Karin Molander

Swedish actress Karin Molander (1889–1978) was a star of the silent Scandinavian cinema. In the films of Mauritz Stiller, she became a symbol of the modern, young and emancipated woman of the 1910s.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 962. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Victor Sjöström and Karin Molander in the Swedish silent comedy Thomas Graals bästa barn / Thomas Graal's First Child (Mauritz Stiller, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Ljunggrens Konstförlag, Stockholm. Photo: Wolfenstein.


Swedish postcard by Svenska Biografteatern, Stockholm, no. 71. Photo: Ferd. Flodin, Stockholm.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1100. After a portrait by Uno Falkengren.


Swedish postcard by Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1097/1. Photo: Svensk Filmindustri. Karin Molander in the Swedish silent film Erotikon / Bounds That Chafe (Mauritz Stiller, 1920).

Victor Sjöström

Karin Molander was born as Katarina Margareta Elisabet Edwertz in Vårdinge, Sweden, in 1889. She had acting classes with Julia Håkansson. In 1907, she made her stage debut at the Vasateatern in Stockholm.

For a period, she worked in Helsinki, Finland, where she met actor Gustaf Molander, who would later become a well-known film director and screenwriter. He wrote several screenplays for Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller and was helped by the latter to get employment as a director for Svensk Filmindustri, and would later direct Intermezzo (Gustav Molander, 1936), which became Ingrid Bergman's breakthrough and paved her way to America.

Karin and Gustav married in 1910 and returned to Sweden. She was engaged at the Intiman (Intimate theatre) (1911-1920), and hesitantly, she made her film debut in Victor Sjöström's Halvblod / Half-Breed (1913). Molander found film work more interesting and rewarding than she had expected, and she became one of the leading actors of director Mauritz Stiller. She appeared in his films Det röda tornet / The Red Tower (Mauritz Stiller, 1914), Hämnaren / The Avenger (Mauritz Stiller, 1915), Kärlek och journalistik / Love and Journalism (Mauritz Stiller, 1916), Tomas Graals basta film / Thomas Graal’s Best Film (Mauritz Stiller, 1917) and Thomas Graals bästa barn / Marriage a la Mode (Mauritz Stiller, 1917).

In the delightful comedy Tomas Graals basta film, Victor Sjöström plays a screenwriter struggling to cope with the trials and tribulations of everyday life. He falls in love with his secretary Bessie (Karin Molander) and imagines himself rescuing her from poverty. Reality is quite different as Bessie is a modern woman. The film also mocks the bored aristocracy involved in the modernity of filmmaking. At AllMovie, Hal Erickson wrote: “Though the plot is pure sitcom fluff, Thomas Graal’s Best Film offers a tantalising behind-the-scenes glimpse of Swedish film-making techniques, vintage 1917.”

With her healthy and relaxed playing style, Karin Molander became a symbol of the modern, young and emancipated woman. Later, she made more dramatic film roles as the title character in Synnøve Solbakken / A Norway Lass (John W. Brunius, 1919), adapted from Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's Norwegian homonymous novel (1857). Her co-star was Lars Hanson, with whom she fell in love. The couple went on tour together, and in 191,9 Karin divorced Gustaf Molander.


Swedish postcard byrlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. ?. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern AB. Karin Molander in Tösen från Stormyrtorpet / The Girl from the Marsh Croft (Victor Sjöström, 1917). Caption: The alderman's daughter, Hildur from Alvakra.


Swedish postcard by Ed. Nordisk Konst., Stockholm, no. 876/5. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern AB. Publicity still for Thomas Graals bästa film / Thomas Graal's Best Film (Mauritz Stiller, 1917).


Swedish postcard by Ed. Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 876/9. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern AB. Publicity still for Thomas Graals bästa film / Thomas Graal's Best Film (Mauritz Stiller, 1917). Caption: After the engagement dinner.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 105. Photo: Skandiafilm, 1918. Karin Molander in Surrogatet (Einar Bruun, 1918-1919).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliasson's Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 130. Photo: Skandia Film. Karin Molander in Synnöve Solbakken (John W. Brunius, 1919).

Mauritz Stiller

Karin Molander’s last film with Stiller became a classic: Erotikon / Bonds That Chafe (Mauritz Stiller, 1920). By 1920, the artistic achievements of the Swedish cinema and its main directors, Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, were universally recognised. Most of their films reflected the life of rural Sweden. Stiller, a cultured man, decided to make a film set in a sophisticated urban milieu, Erotikon.

The story of Erotikon / Bonds That Chafe is about a professor of entomology (Anders de Wahl) who is sustained in his work by his devoted niece (Karin Molander) while his neglected wife seeks consolation elsewhere.

Mauritz Stiller built elaborate sets and commissioned a special exotic ballet for the theatre scenes, which were shot in the Royal Opera House of Stockholm, with a host of society extras for an audience. The film reflected the fashionable life of the city and modernity, indicated by the inclusion of scenes with aeroplanes.

At Film Reference, Liam O’Leary writes: “It is handled with the lightest of touches; the irony of the scene where the man who tries to reconcile the married pair becomes the wife's lover is reminiscent of Ernst Lubitsch.

Stiller's stylish direction works well with his talented players. Tore Teje's delightful portrayal of the wife is witty, wise, and worldly. It is in striking contrast with the peasant role she had played the previous year in Sjöström's Karin Ingmarsdotter. Karin Molander's charming performance as the young niece is equally effective.”


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 127. Photo: Skandiafilm. Still for Synnöva Solbakken (John W. Brunius, 1919) with Lars Hanson. Sent by mail in Norway in 1920.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 134. Photo: Skandia-Film. Publicity still for Synnöve Solbakken (John W. Brunius, 1919), starring Lars Hanson and Karin Molander.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 160. Photo: Skandia Film. Karin Molander as Elsa Wendel and Hilda Castegren as Mrs. Bredberg, her godmother, in the Swedish silent comedy Bomben (Rune Carlsten, 1920). Caption: That's what you look like when you've won one of the most beautiful estates in the kingdom!


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 163. Photo: Skandia Film. Vilhelm Bryde and Karin Molander in Bomben (Rune Carlsten, 1920). Caption: Miss Elsa gives away her hand in despair.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 164. Photo: Skandia Film. Gösta Ekman and Karin Molander in Bomben (Rune Carlsten, 1920). Caption: The estate manager and the inspector check the accounts.

Lars Hanson

Erotikon / Bonds That Chafe (Mauritz Stiller, 1920) helped to create a new genre of social comedy and attracted considerable attention in the film world. However, it did not do anything for Karin Molander’s film career.

She played successfully on stage and married Lars Hanson in 1922. The newlywed couple were regarded as superstars by theatre audiences. Molander made a guest appearance at the Lorensbergsteatern (Lorensbergs-Theatre) (1920-1922) and at the Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern (Royal Dramatic Theatre) (1922-1925).

For a few years at the end of the 1920s, she was inactive as an actress. She had followed her husband to Hollywood, where he starred opposite Lillian Gish in the silent classics The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1926) and The Wind (Victor Sjöström, 1928). On the net are pictures of Karin Molander and Lars Hanson in Hollywood, picnicking with Mauritz Stiller and Greta Garbo.

Back in Sweden, Molander was engaged at the Royal Dramatic Theatre between 1931 and 1936, and after that, she retired. In 1934, she had been awarded the Royal Medal Litteris et artibus. Years later, she returned from her retirement once to play a supporting part in the film Gabrielle (Hasse Ekman, 1954).

Karin Molander and Lars Hanson stayed together until his death in 1965. Molander died in 1978 in Täby, Sweden. She was 89. She was survived by her son, actor-producer Harold Molander.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 837. Photo: Godwin, 1917.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1195. Photo: Ferd. Flodin, Stockholm.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1094/1. Photo: Svenska. Karin Molander in the Swedish silent film Fiskebyn / Chains / The Fishing Village (Mauritz Stiller, 1920).


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1094/4. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Karin Molander in Fiskebyn/The Fishing Village/Chains (Mauritz Stiller, 1920) with Egil Eide.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1094/7. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Karin Molander in Fiskebyn/The Fishing Village/Chains (Mauritz Stiller, 1920).


Scene from Synnöva Solbakken (1919). Source: Norskfilminstitutt (YouTube).

Sources: Liam O'Leary (Film Reference), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Svenska Filminsitutet (Swedish), Wikipedia (Swedish), and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 October 2025.

Directed by Mauritz Stiller

Director Mauritz Stiller (1883-1928) was next to Victor Sjöström, the greatest director of Swedish cinema's golden age. He wrote and directed 51 silent films since 1912. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer invited him to Hollywood as a director, he arrived with his new discovery Greta Gustafsson, now better known as Greta Garbo. After frequent disagreements with MGM and Paramount Pictures studio executives, Stiller returned to Sweden, where he died soon afterwards.


Swedish postcard by Ed. Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 876. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern AB. Karin Molander vamping in Thomas Graals bästa film/Thomas Graal's Best Film (Mauritz Stiller, 1917), scripted by Gustav Molander. The story deals with a screenwriter (Victor Sjöström) who falls in love with his secretary Bessie (Karin Molander) and imagines himself rescuing her from poverty. Reality is quite different as Bessie is a modern woman. The film also mocks the bored aristocracy involved in the modernity of filmmaking. Caption: Miss Bessie is practising her role in the writer Thomas Graal's film.


Swedish postcard by Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1078/9. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Mary Johnson in Herr Arnes pengar/Sir Arne's Treasure (Mauritz Stiller, 1919). Caption: The next day the dream did not leave Elsalill's mind.


Swedish postcard by Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1097/9. Tora Teje and Lars Hanson in Erotikon (Mauritz Stiller, 1920).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3062/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Parufamet. Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno in The Temptress (Fred Niblo, Mauritz Stiller, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 72/4. Photo: ParUfaMet / Paramount. James Hall and Pola Negri in Hotel Imperial (Mauritz Stiller, 1927). The German film title was Hotel "Stadt Lemberg".

Involved with Sweden's rapidly developing silent film industry

Mauritz Stiller was born Moshe Stiller in Helsingfors (now Helsinki) in 1883. He was one of the six children of Hirsch Stiller and his wife Mindel (née Weissenberg). His family was of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Before settling in Finland, they had lived in Russia and Poland, then part of the Russian Empire.

After his father's death when he was four, his mother committed suicide. A family friend, the tailor Peretz Katsman, raised him and Mauritz began working for him at the age of 13. From an early age, Stiller was interested in acting. His talents did not go unnoticed, and soon Stiller got the opportunity to practice and display his acting skills in the Folkteatern of Helsingfors and other theatres in Finland.

Finland was at the time an autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, part of Russia, and Stiller was drafted into the army of Czar Nicholas II. Rather than report for duty he fled the country for exile and settled in Sweden. He became a Swedish citizen in 1921. By 1912, Stiller had become involved with Sweden's rapidly developing silent film industry.

Together with actor-director Viktor Sjöström, he was recruited as a director and actor in the Swedish film industry by Charles Magnusson at AB Svenska Biografteatern. Stiller began by writing scripts, acting, and directing short films and was immediately successful. Soon he gave up acting to devote his time to writing and directing.

During 1912-1916 he directed no less than 34 films, in different genres. The most remarkable early film was Vingarne/The Wings (1916), an adaptation of Danish writer Herman Bang’s novel ‘Mikael’. Stiller added a framing structure to the story, showing the production of the film itself and how it is received by critics and the audience.

This self-reflexive element is also present in Stiller’s comedies Thomas Graals bästa film/Thomas Graal’s Best Film (1917) and Thomas Graals bästa barn/Thomas Graal’s Best Child (1918), both starring Victor Sjöström in the title role opposite Karin Molander. Both films received much acclaim and were very popular.


Swedish postcard by Ed. Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 876/8. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern AB. Publicity still for Thomas Graals bästa film/Thomas Graal's Best Film (Mauritz Stiller, 1917), scripted by Gustav Molander. The story deals with a screenwriter (Victor Sjöström) who falls in love with his secretary Bessie (Karin Molander) and imagines himself rescuing her from poverty. Reality is quite different as Bessie is a modern woman. The film also mocks the bored aristocracy involved in the modernity of filmmaking. Caption: The newly engaged ones.


Swedish postcard by Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 877/1. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern AB. Hauk Aabel and Stina Stockenstam in the comedy Alexander den Store/Alexander the Great (Mauritz Stiller, 1917) with . The story of the film deals with a provincial hotel cook, named Alexander the Great, in whose restaurant not only the dishes can be spicy. Caption: Alexander has rediscovered his beloved from his youth.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 961. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Victor Sjöström and Karin Molander in the comedy Thomas Graals bästa barn/Thomas Graal's First Child (Mauritz Stiller, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Forlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 988. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern, Stockholm. Lars Hanson and Greta Amroth in Sången om den eldröda blomman/Song of the Scarlet Flower (Mauritz Stiller, 1919).


Swedish postcard by Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1078/3. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Richard Lund and Mary Johnson in Herr Arnes pengar/Sir Arne's Treasure (Mauritz Stiller, 1919). Caption: With Elsallil before him like a shield, Sir Archi stormed out.


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1094/1. Photo: Svenska. Karin Molander in Fiskebyn/Chains/The Fishing Village (Mauritz Stiller, 1920).


Swedish postcard by Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1097/2. Anders de Wahl and Karin Molander in Erotikon (Mauritz Stiller, 1920).


Swedish postcard by Ed. Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 293. Photo: Skandia Film, Stockholm. Jenny Hasselquist in De landsflyktiga/The Emigrants/The Exiles (Mauritz Stiller, 1921). This is a lost film, except for a few very short fragments.

Continuing disagreements with Hollywood studio executives

By 1920, Mauritz Stiller was a leading figure in Swedish filmmaking. His masterpieces were the Selma Lagerlöf adaptation Herr Arnes pengar/Sir Arne's Treasure (1919) with Richard Lund and Mary Johnson and the stylish comedy Erotikon (1920) with Tora Teje and Lars Hanson.

Jon Wengström writes in The Swedish Film Database: “The characteristic trait in Swedish silent films at the time, the interaction between Man and Nature, was taken to new heights by Stiller in Sången om den eldröda blomman/Song of the Scarlet Flower (1919) and Johan (1921). Both films were shot on location in northern Sweden, and both had spectacular downstream log-riding sequences as dramatic climaxes.”

He also directed Gunnar Hedes saga/Snowbound (1923) starring a young Einar Hanson and based on the Selma Lagerlöf novel ‘En herrgårdssägen’. At the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, he met a young actress named Greta Gustafsson whom he cast in an important but secondary role in his film, Gösta Berlings saga/The Atonement of Gosta Berling (1924), featuring Lars Hanson and also a Selma Lagerlöf adaptation.

In 1924, Mauritz Stiller planned to shoot a film in Turkey titled The Odalisque from Smyrna and hired Conrad Veidt and Einar Hanson as stars. Along with Hansen and protégée Greta Gustafsson, Stiller left for Istanbul but the promised financing vanished. They moved to Germany, where Greta appeared in Die Freudlose Gasse (G.W. Pabst, 1925). Then they sailed with Einar Hanson off to the USA.

Stiller had accepted an offer from Louis B. Mayer to direct for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In Hollywood, MGM assigned Stiller to direct Greta Gustafsson as Greta Garbo in her second American film, The Temptress (1926), but he could not deal with the studio structure. After repeated arguments with studio executives, MGM replaced him on the film with Fred Niblo and terminated his contract with the studio.

Paramount Pictures immediately hired Stiller. He made three successful films, The Woman on Trial (1927), Hotel Imperial (1927) and Barbed Wire (1927), all starring Pola Negri. Then Stiller was let go a second time while directing his fourth film, The Street of Sin (1928), starring Emil Jannings and Fay Wray, because of his continuing disagreements with studio bosses.

Mauritz Stiller returned to Sweden in 1927 and died the following year from pleurisy at the age of 45. Garbo was devastated when she heard the news. He was interred in the Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. Mauritz Stiller directed 51 silent films and appeared as an actor in seven productions from 1912 to 1927. In 1960, Hollywood recognised Stiller's contribution to the motion picture industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1713 Vine Street. Originally his star was listed erroneously as "Maurice Diller" but it was finally corrected in the late 1980s. In Kristianstad, a monument was erected in his honour.


Hungarian postcard by Magy. fot. soksz ipar, Budapest, no. 38. Photo: Starfilm. Einar Hanson in Gunnar Hedes saga/Snowbound (Mauritz Stiller, 1923).


German postcard. Photo: Svenska Film of the Trianon-Film-Konzern, Berlin (also in Leipzig, Frankfurt a.M., Düsseldorf and Hamburg). Lars Hanson in Gösta Berlings saga/The Saga of Gösta Berling (Mauritz Stiller, 1924). The film was an adaptation of the famous novel by Selma Lagerlöf. The cinematography was by Julius Jaenzon, and the art direction was by Vilhelm Bryde (with Edgar Ulmer collaborating on the set design). This postcard was made by Trianon for the German premiere of the film on 20 August 1924, at the Berlin Theater am Nollendorfplatz.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 72/1. Photo: Parufamet / Paramount. Pola Negri in Hotel Imperial (Mauritz Stiller, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3993/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount. Fay Wray in Street of Sin (Mauritz Stiller, 1928).


French postcard by Europe, no. 344. Emil Jannings in The Street of Sin (Mauritz Stiller, 1928).

Sources: Jon Wengström (The Swedish Film Database), Ulf Kjell Gür (IMDb), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), Wikipedia (English and Swedish), and IMDb.

Three Swedish silent films: Thomas Graals bästa barn (1918), Mästerkatten i stövlar (1918) and De landsflyktiga (1921),

During the heydays of the silent Swedish cinema, Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjöström and John W. Brunius were three of the most prominent directors. They produced many outstanding silent films, including some of the best of the adaptations of stories by the Nobel-prizewinning novelist Selma Lagerlöf.

Thomas Graals bästa barn (1918)

Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 958. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Karin Molander in Thomas Graals bästa barn/Thomas Graal's First Child (Mauritz Stiller, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 959. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Karin Molander in Thomas Graals bästa barn/Thomas Graal's First Child (Mauritz Stiller, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 960. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Victor Sjöström and Karin Molander in Thomas Graals bästa barn/Thomas Graal's First Child (Mauritz Stiller, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 961. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern. Victor Sjöström and Karin Molander in the Swedish silent comedy Thomas Graals bästa barn/Thomas Graal's First Child (Mauritz Stiller, 1918).

On the day of the wedding between the writer Thomas Graal and Bessie an argument develops between them about their respective expectations of the sex of their future first child: she wants a girl, whom she intends to call Lillian, and he a boy. Because of this quarrel, they spend the first days of their life together in mutual segregation, which worries the servants, who ask Bessie's mother to intervene.

But the conflict is soon resolved when Thomas is stung in his pride and drives away a slightly tipsy man who had begun courting his wife. In due course, Lillianus, a boy, is born, but between the couple, in a less explosive and more creeping way, a conflict arises over the different pedagogical conceptions of the two constituents of the couple: she is intransigent and strict, he is more relaxed and easy-going.

But the real reason for Thomas's discomfort is only learnt by Bessie after reading the story her husband has just finished writing: he lacks the seductive and erotic attitudes that were his wife's own before she abandoned them to devote herself completely and exclusively to Lillianus. Bessie understands, and, not without mutual satisfaction, complies with the literary dictate.

Victor Sjöström (1879-1960) was one of the most important Swedish actors and directors, famous for his poetic and touching narratives, such as Ingeborg Holm (1913), Terje Vigen/A Man There Was (1916) - by then the most expensive Swedish film made - and Körkarlen/The Phantom Carriage (1920), considered one of the best Swedish silent films.

From 1923 he worked in Hollywood under the name of Victor Seastrom, directing such films as He Who Gets Slapped (1924), starring Lon Chaney, and The Wind (1928), starring Lilian Gish. Returned to Sweden at the advent of sound cinema, he continued working there. Memorable is his last acting part in Smultronstället/Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957).

Mästerkatten i stövlar (1918)

Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 92. Photo: Skandia Film. Gösta Ekman, Mary Johnson and Carl Keil-Möller in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 95. Photo: Skandia Film. Gustaf Fredrikson in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 96. Photo: Skandiafilm. Gösta Ekman, Mary Johnson and Carl Keil-Möller in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 97. Photo: Skandiafilm. Gösta Ekman, Mary Johnson and Carl Keil-Möller in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).

Young Jörgen Steenfeld (Carlo Keil-Möller), the heir of the over-indebted estate Steensgaard, is unable to clear up its finances. He is being looked after by his old friend, "Mästerkatten" (Puss in Boots, Gösta Ekman), ie the enterprising, charming but somewhat irreplaceable Karl Konstantin Kattrup, who has been relegated from the university.

Kattrup becomes manager at Steensgaard. Steenfeld receives visits by count and countess Markdanner and her daughter Rose (Anna Carlsten). The Countess (Märtha Lindlöf) is planning a marriage between Rose and Jörgen, but Jörgen is secretly in love with the orphan Helga Anthon, called Pips (Mary Johnson). Matters are further complicated by the affair between Kattrup and Rose.

Kattrup is now turning to Steenfeld's largest creditor, Chamberlain von Schinkel (Gustaf "Frippe" Fredrikson), who is a good man and who advises Jörgen to marry Rose to set his finances straight. Kattrup also advises his friend to marry the Countess. With this planned marriage, Kattrup and Steenfeld succeed in holding another creditor from the carpet, the unpleasant schemer Bögedal (Sam Ask).

Steenfeld takes a painful parting of Pips, and the engagement is announced between Jörgen and Rose. None of them is happy: Jörgen just wants Pips, Rose just wants Kattrup. Jörgen realizes that he will make all parties unhappy if he marries Rose, so he breaks up the engagement, to the fiancée's joy. But poor Pips witnesses a love scene between Rose and Kattrup and misunderstands the situation as she confuses Kattrup and Jörgen from their point of view.

Despaired she falls out of a tree, is badly hurt and is taken care of by old von Schinkel who recognizes his youth love, Pips' grandmother. Bögedal takes advantage of the new situation to ensure that Steensgaard will be sold at an auction, where he himself intends to buy the goods. But at the auction, he is overbidden by Kattrup, on von Schinkel's behalf. The old chamberlain has adopted Pips and now grants Steensgaard to her and Jörgen. When these two get together, Kattrup can return to his Rose and everyone is happy except for the plotter Bögedal.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 98. Photo: Skandiafilm. Gösta Ekman in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).

Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 99. Photo: Skandia Film. Mary Johnson and Carl(o) Keil-Möller in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 101. Photo: Skandia Film. Mary Johnson and Gustaf Fredrikson in Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).

De landsflyktiga (1921)

Swedish postcard by Ed. Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 293. Photo: Skandia Film, Stockholm/Svensk Filmindustri. Jenny Hasselquist in De landsflyktiga/The Emigrants/The Exiles (Mauritz Stiller, 1921).


Swedish postcard by Ed. Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 294. Photo: Skandia Film, Stockholm/Svensk Filmindustri. Jenny Hasselquist in De landsflyktiga/The Emigrants/The Exiles (Mauritz Stiller, 1921).


Swedish postcard by Ed. Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 296. Photo: Skandia Film, Stockholm/Svensk Filmindustri. Jenny Hasselquist and Lars Hanson in De landsflyktiga/The Emigrants/The Exiles (Mauritz Stiller, 1921).

De landsflyktiga/The Emigrants/The Exiles (Mauritz Stiller, 1921) was shot in the studios of Filmstaden Råsunda with exteriors at Steninge castle, Stadsgårdskajen and other locations in Stockholm, shot by cinematographer by Henrik Jaenzon. The film was based on Runar Schildt's short story 'Zoja' (1920), which was published in the short story collection Häxskogen. It was during the filming of The Exiles that Stiller, who had been a Russian citizen since his birth in Helsinki, applied to become a Swedish citizen.

The wealthy Barantscheff family lives on the stately Staraja-Selo estate in the heart of Russia. Prince Ivan Ivanovich (Carl Nissen), his wife Ivanovna Stefanovna (Karin Swanstrom), their daughter Sonja (Jenny Hasselqvist) and son Yuri (Nils Ohlin), a lieutenant in the Russian navy who is recovering at home after being wounded in the war. The First World War is in full swing and storm clouds are gathering everywhere. The wealthy banker Andrei Andreyevich Myasoyedoff (Ivan Hedqvist) approaches the prince and proposes to sell the estate because of the troubled times. The prince takes the offer as an insult and refuses. Myasoyedoff has also set his eyes on Sonya, but she has already brusquely rejected him. One day, Sonya, while driving alone, rescues the young revolutionary student Vladimir Alexandrovich Mikhailoff (Lars Hanson), who is being chased by the gendarmes.

When the revolution breaks out, it is Vladimir who helps Sonja and her parents to escape across the border. The family settles in a major international city, perhaps Paris, and continues their former, carefree life of luxury, waiting for the revolution to be crushed so they can return to their former lives at home. But their inherited wealth quickly dwindles, and it is Myasoyedoff, who has also come there as a refugee, who helps them financially. He has managed to bring most of his fortune with him and is already involved in big business. The student Vladimir, a refugee from his former comrades, also arrives. One fine day, the Barantscheff family finds itself on the rocks. But Myasoyedoff is happy to oblige if only Sonya would be a little more accommodating to him.

But Sonja stubbornly refuses. In an upset scene, she rips off all the family jewels she wore to the evening's charity party and gives them as collateral instead of herself for the family's debt. Myasoyedoff takes the jewels and smilingly adds that the pledge is due at the end of the year. On New Year's Eve, Myasoyedoff is found dead in his villa, with Sonya lying unconscious outside. Vladimir, now a lawyer, defends Sonja in court. She admits that she shot Myasoyedoff when he tried to rape her. Afterwards, she threw the revolver from the balcony. But no revolver has been found.

In a break during the last day of the trial comes the explanation. Vladimir confesses to Sonja during a visit to her cell that it was he who shot Myasoyedoff on behalf of his comrades. Myasoyedoff was spying on the emigrants on behalf of the Bolshevik government, and many of their relatives remaining in Russia had already been shot. Myasoyedoff was an informer, Vladimir is the real killer, and Sonya now holds his fate in her hands. But Vladimir's defence speech in court for Sonja leads to her acquittal. She and Vladimir are united, and Sonja utters the film's final line, which it was hoped at the time would have a prophetic meaning: "Out of the darkness that oppresses us, a new Russia will one day arise, a Russia that we can both love." De landsflyktiga/The Emigrants/The Exiles is a lost film, except for a few very short fragments.

Source: Svenskfilmdatabas.

This post was last updated on 31 July 2024.