Gunnar Björnstrand Movies

The Swedish Hennes Melodi (Her Melody) is a showcase for one of Scandanavia's finest actresses, Sonja Wigert. The star is cast as Sonja Larsen, a poor girl pretending to be rich so that she can snag a wealthy husband. She falls in love with Curt Strange (Sture Lagerwall), who like Sonja is a pauper posing as a millionaire, for much the same reasons. By the time they discover that they're both penniless, it hardly matters: Romance has won out over Capitalism. Though the storyline is hardly new, Hennes Melodi seems fresh and spontaneous throughout its 98 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Swedish-language picture Torment (AKA Hets, 1944) marked one of the first credited screenwriting efforts of the then 26-year-old scenarist Ingmar Bergman, and one of the broadest international successes of the gifted Swedish director Alf Sjöberg; it also launched the onscreen efforts of two young Scandinavian actors, Alf Kjellin and Mai Zetterling. This tragic drama concerns the ill-fated romance between student Jan-Erik Widgren (Kjellin) and Bertha Olsson (Zetterling), a slightly older, alcoholic widow who works at a tobacco store, and whom Jan-Erik meets when he discovers her unconscious in the street. The premise of the film finds Jan-Erik struggling valiantly to maintain his ongoing sexual affair with Bertha, while grappling, on the side, with the machinations of a sadistic and abusive professor, Caligula (Stig Jarrel. Events take an ugly turn when Jan-Erik discovers that Bertha is actually Caligula's lover - setting the stage for tragedy on the night of her booze-soaked orgy with the old man. Ultimately, both lovers are relentlessly victimized by the professor's doings. The cast also includes: Olof Winnerstrand, Hugo Bjorne, Stig Olin, Olav Riego, Marta Arbin and Nils Dahlgren. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Arne Mattson's Rotagg was released variously in English-speaking countries as Failure, Incorrigible and Bad Eggs. All of these opprobriums refer to the wastrelly protagonist played by Stig Olin. Expelled from college, Olin shows no remorse, causing even more disgrace and heartache for his wealthy, long-suffering family. He tops his misdeeds by attempting to rape a beautiful young lady. The film argues that Olin might have been redeemable had he not been the child of divorced parents. American prints of Rotagg were considerably toned down and chopped up by the censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Literally translated, the title of this early Ingmar Bergman effort is It's Raining on Our Love. Though hardly representative of the best that Bergman would have to offer, the film was highly regarded by critics and moviegoers alike when it first appeared in 1947. Put simply, the story theorizes that just because someone commits a criminal act, that someone isn't necessarily a criminal. Barbro Kollberg plays the unfortunate soul whose solitary indiscretion seriously jeopardizes his future happiness. The plot Det Regnar pa Var Karlek is "explained" throughout by an ersatz stage manager, the sort of theatrical device that Bergman would abandon as he became a more self-confident filmmaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The English-language title of this Swedish wartime drama is Soldiers Reminder. Elof Jahrle stars as Jocke, a young conscript trying to make the best of things in the turbulent year of 1940. Jocke's duty to his country makes almost as many demands on his time than his duty to his true love, well played by Harriet Philipsson. The film was adapted by Herbert Grevenius from his own play, which was one of the major hits of the 1945-46 Swedish theatrical season. Thus the film version of Krigama Erluran had a built-in following even before the turning of the first camera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

En Svensk Tiger (A Swedish Tiger) is an entertaining espionage drama set during WW2. The story is predicated on the intelligence efforts to keep General Montgomery's maneuvers secret from the Nazis. To this end, a Swedish actor named Johan Tiger (Edvin Adolphson) is engaged to impersonate "Monty" to throw the Germans off the track. Once this is accomplished, Tiger must extricate himself from a perilous dilemma while travelling homeward on a "doomed" passenger ship. En Svensk Tiger was based on a true story, later filmed a bit more accurately in England as I Was Monty's Double. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Swedish director Hasse Ekman might have seen the multistoried Hollywood film Tales from Manhattan before embarking on his own Flickan Fran Tredje Raden. In Manhattan, the prop common to all of the stories was a dress suit. In Flickan, a valuable ring passes from one owner to the next. The title character, played by Eve Henning, is a woman of reduced circumstances who sells the ring to pay for food, thereby setting the first episode (and all subsequent episodes) in motion. Director Ekman also wrote the screenplay and cast himself in an important role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide