Lustgarden

This film is the sixth of seven directed in Sweden by Alf Kjellin, before he went to Hollywood and worked on a couple of films and a lot of TV. He'd been a screen idol in Sweden during the Forties, appearing in "Summer Interlude", one of the best early Bergmans, and before that in "Frenzy," the first Bergman script to be filmed.

"Pleasure Garden" is very much a Bergman film. He wrote it with Erland Josephson, his friend and a frequent lead in his later films. The stars include Gunner Bjornstrand and Bibi Andersson, both Bergman regulars, and Stig Jarrel, the sadistic schoolmaster in "Frenzy." The excellent colour photography is by Gunnar Fischer, the music by Erik Nordgren, the sets by P. A. Lundgren and the editing by Ulla Ryghe: all Bergman regulars. No doubt they welcomed the chance to work on a rare Bergman comedy.

I share romdal's enthusiasm. This isn't as sublime as "Smiles of a Summer Night" (few films are), but it's more fun than Bergman's other two comedies, "The Devil's Eye" and "Now About these Woman", though admittedly it's decades since I saw those. A particular pleasure was discovering Sickan Carlsson as the object of Bjornstrand's affections, an attractive and sympathetic actress.