swensson was to appear. Ragnar Arvedson was the assistant director to the film Modern Wives (Modarna fruar, 1932), written and directed by Edvin Adolphson based on the play written by Algot Sandberg. In 1932, Gustaf Molander directed three films; Black Roses(Svarta rosor), photographed by Ake Dalquist and written by Ragnar Hylten Cavalius, it having starred Einar Axelsson, Karin Swanstrom, Ruth Stevens and Carl Barcklind, We Who Use the Servant’s Entrance (Vi som gar koksvagen), also photographed by Ake Dalqvist while scripted by Tancred Ibsen and starring Tutta Rolf, Karin Swanström, Tollie Zellman, Rene Björling and Rut Holm and Love and Deficit (Karleck ock kassabrist), scripted by G?sta Stevens, which had starred Tutta Rolf, Sigurd Wallen and Edvin Adolphson. It was also the first film in which actress Alice Carlsson was to appear. Jag gifta mig- aldrig, the first film in which Viran Rydkvist was to appear, was brought to the screen that year by director Eric Berglund. In 1932, John Lindlof directed Tva man om en anka, written by Borje Larsson and photographed by Julius Jaenzon. The film stars Tollie Zellmann. Sigurd Wallen in 1932 directed the films The Boys of Storholmen (Pojkarna pa Storholmen) with Margit Manstad, Anna Olin and Ruth Stevens and Lucky Devils (Lyckans gullgossar), the assistant director to the film Ivar Johansson. Gustaf Edgren that year directed Annalisa Ericson in the film Varmlanders (Varmlanningarna) with Hilda Borgstr?m.

The first volume of poetry published by Swedish poet Gunnar Ekel?f, Late Arrival on Earth (Sent pa jorden), was among the first editions of 1932. In Denmark, two years earlier a novel about a poet, Havoc (Haevaerk) had begun a look at the world by Danish literature than would become from then increasingly more modern, although its author, Tom Kristensen, had in fact begun publishing poetry in Denmark in 1920 with the volume Freebooter’s dreams (Fribytterdromme). In 1932 it would be followed by the novel Jorgen Stein, written by Jacob Paludan. Playthings (Legetoj), written by H. C. Branner would introduce H. C. Branner to Danish audiences in 1935. Branner would later write the novels The Riding Master (Rytteren) in 1949 and No One Knows the Night (Ingen Kender Natten) in 1955.

AB Europa, housed at 10 Drottingatan in Stockholm, began its production of film in 1930, among the films it made being those of Schamyl Bauman, beginning in 1933 with Secret Agent Svensson (Hemliga Svensson), starring Fridolf Rhudin and Weyeler Hildebrand and Saturday Nights (Lordagskvallar), starring Ejvor Kjellstrom and Ruth Weijden. Both films also star Edvard Persson.

In that the photography for one film was concluding as the photography for the other was beginning, the photoshoots with Clarence Sinclair Bull for both As You Desire Me and Grand Hotel were finished during the same afternoon.

In 1933, Eric Malmberg and Rune Carlsten directed the first film in which Signe Hasso was to appear, House of Silence (Tystnadens hus), with Fritiof Billquist. The film was the first to be photographed by cinematographer Harry Hasso, who also appears in the film as an actor. Like Greta Garbo, Signe Hasso travelled to Hollywood to film, her appearing in the films Heaven Can Wait (1943, Lubitsch) and A Double Life (1947, George Cukor). Swedish actress Emy Hagman appearred in her first film that year, Flickan fran varuhuset, under the direction of Anders Hendrikson and Torsten Lundqvist, Brita Appelgren having starred with her in the film. Much like Swedish actress Guje Lagerwall, the daughter of Victor Sjöström and wife of Sture Lagerwall, who was included in the early sound films of Sweden, Dora Söderberg, the daughter of playwright Hjamler Söderberg and wife of Swedish actor and director Rune Carlsten, was afforded one of her early on screen appearances in the film House of Silence.

Still photo from the film Queen Christina scanned from the original negative and e-mailed via Yahoo by author Mark A. Vieira.

Tancred Ibsen directed his first film in 1933, Vi som gar kjokkenveien, his following it with Synnove Solbakken (1934), starring Victor Sj?str?m and Fritiof Billquist. Gustaf Molander in 1933 directed the film Dear Relatives (Kara slakten), starring Ruth Stevens, Dora Söderberg and Sickan Carlsson and written by G?sta Stevens. Edvin Adolphson in 1933 directed the film What do Men Know (Vad veta val mannen), scripted by G?sta Stevens as well. Gosta Rodin in 1933 wrote and directed She or No One (Hon eller ingen, produced by Europa Film and starring Inga Tiblad, Anna Olin and Sture Lagerwall.

Ivar Johansson in 1933 wroted and directed both Boman’s Boy (Boman’s pojke), with Birgit Tengroth, and People of Halsingland (Halsingar), the first film in which Aurore Palmgren was to appear, with Karin Ekelund, Inga Tiblad and Edit Ernholm. Elner Akesson photographed the film for Svensk Talfilm. The former film was adapted by Ivar Johansson from a play by Siegfried Fischer, the latter film from a play by Henning Ohlsson. Marmstedt that year directed G?sta Ekman and Karin Kavli in the film Perhaps a Poet (Kanske en Diktare), co-scripted with Torsten Flodin. Also appearing in the film is Gunnar Olsson, who would direct his first film Jarnets man, with Hjalmar Peters, in 1935. Janets man was written by Johan-Olov Johansson and photographed by Eric Bergstrand. In 1934 Marmstedt follwed by directing Ake S?derblom and Astrid Marmstedt in the film Eva Goes Aboard (Eva gar Ombord) and Birgit Tengroth and Edvin Adoplphson in the film Atlantic Adventure (Atlantaventyret), also co-scripted with Torsten Flodin.

Hasse Ekman appeared on screen in 1933 under the direction of Ragnar Widestadt in the film Hemslavinnor, with Maj Tornblad, Anna Widforss and Isa Quensel. Gösta Stevens wrote the screenplay to the film. That year Hasse Ekman also appeared in the film A Night on Smygeholm (En Natt pa Smygeholm) under the direction of Sigurd Wallen, the film also starring Annalisa Ericson and Anna Olin. It was scripted by Gösta Stevens and photographed by Julius Jaenzon. Karin Ekelund appeared in her first film, Marriagable Daughters (Giftasvuxna dottrar), in 1933, the film directed by Sigurd Wallen from his own screenplay and photographed by Julius Jaenzon. Also starring in the film are Birgit Tengroth and Maritta Marke. Arne Bornebusch directed his first film in 1933, Hur behandlar du din hund?, it also being the first screenplay written by Bengt Idestam-Almquist. The pen name of Idestam-Alquist was Robin Hood, his having had been being being one of the early film critics of Sweden, later publishing the volume Den Svenska Filmens Drama: Sjöström och Stiller (1938). Idestam-Almquist had appeared as an actor in the 1920 film Gyurkovicsarna.

One of the more widely read of the early novels of Swedish author Eyvid Johnson, Here is Your Life (Har har du ditt live), was published in 1933, as was the novel Cape Farewell (Kap Farval), written by Harry Martinson.

Birgit Rosengren starred in her first two films in 1934, The Girls from the Old Town (Flickorna fran Gamla St’an) with Karin Ekelund and The Women Around Larsson (Kvinnorna kring Larsson), with Sture Lagerwall, the director of both films having been Schamyl Bauman. The following year she appeared in the film Flickor pa Fabrik directed by S?lve Cederstrand. Schamyl Bauman followed in 1934 with the film Larsson’s Second Marriage (Larsson i andra giftet).

In 1934 Gustaf Molander continued directing with the films A Quiet Affair (En Stille flirt) and Bachelor Father (Ungkarlspappan), both films from screenplays written by G?sta Stevens. Gustaf Edgren that year directed the film Karl Fredrick Reigns (Karl-Fredrik regerar) with Gunnar Skoglund and Pauline Brunius and Brit-Lis Edgren in what would be her first screen appearance. The cinematographer to the film was Martin Bodin, the scriptwriter, Oscar Rydqvist. Ivar Johansson that year directed Sickan Carlsson and Greta Woxholt in the film The Song to Her (Sangen till henne) and Anna Olin in the film Uppsagd, both films photographed by Martin Bodin. Uppsagd was the first film in which actress Margit Andelius was to appear. Emil A Lingheim directed his first film in 1934, Bland karparoch foreller. That year John W. Brunius directed with Pauline Brunius and Karin Albihn the film False Greta (Falska Greta), John W, Brunius. Brunius had appeared as actor in the 1931 film Red Day (Roda dagen), directed by Gustaf Edgren and written by S?lve Cederstand.

Photographed by Ake Dalqvist and directed by Edvin Adolphson and Sigurd Wallen, The Count of the Monk’s Bridge (Munksbrogreven, 1934-5) is a showcase for a young Ingrid Bergman. The screenplay is listed as having been written by Arthur Natrop and Siegfried Fischer (Greven fran Gamala Sta’n) and the scenario as having been penned by G?sta Stevens. In her autobiography, Ingrid Bergman recounts that during her first scenes she had nearly overstepped her bounds with the actress Tollie Zellman and that Edvin Adolphson had added a kind word for her.

Per G. Holmgren directed his first film in 1935, Havet lockar. Gosta Rodin in 1935 directed Sickan Carlsson and Lili Ziedner in the film Karlek efter noter, written by Torsten Lundqvist and photographed by Martin Bodin. That year he also directed Sickan Carlsson for Svensk Talfilms in The People of Smaland (Smalanningar), also scripted by Torsten Lundqvist. Rune Carlsten that year directed The Marriage Game (Aktenskaplekan) with Zarah Leander, Anna Olin and Ingeborg Strandin, the assistant director to the film Rolf Husberg, the script written by Ragnar Hylten-Cavallius. Directed by Edvin Adolphson for Wivefilm, cowritten with the director by Oscar Hemberg and photographed by Elner Akesson, Flickornas Alfred (1935) was to star Birgit Tengroth, Hilda Borstr?m and Olga Andersson. Andersson had starred with Greta Garbo in 1920 in the short films photographed by Ragnar Ring.

The first film edited by Oscar Rosander, Valborgsmassoafton, directed by Gustaf Edgren, was filmed in 1935. Its stars actress Linnea Hillberg.

After having directed the film Under False Colors (Under Flask Flagg, 1935), scripted by G?sta Stevens and starring Tutta Rolf, in 1936 Gustaf Molander directed the films The Honeymoontrip (Brollopsresan), starring Karin Swanström, Ulla Sorbon, Karin Albihn, Edvin Adolphson and Anne Marie Brunius, The Family Secret (Familjens hemlighet), from a screenplay by G?sta Stevens and On the Sunny Side (Pa solsidan), starring Edvin Adolphson, also from a screenplay written by Gösta Stevens. Ingrid Borthen had a small role in the film The Family Secret, it being the first film in which she was to appear. Gideon Wahlberg directed his first film in 1936, Soder om landsvagen, starring Agda Helin, Inga-Bodil Vetterlund, Mim Ekelund. It is particularly interesting that Swedish silent film director George af Klerker also appears in the film as an actor. The King is Coming (Kungen kommer), written and direted that year by Ragnar Hylten-Cavallius, starred G?sta Ekman, Birgit Tengroth, Ingeborg Strandin and Tollie Zellman and was produced for Terra film.

The beautiful Finnish actress Ansa Ikonen began starring in film durring 1935-36 in two films under the direction of Finnish director Valentin Vaala, Everybody’s Love (Kaikki rakastavat) and Surrogate Wife (Vaimoke), both having starred Tauno Palo.

Still photograph from the film Camille scanned from the original negatives and e-mailed by Yahoo by author Mark A. Vieira.

Ragnar Arvedson in 1936 wrote and directed the films The Ghost of Bragehus (Spoket pa Bragehus),with Annalisa Ericson, Poor Millionares (Stackars Miljonarer), with Anna Olin and Are We Married (A vi giftas?) with Karin Ekelund. Johan Ulfstjerna (1936), starring Edith Erastoff and Einar Hanson, was directed by Gustaf Edgren and photographed by Julius Jaenzon. Edgren followed with the film The Russian Flu (Ryska snuvan, 1937), starring Edvin Adolphson. Greta Garbo biographer Fritiof Billquist appeared with Karin Ekelund and Birgit Rosengren in Flickor pa fabrik (1935) directed by S?lve Cederstrand, the first film in which actress Britta Estelle was to appear. Arthur Natorp in 1936 directed his first film, Karlek och monopol, photographed by Eric Bergstrand. Anders Henrikson in 1936 directed the film Annosera!, photographed by Martin Bodin. Gunnar Fischer that year worked as assistant cameraman with Swedish cinematographer Elner Akesson under the direction of Anders Henrikson on the film He, She, and the money (Han, hon, och pengarna), starring Ruth Stevens, Kirsten Heiberg and Maritta Marke. The film was editied by its assistant director, Rolf Husberg. Swedish actress Margit Andelius starred as the protagonist of Raggen, That’s Me (Det ar jag det) that year, the film having been directed by Schamyl Bauman and photographed by Hilmer Ekdahl. The film also starred Anna Olin, Aino Taube, and Isle-Norre Tromm.

Swedish poet Harry Martinson had two novels that appeared in bookstores during 1935 and 1936, Flowering Nettles (Nassloma blomma) and The Way Out (Vagen ut), respectively.

Cinematographer Ake Dahlqvist may very well be presently be known to audiences in the United States as the cameraman behind the viewfinder to the film Intermezzo (1936) directed by Gustaf Molander from a script he co-scripted with Gösta Stevens. Both Hasse Ekman and Anders Henrikson appear in the film, as do Inga Tiblad, Britt Hagman, Swedish silent film star Emma Meissner and the young actress that still directs audiences to the film by her having later remade it in the United States, Ingrid Bergman. Intermezzo was the first film in which actress Millan Bollanden, who was seen onscreen with Ingrid Bergman often, was to appear.

In her autobiography, Ingrid Bergman writes that she was reluctant when asked to film One Night Only (En Enda Natt, 1937) and that she had hoped to star in the film A Woman’s Face (En kvinnas Ansikte, 1936). Both films were directed by Gustaf Molander and scripted by G?sta Stevens. ”Look,” she had said, ”I’ll only do your film if you let me do the girl with the distorted face.” She quotes Gustaf Molander as having said, ”The technicalities of the distorted face were fine, but I couldn’t get the story right.” There is and account given by Ingrid Bergman of her having had been being asked to supply an eding to the plotline before the shooting of the film had finished and of the concluding scenes of the film having been based upon her idea. One Night Only was photographed by Elner Akesson, the assistant director the film having been Hugo Bolander. A Woman’s Face was photographed by Ake Dahlqvist.

”From letters to his wife during the summer and autumn of 1936 we can very well follow the work on the script, the planning, and the shooting of Under the Red Robe”. Begnt Forslund chronicles the retSwedish film director Victor Sjostrom to film directing in England with a script based on the writing of Stanely Weyman, which had already appeared on the stage as dramatized by Edward Rose.

Signe Hasso appeared on the screen during 1937 under the direction of Schamyl Bauman, starring in the film Witches Night (Haxnatten) with actresses Ruth Stevens, Gerda Bjorne and Marta Lindlof. John Lindlof in 1937 directed the film Odygdens beloning. Gustaf Molander in 1937 directed Tutta Rolf in the film Sara lar sig folkvett, written by Gösta Stevens and photographed by Julius Jaenzon. Jaenzon also that year photographed the film Cleared for Action/Clearly to drabbning (Klart till drabbning), in which Edvin Adolphson directed his daughter, Swedish actrees Anna-Greta Adolphson. The film was scripted by Weyler Hildebrand and Torsten Lundqvist and also stars Ake Söderblom and Sickan Carlsson. Gosta Rodin wrote and directed the film The Pale Count (Bleka greven), photographed by Sven Thermaenius. Produced by Svensk Talfilms, the film stars Anna Olin, Karin Ahbihn and Aina Rosen.

Alice Babs starred in her first film in 1938, Thunder and Lightning/Flash and Thunder (Blixt och dunder), directed by Anders Henrikson and also starring Hasse Ekman, Frida Winnerstrand, Marianne Aminoff and Sickan Carlsson. Also starring in her first film in 1938 was Sif Ruud who appeared with Linnea Hillberg, Olga Hellquist, Gudrun Lendrup and Birgit Rosengren in Kloka gubben, directed by Sigurd Wallen and written by Gosta Werner. Hortensia Hedstrom that year appearred in her first film, Svensson ordinar allt, directed by Theodor Berthels. Co-scripted by Berthels and Gosta Werner for Svea Film, it stars Swedish silent film director George af Klerker, Karin Albihn, Sally Palmblad, Helga Hallen and Olga Hellquist. Anders Henrickson brought Tutta Rolf, Mimi Pollack and Karin Swanström to the screen in 1938 in the film The Great Love (Den stora Karleken) which he wrote and directed for Wivefilm, Stockholm. That year Gunnar Fischer photographed his first film, Only a Trumpter (Bara en trumpetare), scripted by Torsten Lundqvist and also directed by Henrikson. Director Nils Jerring in 1938 brought Wera Lindby and Ruth Weijeden to the screen in the film Figurligt talat, photographed by Martin Bodin. Ragnar Hylten-Cavallius that year directed Lars Hanson and Karin Ekelund in the film Wings around the Lighthouse (Vingar kring fyren), Cavallius also having the screenplay.

Gustaf Molander in 1938 directed Ingrid Envall in her first film Dollar, starring Georg Rydeberg, Tutta Rolf, Kotti Chave and Birgit Tengroth. Filmed from a script co-written by Stina Bergman, the cinematographer to the film was Ake Dahlqvist. Dollar begins as a film of interior shots and Molander tracks with his characters as he cuts between close shots, oftent cutting with the camera one moment and abruptly cutting to brief dialouge shots, or in between fairly quick dollyshots and close shots positioned from varying angles during an early card game scene. In the adjacent interior scene, Ingrid Bergman dances with her own shadow and the shadow of her parrot as Molander’s camerawork is moved into a drawing room with four women, each crossing the set untill the men and women later pair together, a pairing together that locates the rest of the film in ther interior of a ski resort. The pace established by shot legnth then slows down and the editing becomes less pronounced as the men and women are the kept together more often as a group, more often in full shot as the storyline relies almost entirely upon dialouge for its development as each character crosses the set from one conversation to the next. Molander often cuts quickly after a line of dialouge, often constructing the shot-structure of the individual scenes by cutting on action. The is only one character other than the one played by Edvin Adolphson introduced during the film, that of an actress from the United States, Mary, the dollar princess.

Sven Thermaenius that year photographed the film Du gama du fria, written and directed by Gunnar Olsson and starring Hilda Borgstr?m, Karin Ekelund, Sigurd Wallen and Gull Natrop. The film was produced by AB Europafilm. Kaj Aspegren directed his first film, Studieresan, in 1938, photographed by Erik Bergstrand and starring Signe Lundberg-Settergren and Marta Dorff.

Still photograph from the film Ninotchka scanned from original negative and sent via yahoo email by author Mark Vieira.

In 1939, Victor Sjostrom appeared as an actor in two films,The Old Man’s Coming (Gubben kommer) ,with Birgit Tengroth, Olaf Molander, Aino Taube and Tora Teje, directed by Per Lindberg, and in Towards New Times (Mot nya tider), directed by Sigurd Wallen and starring Carl Barklind, Anna Olin and Marianne Aminoff. Per Lindberg in 1939 also directed the film Glad dig din Ungdom, starring Birgit Tengroth, Hilda Borgstr?m, and Anna Lindahl. Photographed by Ake Dahlqvist, the film was co-scripted by Vilhelm Moberg with Per Lindberg and Stina Bergman from his novel Sankt Sedebetyg.

Weyler Hildebrand in 1939 directed Sickan Carlsson and Ake Ohberg in Landstormens lilla Lotta, scripted by Torsten Lundqvist. Rolf Husberg began as an assistant director to the film Giftasvuxna dottrar (1933). He directed his first film, Midnattsolens in 1939. Gustaf Molander used the talented pioneer Julius Jaenzon in 1939 to photograph Filmen om Emelie Hogvist starring Signe Hasso and Elsa Burnett, the first film in which Karin Norgren had been given a small role. Elsa Burnett also starred in Molander’s film Ombyte fornojer, with Tutta Rolf. Both films were scripted by Gösta Stevens. Signe Hasso would also that year appear in the film Us Two (Vi Twa), directed by Schamyl Bauman and starring Ilse-Norre Tromm and Gunnar Bjornstrand in an early film role. Schamyl Bauman in 1939 directed Anders Henriksson and Sonja Wigert in the film Her Little Majesty (Hennes Lilla Majestat), the film also starring Swedish film directors Carl Barklind and Gunnar Hoglund. Also directed by Schamyl Bauman that year was the film Efterlyst, photographed by Hilmer Ekdahl and starring Edvin Adolphson, Birgit Rosengren, Isa Quensel, Carin Swensson and Linnea Hillberg. Anders Henrikson in 1939 directed the film Valfangare, with Tutta Rolf. Ragnar Frisk directed Ann-Margret Bergendahl in her first film in 1939, Den Moderna Eva, photographed by Karl-Erik Alberts and starring Ake Uppström. Siv Ericks appeared in her first film that year Rosor varje kvall, directed by Per Axel-Branner. Also in the film are Carl Barklind, Hjordis Petterson, Ake Ohberg and Tore Lindwall. Gideon Wahlberg in 1939 directed Ann Mari Udderberg and Naemi Briese in the film We from the Theater (Vi som gar scenevagen). Gosta Rodin during 1939 directed the film Charmers at Sea (Sjocharmorer) produced by Fribergs Filmbyra and photographed by Albert Rudling. The film stars Aino Taube, Karin Swanstrom, Marianne Lofgren and Ullastina Rettig.

Both Sigurd Wallen and Olaf Molander appeared in front of the camera with Britt-Lis Edgren in the 1940 film A Big Hug (Stora Famnen), Britt-Lis the daughter of the director of the film, Gustaf Edgren. The film was photographed by Julius Jaenzon and also stars the Swedish actresses Gerda Lundqvist and Signe Hasso. Gustaf Molander in 1940 directed the film A, but one lion (En, men ett lejon) with Fridtjof Mjoen and Annalisa Ericson. The screenplay to the film was written by G?sta Stevens and again, Molander would be behind the camera while Julius Jaenzon was the film’s photographer. On the marquee that year, along with the name Aino Taube, was the film Everybody at His Station (Alle man pa post) written by Torsten Lundqvist and directed by Anders Henrikson, the assistant director to the film Ragnar Fisk. That year, Alf Sj?berg wrote and directed the films They Staked Their Lives (Med livet som instats) and the first film in which the actresses Barbro Flodquist and Hedvig Lindby were to appear, and Blossom Time (Den blomstertid), photographed by Harald Berglund with Goran Strindberg as assistant cameraman and starring Sture Lagerwall, Gerd Hagman, Carl Barklind and Arnold Sj?strand. Barbro Flodquist also that year appeared in the film Hanna i societen, directed by Gunnar Olsson and starring Elsa Carlsson and Carl Barklind. Schamyl Bauman in 1940 directed the films Heroes in Yellow in Blue (Hjaltar i gult och blatt), starring Tollie Zellmann, Barbro Kollber and Emy Hagman, and An Able Man (Karl for sin hatt), starring Birigit Tengroth, Vera Valdo and Gull Natrop starring Ake Ohberg directed his first film in 1940, Romance (Romans) in which Fritiof Billqvist appeared. Introduced to the screen that year by Ragnar Arvedson, Eva Henning premiered in the film Gentleman att hyra, photographed by Martin Bodin. Sigge Furst and Mimi Pollack also appear in the film. June Night (Juninatten) was directed in 1940 by Per Lindberg.

Still photograph from the film Two Faced Woman scanned from the original negatives and emailed via Yahoo by author Mark A. Vieira.

After directing June Night, the following year Per Lindgren directed the the film The Talk of the Town (Det sags pa stan, 1941), photographed by Ake Dalqvist and starring Marianne Lofgren, Gudron Brost, Elsa Marianne von Rosen, Mona Martenson, Elsa Widborg and Bojan Westin, in what was to be her first appearance on the screen. Bojan Westin has recently appeared in several films, including Brevbaravens hemlighet (2006, Hanna Andersson), Koffein (2007, Akesson, Olsson) and Dorotea i dodsriket (2007, Kati Mets). The assistant director to the film Talk of the Town was Arne Mattsson. Produced by Svea Film, Stockholm, it was one of the first two films in which Eva Dahlbeck was to appear, the other being Only a Woman (Bara en kvinna), directed by Anders Henrikson for Wivefilm, Stockholm and photographed by Elner Akesson. Also starring in the film is Karin Ekelund. Anders Henrikson also that year directed Anio Taube in Life Goes On (Livet gar vidare), which he cowrote with Begnt Idestam-Almquist. The film also stars Hasse Ekman. Director Gunnar Skoglund that year teamed Karin Ekelund and Edvin Adolphson in the film Woman on Board (En Kvinna Omboard), photographed by Hilding Bladh and also starring Sigge Furst. Ragnar Arvedson in 1941 directed the films Sa tukta en akta man, the assistant director to the film Arne Mattsson. Ung dam med tur, photographed by Harald Berglund and written by Torsten Floden, was also directed by Ragnar Arvedson in 1941, it starring Sonja Wigert, Elly Christiansson, Stina Hedberg and Ake Ohberg. That year G?sta Cederlund directed his first film, Fransson den forskracklinge with Hilda Borgstr?m, Rune Carlsten, Elof Ahrle, Sonja Wigert and Marianne Lofgren as well as the film Uppat igen starring Elof Ahrle, Vera Valdor and Berit Rosengren.

In 1941, Gunnar Olsson directed Mai Zetterling in her first film, Lasse-Maja, photographed by Harald Bergland and written by Torsten Floden, in which Zetterling starred with Margit Manstad and Sture Lagerwall. She next appeared in Sunshine Follows Rain/Rain Follows the Dew (Driver dag faller regn, 1946), directed by Gustaf Edgren and based on a novel by Margit Soderholm. Alf Sj?berg in 1941 directed the film Home from Babylon (Hem fran Babylon) starring Gerd Hagman and Arnold Sjostrand. Gustaf Molander in 1941 directed Tonight or Never (I natt-eller aldrig) with Tollie Zellman and Bright Prospects (Den ljusnade framtid) with Elly Christiansson, Julius Jaenzon the photographer of the latter. Produced by Svea Film in 1941, Cosy Barracks (Hemtreunad i kasern) was directed by Gosta Rodin and photographed by Erik Bergstrand. The film stars Tollie Zellman, Anna-lisa Baude, Annalisa Ericson and Rut Holm.

Anders Henrikson in 1942 both directed and starred with Sonja Wigert in both Youth in Chains (Ungdom i bojor) and Fallet Ingegerd Bremssen, which, starring Ivar Kage and G?sta Cederlund, was the first film in which Siv Thulin had been given a small role. Anders Henrikson also starred with Sonja Wigert inBlod och eld (1945), the assistant director to the latter Bengt Palm. Gunnar Skoglund in 1942 directed Maj-Britt Nilsson in the film Varat gang. Gunnar Fischer worked as an assistant camerman in 1942 under Swedish cinematographer Ake Dahlqvist on a film edited by Oscar Rosander, Jacob’s Ladder (Jacobs Stege), directed by Gustaf Molander and starring Birgit Tengroth, Marianne Lofgren and Viran Rydkvist. Gustaf Molander also that year directed Hilda Borgstr?m, Erik Hampe Faustman, Eva Dahlbeck and Anders Ek in the film Ride Tonight (Ride This Night/Ride Tonight, Rid i natt, 1942), based on a novel by Vilhelm Moberg. Doctor Glas (Doktor Glas, 1942), adapted from a novel by Hjamar Soderberg by Rune Carlsten and directed by Gustaf Edgren, was to include the actresses Hilda Borgstr?m and Irma Christenson, it also having been the first film in which Victor Sj?str?m’s daughter, Guje Lagerwall, was to appear. Hugo Bolander directed his first two films in 1942, Three Glad Fools (Tre glada tokar), and Sextuplets (Sexlingar). Bolander had been the assistant director to the film Steel (Stal, 1940), directed by Per Lindberg, a film that had starred not only Alf Kjellin and Gudron Brost, but Signe Hasso, Karin Swanstrom and Torre Svennberg.

The following year, Erik Hampe Faustman directed his first film , Night in the Harbor (Natt i hamn, 1943) and scripted the film, its cinematographer having had been being Gunnar Fischer. Eric Hampe Faustman also directed the film Sonja that year, which he co-scripted with G?sta Stevens, it having starred Birgit Tengroth, Else Albiin, Gunn Wallgren and Sture Lagerwall. Sonja was photographed by cinematographer Hilding Bladh. Hampe Faustman that year appeared as an actor in Gustaf Molander’s film Alsking, self give me (Alsking jag ger mig), which was also written by Gösta Stevens. Starring with Faustman in the film were Sonja Wigert, Elsa Carlsson, Marianne Lofgren and Carin Swensson. Haustman followed in 1944 by directing the film The Girl and Devil (Flickan och Djavulen), starring Hilda Borgstr?m and Torgny Anderberg.

In 1943, Olof Molander directed Mimi Nelson in her first film, I Slew (Jag drapte), also starring Mai Zetterling, Anders Henrikson, Hilda Borgstr?m and Irma Christenson. That year G?sta Cederlund directed her in the film Kungsgatan, which also starred Barbro Kollberg. Ragnar Frisk in 1943 directed For lack of evidence (I brist pa brevis), scripted by Per Holmgren and Arne Mattsson and starring Birgit Tengroth and Holger Lowenadler. Frisk also that year directed Nils Poppe in the film The Actor (Aktoren), photographed by Hilmer Ekdahl and co-starring Sigge Furst and Agda Helin. Begnt Janzon in 1943 wrote and directed the film We Met the Storm (Vi Motte Stormen), with Stig Jarrel and Anna-Lisa Baude, for AB Nordisk-Filmproduktion. Ivar Johansson that year wrote and directed the film Young Blood (Ungt Blod), with Toivo Pawlo and Olof Widgren. Johansson also that year directed Ake Gronberg in the film Captured by a Voice (Fangad av en rost) photographed by Ernst Westerberg and produced by Film AB Lux. Sigge Furst that year also starred in the film Ghosts, Ghosts (Det Spokar, Det Spokar) directed by Hugo Bolander and produced by Film AB Image. Eva Henning that year appeared in the film The Awakening of Youth (Nar Ungdomen vaknar), directed by Gunnar Olsson. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist photographed his first film, along with photographer Olle Nordemar, in 1943, In the darkest Corner of Smaland (I morkaste Smaland), under the direction of Schamyl Bauman, the film starring Sigurd Wallen, Eivor Landstrom, Eric Petschler and Gull Natrop. Silent film director Eric Petschler also appears in the film. Gunnar Skoglund in 1943 directed the film En var i vapen starring Ingrid Borthen, Eric Hampe Faustman, Rita Sandstorm, Fritiof Billquist and Birgit Lindkvist in what was to be her first film appearance. Bjorge Larsson during 1943 directed the film A Girl for Me (En Flickan for mej) for Europa Film, it starring Sickan Carlsson, Kerstin Lindahl and Hilda Borgstrom. Ragnar Arvedson in 1943 brought Irma Christenson and Ann-Margret Bjorlin to the screen in the film Herre med Portfolj.

Gustaf Molander in 1944 brought the film The Invisible Wall/The Unseen Wall (Den osynliga muren), starring Inga Tiblad, Irma Christenson, Hilda Borgström and Britta Brunius, to the screen. Swedish film directors Rune Carlsten and Eric Faustman also appear in the film. In 1944, Gunnar Ollsson directed The Turn of the Century (Nar seklet var ungt) his following it in 1945 with The Happy Tailor (Den Glade skraddaren), both films being among those in which Fritiof Billquist had appeared. The Turn of the Century (Nar seklet var ungt) had been the first film in which Brita Billsten had been given a small role, her having had appeared in it with Stina Hedberg, Marianne Gyllenhamar and Mim Eklund. En dotter fodd, the first film in which Ruth Kasdan was cast, was directed in 1944 by Gosta Cederlund and starred Barbro Kollberg. Ake Ohberg in 1944 directed Swedish Film actress Karin Ekelund in the film Snowstorm (Snostromen), photographed by Harald Berglund. Also appearing in the film are Liane Linden and Helga Brofeldt. Ivar Johansson that year directed Birgit Tengroth in the film Skogen ar var arvedel, the assistant director to the film Arne Mattsson. Weyeler Hildebrand in 1944 directed Sonja Wigert, Mona Martenson and Gunnar Bj?strand in the film My People are Not Yours (Mitt folk ar icke ditt). Ragnar Falck, who appeared as an actor in several Swedish Films during 1930-1960, directed his first two films, Fia Jansson from the South Side (Fia Jansson fran Soder), for Kungsfilm, and Your Relatives Are Best (Slakten ar blast), for Wive Film, that year. Fredrick Anderson in 1944 brought Ingid Bouthen, Annelie Thureson and Eivor Rolke to the screen in the film Karleck och allsang. Rune Carlsten that year wrote and directed the film Count only the Happy Moments (Rakna de Lyckliga Stunderna Blott), with Sonja Wigert, Arnold Sj?strand and Eva Dahlbeck. Gunnar Skoglund in 1944 brought Vibeke Falk and Monicka Tropp to the screen in the film The Clock of Ronneberga (Klockan pa Ronneberga). Alf Sjoberg that year wroted and directed the film The Royal Hunt (Kungajakt), starring Inga Tiblad.

Filmed in Sweden and directed by Carl Th. Dreyer, Two People (Tva Manniskor, 1944) was not released in Denmark due to low box office returns and a second Swedish film to be directed by Dreyer was cancelled. Dreyer reportedly had wanted Anders Ek and Gunn Walgren to portray the couple upon which the on screen action of the film is centered, his describing the female character of the film as being ”young warmblooded and sensual”. When filmed the couple was portrayed quite differently by Wanda Rothgart and George Rydeberg.

Sailors (Blajackor 1945), directed by Rolf Husberg with Annalisa Ericson, was photographed by Gunnar Fischer. Rolf Husberg directed Siv Hansson and Ann Sophie Honeth that year in the film The Children from Frostmo Mountain (Barnen fran Frostrnofjallent), photographed by Sven Nykvist.

Molander in 1945 directed Galgmannen and in 1946 directed It’s my Model(Det ar min modell),starring Alf Kjellin and Maj-Britt Nilsson, both films photographed by Ake Dalqvist. The screenwriter of It’s My Model was Rune Lindström. Rune Lindstrom that year wrote and directed the film Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lilac (Tant Grun, Tant Brun, och Tant Gredelin), starring Britta Brunius, Elsa Ebbensen-Thorblad, Irma Christenson and Sigge Furst. Cinematographer Max Wilen photographed his first film that year, Det var en gang, directed by Arne Bornebusch with Mona Martenson. Ake Ohberg in 1945 brought Barbro Kollberg to the screen in the film Girls in the Harbor (Flickor i hamn) and Eva Henning to the screen in Rosen pa Tistelon, G?sta Folke the asistant director to the latter film. Bjorge Larsson in 1945 directed Annalissa Ericson, G?sta Cederlund and Sture Lagerwall in the film A Charming Miss (En fortjussande Froken) and the film The Thirteen Chairs (13 stolar), photographed by Sven Nykvist. Adapted from the novel published by Vilhelm Moberg in 1933, Mans Kvinna, starring Edvin Adolphson, Birgit Tengroth and Gudron Brost was that year directed by Gunnar Skoglund; coscripted by Vilhelm Moberg, Ankeman Jarl, starring Ingrid Backlin and Maritta Marke was that year directed by Sigurd Wallen. The assistant director to the latter was Lennart Wallen. The Serious Game (Den Allvarsamma leken, 1945), based on a novel by Hjalmar Soderberg and starring Viveca Lindfors and Eva Dahlbeck, would be directed by Rune Carlsten.

That year was also to mark the appearance of a new director of Swedish film, Ingmar Bergman, his writing his own screenplay to the film A Young Girl’s Troubles (Kris) as an adaptation of the play A Mother’s Heart (Moderdyret), penned by Leck Fischer. The cinematographer to the film, which starred Inga Landgre as its central character, was Gösta Roosling and its editor was Oscar Rosander. It was during 1942 that Ingmar Bergman had begun adapting screenplays for Svensk Filmindustri. As noted by Donner, the first had been a screen version of the novel Katinka, written by Astrid Varing; noted by Peter Cowie the first had been a novel entitled Scared to Live. In his autobiography, Images, Ingmar Bergman writes without noting the author of the novel, and explains that after he was given an office,the script department was under Stina Bergman, to whom, it almost completely belonged, seemingly.

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scottlord Greta Garbo: den har sida i Svensk

The 100th birthday of Greta Garbo was a perfect time to recognize the efforts of Ase Kleveland, if only to introduce her as a proponent of classic film and the viewing of film with an interest in film history; she during September 2005 at the Cinemateket Filmhuset not only introduced Greta Garbo to Swedish audiences, but marked the love for the actress throughout Scandanavia. In an e-mailed correspondence to the present author, she wrote, ”Many thanks for your greetings. I can assure that the Garbo celebrations was a great success indeed.” Both Stockholm and Goteborg screened the Greta Garbo film Camille (Kameliadamen, George Cukor, 1937) on September 16, 2005, the former at the Biografen Sture, the latter at the Biografen Svea. The film co-stars Robert Taylor and Henry Daniell. Just as the films of Victor Sjostrom have toured the United States, the Greta Garbo Centenary is marked by screenings of films representative of the body of work the actress appeared in on screen before her retiring. Among the films being shown near her birthday, and into early December of 2005, are a four minute print of Greta Louise Gustafson in Luffar-Petter and a two minute print of her crossing the Atlantic from Stockholm to the United States in an unidentified film that would seen to more than a number of dedicated Garbo viewers to be footage from the film En decemberdag pa Atlanten, directed by Ragnar Ring and photographed by Gustav Berg, there being an account of Garbo and Ring having spoken to each other while crossing the Atlantic.

Greta Garbo.

In the United States, during the summer of 2005 the Niles Essany Silent Film Museum added a film to its June schedule in which Greta Garbo is at her most beautiful because it is one of her most melodramatic, the silent film The Kiss (Kyssen, Feyder, 1929, seven reels) with Conrad Nagel. An emailed thankyou-newsletter from the San Fransisco Silent Film Festival not only announced the opening of the Edison Theater of the Silent Film Museum in Niles and its series of films for the summer in its listings of upcoming events, but added among its listings a week long screening of films of Greta Garbo at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, during which the Silent Garbo film A Woman of Affairs (Grona hatten, Clarence Brown, 1928, nine reels), starring Lewis Stone and John Gilbert and including Johnny Mack Brown and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was screened on September 21, 2005. A Woman of Affairs flickered across the silverscreens of the Filmhuset in Stockholm, Sweden to begin the month of October, 2005 and inside the screening rooms of the Garbo Society in Hogsby, Sweden on November 14, 2004. Accompanied by the Hogsby exhibition, the film later was introduced by Kevin Brownlow during a January, 2006 screening in Erlangen, Germany.

The silent film of Greta Garbo is featured in the Kevin Brownlow documentary Trick of the Light narrated by James Mason and is presently offered online in Windows media, divided into two parts and including the silent film documentary Hollywood Trick of the Light pt. 2, by dograt.com/hollywood.html. Greta Garbo visited James Mason in 1949 while they were planning to film La Duchesse de Langeais, an adaptation of Balzac’s novel The Thirteen.

Kevin Brownlow is the director of the biographical documentary Garbo (2005), a film which quickly after having been aired was mentioned in the e-mailed posts of members that correspond using several different Yahoo mailing list groups in the United States and which was also screened at the Filmhuset as part of the Swedish Film Institute’s marking Garbo’s 100th birthday. Not all of the posts having had been being on mailing lists specificlly dedicated to the actress Greta Garbo, in an e-mailed correspondence to the present author, John Gilbert biographer Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, wrote, ”I hoped you watched the Garbo documentary on Sept 6 on TCM. I run through a lot of it and am very pleased the way they handled my father. Perhaps you can watch for a rerun.” In the documentary she introduces Flesh and the Devil, describing the actor and actress during a sequence that is spliced with a segment of film of the director Clarence Brown; while describing Greta Garbo as having been independent of other people. Brown in the film praises Greta Garbo for her work in from of the camera and her work during retakes by noting that behind the camera he was at a distance from her and that her acting translated into movement what he wanted to appear on the screen. Interviewed in the documentary are Greta Garbo author Karen Swenson, Greta Garbo, who is more Garbo like in her providing an emotional rather than detailed account of the actress, and author Mark Vieira, who introduces cameraman William Daniels and The Torrent. In that the documentary begins to address the extratextural discourse that accompanied the characters that were to be portrayed on screen by Greta Garbo, it begins with footage of the city Stockholm and the two visits Greta Garbo made to the city, as well as brief footage of Sjostrom and Stiller bookended by footage of Swedish actress Mimi Pollack. Near to the 100th bithday of Greta Garbo, Mark Vieira emailed members of a Yahoo group announcing that his forthcoming book will be about Irving Thalberg and that it will include many photographs of Norma Shearer and Jean Harlow. The daughter of Norma Shearer, bookstore owner Katherine Thalberg, died in the beginning of January, 2006.

Two of the brief scenes introducing Sunday Silent Nights on Turner Classic Movies are from the silent films of Greta Garbo. A scene from the film Flesh and the Devil with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert dancing together is used in the introductory sequence, and later in the sequence a scene from The Kiss with Greta Garbo in close up is used. The scene with Lillian Gish peering out at the storm is from The Wind, directed by Victor Sjostrom. The other silent films in the Turner Classic Movies introductory sequence, all of which were filmed in the United States, include two scenes from Our Dancing Daughter (1928, Beuamont), one which is a room full of balloons and the other an actress in front of a mirror, The Big Parade (Vidor), with John Gilbert kissing a leading lady, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse with a brief scene of Rudolf Valentino smoking, two scenes from Greed (von Stroheim), one with actress Zazu Pitts in a hat and the other to conclude the sequence with Gibson Gowland, Noah’s Ark with Goerge O’Bien looking into the rain, The Crowd with actor James Murray smiling, Show People with Marion Davies using a handkerchief as a prop and a brief clip from Keaton’s The Cameraman that shows his eyes.

The Associated Press marked the 100th birthday with Jan-Erik Billinger having announced the opening of a new library at the Swedish Film Institute, one that includes film magazines from the United States from the early silent film period. Jan-Erik Billinger, who remarked the it was mostly coincidental that the library was ready in time for Garbo’s centenarry, is the Head of the Information Department at the Swedish Film Institute. Soon there will be a display at the Swedish Film Institute; when Pictures of Greta (Bilder av Greta), a collection of photographs, is finished being viewed at the Stura Cinema in Stockholm, it will be transferred to the Film House.

Along with it will be shown costumes the actress wore while filming The Saga of Gosta Berling with director Mauritz Stiller, her private correspondence as well as her personal belongings from childhood. Of the film that first paired Greta Garbo and Lars Hanson, one webpage author on the internet, Hazel, in her latest update reviews the onscreen performance of Greta Garbo, ”Already in her first movie, Garbo gave a nuanced and mature performance.” An e-mailed newsletter during April of 2006 from Kino Video announced the release on DVD of the first movie in which Greta Garbo appeared, The Saga of Gosta Berling, along with the release two other films directed by her first director, Mauritz Stiller.

In The Perfect Murder (Det Perfekte Mord),directed by Eva Isaksen, Anna-Lena Hemstrom believes herself to be Garbo,or rather the characters portrayed by Greta Garbo. During the making of a film, she enacts particular scenes from Garbo’s films, in her bedroom before making love, the actress on the screen becoming the spectator within the film through an identification with the action of the film actress, the idealized appropriated into the dramaturgy of the erotic;her movements are those of Greta Garbo in character- the only way to become authentic is to be the absolute object of her look, and only then by being her paramour. Intringuingly, the fabula of the film, the events of each particular scene, and its syhuzet, the presentation of its plotline, merge as its characters encounter each other, as she entices each lover toward fantasy, toward the sensual. Visually, the film represents the act of love as being both abstract and concrete: it only depicts the actress during sex in as much as each instance, and the accompanying dialouge, is particularly connected to the narrative, there being a specificality within each of the scenes upon which the plotline is dependent, one in which the actress is convinced that she knows each of her lovers from a specific Greta Garbo film and that she has to make love to them according to the juncture of events that comprise the scene in the film. She is an actress entertaining the fantasies of the actress Greta Garbo and yet, although there are no abstract shots during the film, their being shown in the bedroom uninterruped by cut in shots that would add meaning to the scene, sex acquires something that is metaphoric in that she is Garbo and for each of her lovers it can only be fantasy, it becoming intangible at the very moment of sexual climax to where their very corporeality is unknowable, that in fact quite possibly known only by Garbo as well- there is an objectification of the actress as Garbo and it is her tragic beauty that has validity, her making love as the Garbo she has portrayed on the screen that carries her to the next lover from a different, later film of Greta Garbo, sex a metaphor for Garbo’s elusiveness and her star quality. Early in the film Anna-Lena Hemstrom is in the role of an actress in the audience of the on-screen Greta Garbo, ”How can one surrender oneself so completely.” From there ,in a white bedroom and white nightgown symbolic of post-coital solitude, she introduces an eroticism of both reclusiveness and of sphinx-like mystery, of Garbo in character and only in character and of Anna-Lena Hemstrom as Greta, in character and only in character whispering, ”Not now.” ”Not now.” Mai Zetterling has said, ”I don’t have Garbo’s austere tragic beauty.” Just as the film establishes the narrative on two levels, that of the actress that can play a character on screen other than herself and invites the director of the film she is making to her apartment and that of the actress as Garbo in front of the camera, only known through the fulfillment of their being conjugal, Garbo herself was described by Nils Asther, who starred with her in Wild Orchids (Vilda orkideer, Sidney Franklin, 1929, eleven reels) and The Single Standard (En kvinnas moral, 1929, eight reels), as being shy. Norma Shearer had said, ”She was very cordial with me- and then, after clasping my hand, she was suddenly gone.” In his Film Essays and Criticism, a valuable introduction to film theory, Rudolf Arnheim gives Greta Garbo only a two page ”portait”, but it is from 1928 and may be more than what is a cursory glance, his writing, ”On cat’s feet, her coat pulled tightly about her and her hands folded in her lap, Greta Garbo passes censorship.” Arnheim sees Greta Garbo as erotic, as an erotic object. The Perfect Murder has been aired in the United States on The International Channel. Eva Isaksen newest film is currently being unspooled in Norway.

Kerstin, a Swedish writer from Stockholm, was among the first of several Swedish bloggers to notice that Greta Garbo, the actress and the mystery, will be portrayed by Anna-Karin Eskilsson in the film Garbo, Svenska Dagbladet having announced during September of 2008 that the film, a biography, was slated to be lensed by Budd Bregman and screened to audiences during 2010.

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Louise Brooks (Diary of a Lost Girl, Das Tagebuch Einer Verlorenen Pabst, 1929 nine reels) had written, ”Garbo is all movement. First she gets the emotion, and out of the emotion, comes the dialouge.”

And yet, not only was Greta Garbo an actress, Garbo brought had with her the quality of being a model long after the last publicity photo of her in studio costume. It was the quality of being a model that is particularly shown by three photographs by Nickolas Muray, whether it is an ebullient Greta Garbo, a pensive, or longing Greta Garbo, or the ethereal Greta Garbo that brings us only to the beginning of her mystery.

The Nordic Museum (Nordiska musset) in Stockholm, on Djurgarden, recently shown an exhibition of photos of herself owned by the actress Greta Garbo, which began June 2, 2006 and ran September 3,2006. Present during the exhibition was Derek Reisfield. Included in the exhibition are portraits taken by Clarence Sinclair Bull during the filming of Romance (Romantik, 1930), Mata Hari (1931) and Som du vill ha mig (1932). The year 2007 marked the Centennial of the museum.

”The Truth about Garbo is in pictures.” The year 2006 also marks the online publication by Ture Sjolander of Garbo, his 1971 biography of Greta Garbo. It follows Garbo from her childhood and her home at Blekingatan, in Stockholm, to her third visit to Sweden in 1935, to photos taken while the actress was living as a recluse, her briefly passing the camera and allowing it only a glimpse of herself.

And yet, before Garbo,it seems Swedish cinema was established by a director who later came to the United States to direct Lillian Gish in screenplays by Frances Marion, Victor Sjöström.

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scottlord-Swedish Film: Victor Sjöström to Ingmar Bergman

Robert Olsson and Charles Magnusson to Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström

scottlord-Swedish Film: Victor Sjöström to Ingmar Bergman

Victor Sjöström and Maurtitz Stiller to Greta Garbo in Anna Christie and Edvin Adolphson

check out the Greta Garbo swicki at eurekster.com

Photos and or links may be removed or replaced due to design considerations. Please write if you have any html codes you think I should try, streaming video prints of films that can be included in the webpage, banners that you would like added to the webpage and or questions regarding fair use and or copyright. Streaming videos are for the main part thought to be public domain unless otherwise noted; real player videos and posters should be identified through their links. The top banner was designed for Scott Lord by Ulrich in Berlin, Germany. Among the many banners he has designed is the banner for the webpage of the Filmmusuem Potsdam. Greta Garbo images used with the permission of Mia.