Mauritz Stiller Movies
Swedish filmmaker Mauritz Stiller was, next to Victor Sjöström, the greatest director of Swedish cinema's golden age. Stiller, the Helsinki-born son of Russian-Polish Jewish parents, was orphaned at four and then adopted by the Katzmans, a family of haberdashers. As a youth he attended Hebrew school, took violin lessons and apprenticed at their business until he was conscripted into the Czar's army. Rather than serve he escaped to Sweden. He got involved in the Swedish film industry in 1912. Like his colleague Sjöström, Stiller was able to create sophisticated, lyrical films that earned Swedish cinema great international respect. His early films were usually elegant social satires, but after World War I, he began making epic adaptations of popular novels, those of Selma Lagerlöf in particular. On of those adaptations The Atonement of Gosta Berling (1924) introduced Greta Garbo, his protogee. At the invitation of mogul Louis B. Mayer, Stiller and Garbo went to Hollywood where her career exploded while his lagged behind as he found himself constantly battling the confines of the Hollywood studio system. His first American Garbo film, The Temptress (1926), was taken away from him. He found success with his next two films, but in all, he was not impressed with Hollywood and returned to Sweden in the late twenties. There he died of acute rheumatism at age 45. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1928
Street of Sin was the final American film of Scandinavian director Mauritz Stiller, whose inability to adapt to Hollywood (and vice versa) forced him to return to Sweden where he died, dispirited and disillusioned, not long after the release of this film. The story is set in the seamy Soho section of London, where burglar Basher Bill (Emil Jannings) shares bed and board with his sluttish girlfriend Annie (Olga Baclanova). As wicked as they come, Bill softens when he meets virtuous Salvation Army lass Elizabeth (Fay Wray). He helps her take care of a group of orphans, abandoned in the Army's care. The jealous Annie, assuming (correctly) that her boyfriend's interest in Elizabeth goes far beyond sympathy, betrays Bill to the cops. Mortally wounded in the climactic gun battle, Bill holds no grudge against Annie: in fact, as he breathes his last, he advises her to save her soul by joining the Salvation Army -- which she does! Since the film no longer exists, it is hard to tell whether Street of Sin was truly worthy of Stiller's talents; chances are, however, that Paramount heavily tampered with the film before its release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emil Jannings, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1927
Based on a Hungarian play by Lajos Biro, Hotel Imperial stars Pola Negri as a chambermaid in a small Gallacian hotel. When World War I erupts, the town in which Pola lives is alternately occupied by both the Russians and the Austrians. As the film's various intrigues play themselves out, we learn that Pola is actually an aristocrat, posing as a maid to find her sister's murderer, which she does with the help of handsome Austrian officer James Hall. Hotel Imperial represented the last directorial effort of Mauritz Stiller, who returned to Sweden after being rejected by the love of his life, Greta Garbo. This, coupled with the death of Pola Negri's ex-lover Rudolph Valentino during production of Hotel Imperial, earned the film a reputation as a "jinx." The curse evidently carried over to the 1939 talkie version, which had an even more benighted production history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pola Negri, James Hall, (more)
- 1927
Pola Negri and director Mauritz Stiller fail to make much of this somber and unoriginal melodrama, which was based on the play by Ernest Vajda. Julie, a model of the Paris studios (Negri), is on trial for murder. On the stand, she relates her story, and in the style of Madame X, the film is told in flashback. She loves artist Pierre Bouton (Einar Hanson), who is dying of consumption. In order to get him to the Alps for a cure, Julie marries Moreland, an art patron (Andre Sarti). She secretly uses his money to buy Pierre's paintings so he can remain at Davos. At one point, however, his condition worsens and Julie hastens to his side. Moreland follows her and discovers them together. He divorces Julie and, with the help of Gaston Napier (Arnold Kent), compromises her so that he can retain custody of their little boy. Julie vengefully shoots Napier. After hearing her story, the court acquits her, and she reunites with the now-cured Pierre. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pola Negri, Einar Hansen, (more)
- 1926
The Temptress was Greta Garbo's second American film, and while it may strike modern viewers as excessively melodramatic, Garbo is always worth watching. The star plays Elena, the wife of Monsieur Canterac (Lionel Barrymore) -- and the mistress of rich Parisian banker Monsieur Fontenoy (Marc MacDermott). When the banker's Argentine friend Robledo (Antonio Moreno), a dynamic young engineer, pays a visit to Paris, the fickle Elena immediately falls in love with him. Upon learning that Fontenoy has lost his fortune, Elena dumps him and returns to her husband, whereupon the banker kills himself. Evidently not content with ruining one life, Elena heads to Argentina and goes to work on Robledo, leading to a bloody whip duel between Robledo and his rival Manos Duros (Roy D'Arcy). Inevitably, Elena drives Robledo to perdition and indirectly causes the destruction of the magnificent dam upon which he has worked all his life. Banished from Argentina, she returns to Paris, where she spends the rest of her days as a seedy streetwalker. At least, that was the ending of the European version of The Temptress. The American version incredibly ends happily, five years after the above-described events, as Robledo and the reformed Elena triumphantly supervise the opening of his now-repaired dam! Initially, the film's director was Garbo's mentor-lover, the brilliant Mauritz Stiller, but he was replaced halfway through by the competent but uninspired Fred Niblo -- and the finished picture shows this division of interests all too clearly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, (more)
Known under a variety of titles, The Atonement of Gosta Berling is an excellent representation of the Swedish silent cinema. Long, complex, and elaborately produced, the film nonetheless never loses sight of the human elements which motivate the story. Lars Hanson stars as Berling, a defrocked priest whose rebellious attitude hides a greater sense of idealism than most of his "pious" contemporaries. Among the women in Berling's life is a supposedly married countess, played with instinctive brilliance by a young, awkward, chubby Greta Garbo. Overflowing with betrayals, revenge, and regeneration, Atonement of Gosta Berling has enough plots for ten films. American audiences generally saw a severely truncated version, running approximately half the film's original length. What was left was enough for MGM to invite director Mauritz Stiller and star Greta Garbo to Hollywood, though in typically callous big-studio fashion, Garbo was retained while Stiller was permitted to wither on the vine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, (more)
- 1924
This romantic drama was one of several films that director Mauritz Stiller based on novels by Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlof. Gunnar Hede (Einar Hansen) has inherited the musical talent of his grandfather, and plays the violin. His mother (Pauline Brunius), however, hates his playing because her father never earned much money at it. Gunnar leaves his mother to follow a traveling circus, which includes Ingrid (Mary Johnson), a pretty violin player. He travels to the north to secure a pack of reindeer, which he can bring south to make some money. Disaster strikes when one of the guides falls through the ice and the lead reindeer drags Gunnar through the snow for several miles. By time the time the rope binding him to the reindeer breaks, Gunnar has gone completely mad. His sanity is restored when he hears the sweet violin playing of Ingrid. By now, his mother has become more open-minded, and she welcomes both her son and Ingrid into her home. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1922
Although this was not one of Mauritz Stiller's best directoral efforts, he was familiar with Russia's old regime, which formed the film's backdrop -while he made a name for himself in Sweden, he was of Russian (and Polish and Jewish) descent. When the Czarist regime is being destroyed by revolution, Prince Ivan Makaroff (Carl Nissen) escapes from Russia with his wife, Marie (Karin Swanstrom) and daughter, Sonia (Jenny Hasselquist). He runs up sizable debts with Peter Andreyeff (Ivan Hedquist) which he can't repay. Andreyeff, however, is willing to take Sonia's hand as payment. Sonia refuses. After her father's death, she is still badgered by Andreyeff. She brings a gun to settle affairs with him, and when he is shot, she thinks her gun is the one that killed him. At the trial, she is represented by Gregory Turgenoff (Lars Hanson), a young man she had once helped escape from pursuing Cossacks. He gets her off with a self-defense verdict, and it turns o ut that he was the one who fired the shot that killed Andreyeff. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel by Selma Lagerlof, The Treasure of Arne (Herr Arnes Pingar) was taken over in mid-production from another director by the great Mauritz Stiller. Set in the 18th century, the story concerns three soldiers of fortune, imprisoned during a political uprising. Escaping from prison in the dead of winter, the soldiers exhibit their true bestial nature when, coming upon Arne's mansion, they loot and burn the place, killing its occupants. Only orphan girl Elsalill survives the slaughter. In a delirium, she attaches herself to one of the soldiers. What she doesn't know is that Arne's treasure, now in possession of the soldiers, carries a horrible curse. The story wends its serpentine way to a bizarre climax, in which Elsalill betrays her "lover" and suffers mightily as a result. The final, panoramic shot in Treasure of Arne is a real anthology piece, and as such has popped up time and again in documentaries on the Swedish film industry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
One of several popular domestic comedies directed by Mauritz Stiller, Thomas Graal's First Child (original Swedish title: Tomas Graals basta barn) is a follow-up to 1917's Thomas Graal's Best Film. Once more, Stiller's stars are Victor Sjostrom and his wife Karin Molander. Having overcome social obstacles in Best Film, Sjostrom and Molander are now married, with a child to their names. Both have definite ideas on how best to raise their offspring, and neither are willing to compromise. Despite frequent lapses into buffoonery and slapstick, the stars behave subtly and rationally at all times. Thomas Graal's First Child can be regarded as a precursor to the successful Charlie Chase 2-reelers of the 1920s and 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Originally titled Tomas Graals basta film, Mauritz Stiller's Swedish comedy Thomas Graal's Best Film is one of the first movies about movies. Victor Sjostrom plays a screenwriter, struggling to cope with the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Sjostrom's effort to succeed in the film industry are complicated by his romance with a rich man's daughter. The leading lady is played by Karin Molander, who happened to be Mrs. Victor Sjostrom. Though the plot is pure sitcom fluff, Thomas Graal's Best Film offers a tantalizing behind-the-scenes glimpse of Swedish movie-making techniques, vintage 1917. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
