Hjoerdis Pettersson Movies

This plodding drama has the female manager of a laundry fighting her lesbian leanings towards one of her employees. Marta (Eva Dahlbeck) has eyes for Rike (Gio Petre), a younger woman plagued by promiscuity, alcoholism and thoughts of suicide. When Rike tells the other women her boss made a move on her, the business is halted by a worker revolt. Xenia (Ruth Kasdan) is the Nazi concentration camp survivor who Marta saves when the other women attack her after a hysterical outburst. Slight male romantic interest comes in the form of a young shipping clerk (Per Myhrberg) who often tries to flirt with the women individually but is afraid of them in a group situation. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This effective literary drama is one of the later films in the long career of Swedish director Anders Henrikson whose cinematic work began in 1936 and continued through 1965. The film is based on two stories by writer August Strindberg, ~On Payment~ and ~The Doll's House~ (not Ibsen's famous play, but Strindberg's parody of it). In the first story, a tragedy, director Henrikson takes on the role of a sexually unassertive husband who has to somehow contend with his wife's dislike of sexual contact. In the second story, Mai Zetterling stars as the primary female character in a comedy about love, marriage, and conflict between a husband and wife. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Poking fun all the way at the critical housing shortage in Sweden, this standard comedy looks at the romance of Inga, a young jazz singer (Alice Babs) and Svante, an artist who restores paintings (Sven Lindberg). The two cannot marry because they cannot find an apartment to live in. After Inga goes on a summer tour with a band, Svante gets a job restoring paintings in an old castle. The pretty Baroness Sophie (Yvonne Lombard) finds the young restorer highly attractive, and she certainly has more than enough house for both of them. Will marriage be determined by the availability of a domicile? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Skepp Till India-Land (aka Ship to India and Land of Desire) is generally ignored by devotees of director Ingmar Bergman -- not to mention Bergman himself, who seldom mentioned the film in later interviews. To be sure, this story of four disparate souls whose lives are bound up in the fate of an old salvage boat is hardly in the league of The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. Even so, the film contains the seeds of the great Bergman films to come, especially when dealing with the inner turmoil experienced by the four protagonists. Singled out for praise by the critics was Holger Lowenalder's performance as the taciturn ship's captain. The script was adapted by Bergman from a play by Martin Soederhjelm. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Evig a Lankar was released outside of Sweden as Eternal Bamd. The story focuses on the lives and loves of a Stockholm family. Though there's many a squabble and schism, when the chips are down the family sticks together. Hardly original material, Evig a Lankar scored points with its ensemble performances and incisive direction (by veteran Rune Carlsten, whose last film this was). More importantly, the film represented the return to the screen of actress Anna-Lisa Erickson, a popular prewar movie personality who was able to parlay Evig a Lankar into a successful comeback. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Karick och Stortlopp translates literally as Love Goes Up and Down. This Swedish romantic comedy centers around a young screenwriter (Sture Lagervall) who heads to the mountains to soak up "local color." Assigned to write a film about skiing, our hero meets a female journalist (Eva Dahlbeck) on a similar mission. A romance follows, on and off the slopes. Very lightweight stuff, Karick och Stortlopp benefits from the presence of Eva Dahlbeck, who though artistically superior to her surroundings delivers a sincere and effective performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though American filmgoers were denied the pleasures of European films during WWII, there were no limits so far as imports from neutral Sweden were concerned. Set in the 19th century, Lasse-Maja is a tongue-in-cheek swashbuckler, with Sture Lagerwall as the title character. By day a humble and seemingly dimwitted cook, Lasse-Maja does the "Robin Hood" bit under cover of night. Of interest is the fact that the hero frequently dons female attire when committing his robberies (even Errol Flynn stopped short of this!) Liane Linden co-stars as the lively heroine, who loves Lasse-Maja even after the dashing rogue steals from her own father. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi