Directing

Victor Sjöström

Born September 21, 1879 · Silbodal, Värmlands län, Sweden

Died January 3, 1960 · aged 80

Victor David Sjöström (September 20, 1879 – January 3, 1960), sometimes known in the United States as Victor Seastrom, was a pioneering Swedish film director, screenwriter, and actor. He began his career in Sweden, before moving to Hollywood in 1924. Sjöström worked primarily in the silent era; his best known films include The Phantom Carriage (1921), He Who Gets Slapped (1924), and The Wind (1928…

Known For

Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries · 1957

Wild Strawberries

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.

Synnöve Solbakken

Synnöve Solbakken · 1934

Synnöve Solbakken

Swedish version of Norwegian National Author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's novel.

The Phantom Carriage

The Phantom Carriage · 1921

The Phantom Carriage

MovieDramaFantasy

An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.

Kiss of Death

Kiss of Death · 1916

MovieComedyCrime

After the respectable Dr. Monro was found dead, the housekeeper and two engineers testify in court. A case of commercial delinquency and bribery is reconstructed on that occasion. Sadly only about half the film exists today.

Halfbreed

Halfbreed · 1914

Cavalry captain von Stahl is in love with dancer Marianne Rizetskis, but when he suddenly finds himself completely destitute he takes off to South America, leaving Marianne heartbroken. Arriving im America, von Stahl finds work at the estate of a man wanted by the local government, and gets romantically involved with his daughter Soledad. When Marianne arrives as well, von Stahl finds himself torn between the two women.

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait · 1981

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait

MovieDocumentary

Documentary of the Swedish actor/director Victor Sjöström and his work - from Terje Vigen (1917) to Smultronstället (1957) Director Ingmar Bergman is interviewed about his memories of and experiences of Sjöström.

The Child

The Child · 1913

Mary and Georg love each other, but he is rejected by Mary's father who has suffered insecurity and sees his rescue in marrying Mary with the rich shipowner Harry Gordon.

Ordet

Swedish film of the Kaj Munk play that was made into a far more famous film by Carl Dreyer in Denmark twelve years later.

Filmography

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Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries · 1957

Wild Strawberries

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.

Professor Isak Borg

Synnöve Solbakken

Synnöve Solbakken · 1934

Synnöve Solbakken

Swedish version of Norwegian National Author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's novel.

Sämund Granliden

The Phantom Carriage

The Phantom Carriage · 1921

The Phantom Carriage

MovieDramaFantasy

An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.

Writer

Kiss of Death

Kiss of Death · 1916

MovieComedyCrime

After the respectable Dr. Monro was found dead, the housekeeper and two engineers testify in court. A case of commercial delinquency and bribery is reconstructed on that occasion. Sadly only about half the film exists today.

Director

Halfbreed

Halfbreed · 1914

Cavalry captain von Stahl is in love with dancer Marianne Rizetskis, but when he suddenly finds himself completely destitute he takes off to South America, leaving Marianne heartbroken. Arriving im America, von Stahl finds work at the estate of a man wanted by the local government, and gets romantically involved with his daughter Soledad. When Marianne arrives as well, von Stahl finds himself torn between the two women.

Director

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait · 1981

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait

MovieDocumentary

Documentary of the Swedish actor/director Victor Sjöström and his work - from Terje Vigen (1917) to Smultronstället (1957) Director Ingmar Bergman is interviewed about his memories of and experiences of Sjöström.

The Child

The Child · 1913

Mary and Georg love each other, but he is rejected by Mary's father who has suffered insecurity and sees his rescue in marrying Mary with the rich shipowner Harry Gordon.

Georg Mills - Medicinare

Ordet

Swedish film of the Kaj Munk play that was made into a far more famous film by Carl Dreyer in Denmark twelve years later.

Knut Borg Sr.

Daughter of the Highlands

Daughter of the Highlands · 1914

Daughter of the Highlands

A young doctor is found unconscious in the mountains and is brought to a Sami village.

Writer

The Price of Betrayal

The Price of Betrayal · 1915

The Price of Betrayal

An unemployed man encounters trouble when he tries to find a way to help his sick wife.

Director

He Who Gets Slapped

He Who Gets Slapped · 1924

He Who Gets Slapped

MovieDramaThriller

After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated with a showgirl colleague whose father intends to marry her off to the baron.

Director

The Sea Vultures

The Sea Vultures · 1916

The Sea Vultures

MovieDramaCrime

Two smugglers meet two customs officers at sea, and happen to kill them. The story continues fifteen years later when a son of one of the officers and a smuggler's daughter fall in love with each other.

Director

A Man There Was

A Man There Was · 1917

A Man There Was

MovieDramaHistory

Terje Vigen, a sailor, suffers the loss of his family through the inflexibility of another man. Years later, when his enemy's family finds itself dependent on his benevolence, Terje must decide whether to avenge himself.

Director

Torment

Torment · 1944

Jan-Erik Widgren meets the lonely Bertha Olsson, a woman struggling with alcoholism. Though Bertha is already linked to Caligula, Jan-Erik's heartless teacher, she begins a relationship with the boy anyway. When Caligula learns that Jan-Erik is having an affair with Bertha, he begins to torture his student psychologically. He reserves his cruelest behavior for Bertha, however, which results in a tragic turn of events.

Producer

The Voice of Passion

The Voice of Passion · 1913

The Voice of Passion

A man undergoing a mid-life crises suddenly becomes irresponsible and behaves in reckless manner. His self-destructive habits not only creates havoc in his home life, it leads to other problems.

Writer

The Wind

The Wind · 1928

MovieDramaWestern

When Letty Mason relocates to West Texas, she finds herself unsettled by the ever-present wind and sand. Arriving at her new home at the ranch of her cousin, Beverly, she receives a surprisingly cold welcome from his wife, Cora. Soon tensions in the family and unwanted attention from a trio of suitors leave Letty increasingly disturbed.

Director

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession · 1912

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession

A film about family secrets... and deathbed confessions.

Screenplay

To Joy

MovieRomanceDrama

A young orchestra violinist’s fear of mediocrity and drive for artistic success strain his marriage to a fellow musician. Told largely in flashback and shaped by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the film examines ambition, love, and loss in early Ingmar Bergman.

Sönderby

A Lady to Love

A Lady to Love · 1930

MovieRomanceDrama

Middle-aged Napa Valley grape-grower Tony posts a marriage proposal to San Francisco waitress Lena enclosing a photo of his handsome younger brother Buck. When she gets there she overlooks his duplicity and marries him. Then she falls in love with Buck.

Director

Name the Man

Name the Man · 1924

Victor Stowell, son of the deemster of the Isle of Man, is engaged to Fenella Stanley. He becomes involved in an intrigue with local girl Bessie Collister, becomes the deemster on his father's death, and is forced to try Bessie for killing her illegitimate child.

Director

The Black Masks

The Black Masks · 1912

The Black Masks

"The Black Masks", a secret political society, involves the beautiful agent Lydia to apprehend an important official document. Lieutenant von Muehlen is a trusted member of another secret society. He is on the same mission.

Von Mühlen - Löjtnant

The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter · 1927

The Scarlet Letter

MovieDramaHistory

In Puritan Boston, seamstress Hester Prynne and kindly Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale fall in love. After Dimmesdale must go away for a time to England, he returns to discover that Hester has given birth to their child and is the focus of local censure.

Director

The Governor's Daughters

The Governor's Daughters · 1915

The Governor's Daughters

An important man's death brings forth a secret, revealing a daughter from another woman, previously unknown to his wife - and bringing about the meeting of the two sisters.

Director

The Gardener

The Gardener · 1912

A gardener's son has fallen in love with the daughter of one of the workers at the nursery, and the two are married. The gardener then kicks his progeny off the property and begins to act despicably toward his son's wife.

Director