Scandinavian film (1952)

mark on several of his films. He Who Gets Slapped (1924), for example, included a brief sequence of lovers in the sunlight, which recalled some of the lyrical passages in his Swedish films. Name the Man (1924) and Confessions of a Queen {1925) were failures, and even The Tower of Lies (1926), although based on Selma Lagerlof's 'Kejsarn av Portugallien', did not come alive in the director's hands. His most successful American film was The Scarlet Letter (1926) which gave him some scope for his sense of landscape. In addition to Lillian Gish the cast included Lars Hanson, who had followed his former director to Hollywood. His direction of Greta Garbo in The Divine Woman (1927) had the understanding we might have expected. In The Wind (1928) he was dealing again, as so often in Sweden, with a drama of the elements, and in its force and character the film recalled his 'Jerusalem' trilogy. The Masks of the Devil (1928) and A Lady to Love (1930) completed his Hollywood record. In 1930 Sjostrom returned to Sweden to direct and play the leading part in Markurells i Wadkbping, a sound-film from a novel by Hjalmar Bergman. When Sjostrom and Stiller went to America, the Swedish film entered a period of decline. Their departure was, however, only one of the contributing factors. The others were partly economic. Svenska Biografteatern had readily found an international market for its early films, and although the outbreak of war in 1914 created trading difficulties with several countries, the Swedish films helped to fill the vacuum resulting from the virtual close-down of production in Europe. The outlook was promising. A rivalry between Svenska Biografteatern and Filmindustribolaget Skandia, which might have had unfortunate consequences for film-making at home and trading overseas, ended with a merger and the formation in 1919 of Svensk Filmindustri. The new concern was based on the expectation of largely increased overseas trading and during the first year or two, in a Europe still shattered by the war, the Swedish films were widely shown. But quite soon warning notes reached Stockholm: the serious Swedish films were becoming less popular in many countries where audiences preferred the American films with their emphatic personalities and less exacting themes. Various efforts were made by the new company to recapture the interest of the lost audiences. All the resources of the newly completed Rasunda Studios were mobilized to make the spectacular Vem Domer} The Danish director, Benjamin Christensen, was engaged to make Haxan (1922), an imaginative study of witchcraft which excitingly exploited the properties of the camera. These expensive films, however, failed to make any impression on the reluctant foreign audiences. Nor did Sjostrom's device of using players from other countries in principal roles have any effect. Sjostrom did not feel comfortable under the new restraints and accepted an invitation to go to Hollywood. This did not involve a break in his relationship with the Svensk Filmindustri, and it was assumed that his experiences might have some value for future Swedish production. With Erotikon behind him, Stiller found it easier to adapt himself to what were 13