Victor Sjöström

Directing

Victor Sjöström

Born — Died

1879-09-21 — 1960-01-03

Place of birth

Silbodal, Värmlands län, Sweden

Known for

Directing

Credits

91 titles

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). Sjöström was Sweden's most prominent director in the "Golden Age of Silent Film" in Europe. Later in life, he played the leading role in Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957).

Known for

Wild Strawberries poster
8.1

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his 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.

Wild Strawberries

1957

He Who Gets Slapped poster
7.5

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.

He Who Gets Slapped

1924

Mot nya tider poster
8.0

A Swedish drama from 1939 about the social and political developments in Sweden from 1885 until the dissolution of the union in 1905. The year is 1885, Christina Nilsson sings "Fourteen years I believe certain that I was" in the Grand Hotel's Great Hall . She also sings from the balcony of the hotel and the panic arising among listeners outside the hotel. In Norway, talks about the dissolution of the Union and the Swedish socialists with Hjalmar Branting (Victor Sjöström) is in the lead for independence.

Mot nya tider

1939

The Phantom Carriage poster
7.7

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.

The Phantom Carriage

1921

Crisis poster
6.4

A small-town piano teacher is shocked by the arrival of her foster daughter's biological mother, whose young lover soon follows and causes further disruption.

Crisis

1946

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait poster
6.0

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.

Victor Sjöström - A Portrait

1981

Film credits

1950s · 7 titles

Wild Strawberries poster
8.1

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his 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.

Wild Strawberries

1957

To Joy poster
6.8

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.

To Joy

1950

The Quartet That Split Up poster
10.0

A small Swedish town just after WW1. An accountant and his two journalist friends have entered the stock market. The result is not as good as expected.

The Quartet That Split Up

1950

Hård klang poster
5.2

A small Swedish village has transformed to an industrial center with exports to Germany. A German opened a quarry some 50 years ago, after realizing the value of granite. Now WW1 begins.

Hård klang

1952

Behind the Scenes of Wild Strawberries poster
6.0

A short documentary capturing behind-the-scenes footage from the production of Wild Strawberries, offering a glimpse of Ingmar Bergman at work with his cast and crew during the making of one of his most celebrated films.

Behind the Scenes of Wild Strawberries

1957

Love poster
8.0

A new young priest begins his duty on a small island. He assumes that the service should not be to demanding, so that he will be able to finish his doctoral thesis. But the life at sea is hard with severe accidents. He faces emotionally difficult situations related to both love and death.

Love

1952

Männen i mörker poster
9.0

When the men in the small mining community go to work, it is like any other day. They do not yet know that an accident will change everything.

Männen i mörker

1955

1940s · 7 titles

There's a Fire Burning poster
9.0

An allegory of Germany's WWII occupation of Norway. Members of a theater ensemble join the resistance.

There's a Fire Burning

1943

Ordet poster
6.9

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

Ordet

1943

The Emperor of Portugallia poster
7.2

The poor farmer Jan is getting very old when he becomes father to the girl, Klara Gulla. First, he sees the child as a burden, but when he receives the newborn child in his arms he is overjoyed. He does everything in his power for her during her. But when she as an adult leaves home, Jan can not come over the loss of her.

The Emperor of Portugallia

1944

Farlig vår poster
4.7

A young prostitute, Gullan Svan, is murdered one night. The police suspects that the murderer is a student, since she had a lot of students as customers. The murderer stole a picture of Gullan after he killed her, a picture which later is found in a rented tuxedo when the tuxedo is returned. Four students decide to solve the case, but it seems that the truth is even closer than they first suspected...

Farlig vår

1949

Jag är med eder... poster
9.0

Together with his wife Carin and their little son Lasse, Helge Tellberg is in the position of leaving Sweden to become a missionary in Rhodesia.

Jag är med eder...

1948

Railroad Workers poster
9.0

The north of Sweden in 1902. A team of railroad men are building a rail road from Luleå at the Bay of Bothnia to Narvik at the Norwegian Sea. One of the newest workers, Valfrid from the south of Sweden, is not accepted by neither Stora Ballong, the informal leader of the workers, nor the others. They refuse to talk to him but instead Valfrid gets help from the sworn enemy of the railroad workers: the greedy drugstore owner Blom.

Railroad Workers

1947

The Fight Continues poster
8.0

Georg Hammar works at the General Hospital and is engaged to the famous professor Berg's daughter Inga. But he is also drawn to the nurse Maria.

The Fight Continues

1941

1930s · 8 titles

Mot nya tider poster
8.0

A Swedish drama from 1939 about the social and political developments in Sweden from 1885 until the dissolution of the union in 1905. The year is 1885, Christina Nilsson sings "Fourteen years I believe certain that I was" in the Grand Hotel's Great Hall . She also sings from the balcony of the hotel and the panic arising among listeners outside the hotel. In Norway, talks about the dissolution of the Union and the Swedish socialists with Hjalmar Branting (Victor Sjöström) is in the lead for independence.

Mot nya tider

1939

Synnöve Solbakken poster
10.0

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

Synnöve Solbakken

1934

The Great John Ericsson poster
7.0

In 1803 the Swedish inventor John Ericsson is born. After a military career he went to England and became one of the first builders of locomotives. Despite large debts, he invents the propeller. In 1839 he crosses the Atlantic and builds ships for the US Navy. When the US civil war breaks out, the Federation needs a ship to match the Confederate 'Merrimac' and preventing the Confederation from exporting cotton to Europe. Ericsson builds the 'Monitor', a ship the Federation needs to win the war.

The Great John Ericsson

1937

Walpurgis Night poster
5.4

Lena Bergström works in an office and is unhappily in love with her boss, Johan Borg. She decides to quit. Borg's wife won't have any children, and when she becomes pregnant she has an illegal abortion. For some reason, Lena's father believes that it is Lena who has had an abortion.

Walpurgis Night

1935

No artwork available
NR

Snippets of Greta Garbo movies interspersed with provincial gigs of girls resembling Garbo. The film begins with one of the aspirants reading an issue of the newspaper Stockholms-Tidningen.

Fröken, Ni liknar Greta Garbo!

1931

Father and Son poster
7.0

Mr Markurell the innkeeper has great aspirations for his son and he doesn't hesitate to pull a few strings to ensure his son's success at school, causing great scandal in the process.

Father and Son

1931

Scattered Pages poster
9.0

Vera Nilsson is friendly with the poor neighbor boy Håkan, this is not seen kindly by Vera's father Nils.

Scattered Pages

1931

Gubben kommer poster
9.0

The old man, Carl-Henrik de Grévy, left his family many years ago, when the stock market collapsed. His sister Louise believes that he is dead and wants to get control of her brother's property, being the sole inheritor. The Sneijder's live on one of the old man's manors. They have also lost their money but as a sign of friendship he promised them before he left that they will stay there for as long as they live. Louise and her 'creative' lawyer is trying to find a way to get rid of the Sneijder's. It seems as if the only hope they have is that the old man returns.

Gubben kommer

1939

1920s · 6 titles

The Phantom Carriage poster
7.7

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.

The Phantom Carriage

1921

A Lover in Pawn poster
6.9

About loaner Master Samuel, based on a writings by Hjalmar Bergman

A Lover in Pawn

1920

1925 Studio Tour poster
6.2

A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.

1925 Studio Tour

1925

The House Surrounded poster
9.0

Young Lieutenant Jeff Gordon is placed in an English town and he meets his loved one Mary. When the war starts in Africa his regiment is being sent to the desert.

The House Surrounded

1922

The Hell Ship poster
6.2

A naval adventure that focuses on the rivalry among the crew, particularly the indignation wrought by the behavior of inplacable Captain Steen. Dick, one of the sailors, is one of the most rebellious and draws up plans to exact vengeance. The opportunity arises, but an incident that may sink the ship changes the focus of attention. The lighting for the film and the composition of the scenes are regarded as the highlights of the movie.

The Hell Ship

1923

Karin, Daughter of Ingmar poster
5.8

Karin Daughter of Ingmar is a 1920 Swedish silent drama film directed by Victor Sjöström. It is the second part in Sjöström's large-scale adaption of Selma Lagerlöf's novel Jerusalem, following Sons of Ingmar from the year before, and depicting chapter three and four from the novel. The critical reception was however unenthusiastic and Sjöström decided to not direct any more parts.

Karin, Daughter of Ingmar

1920

1910s · 19 titles

Kiss of Death poster
6.1

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.

Kiss of Death

1916

The Outlaw and His Wife poster
7.2

A stranger comes to work at widow Halla's farm. Halla and the stranger fall in love, but when he is revealed as Eyvind, an escaped thief forced into crime by his family's starvation, they flee and become two of the many outlaws of Iceland's mountains.

The Outlaw and His Wife

1918

The Child poster
NR

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.

The Child

1913

Daughter of the Highlands poster
NR

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

Daughter of the Highlands

1914

A Man There Was poster
7.1

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.

A Man There Was

1917

No artwork available
NR

Doctor Arthur Born tries to produce a cure for the plague.

She Won

1916

No artwork available
NR

The stock broker Franz Von Bierman has been speculating on the stock market and lost a lot of money.

For His Love’s Sake

1914

The Gardener poster
5.4

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.

The Gardener

1912

Thomas Graal's Best Child poster
5.4

Frau Bessie, once a madcap, aristocratic and modern Swedish fraulein, has become now a whimsical and conservative Swedish burgess after her marriage to Herr Thomas Graal. The destabilization of the marriage begins right at the wedding (which contains some hilarious incidents) when Frau Bessie announces the first Graal child must be a girl, creating a terrible conflict with her husband who is hoping for a boy. It takes a scandal to finally end the war between man and wife.

Thomas Graal's Best Child

1918

The Voice of Passion poster
NR

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.

The Voice of Passion

1913

No artwork available
NR

The old friends Otto Berner and Charles Von Barton stands on separate sides in a political conflict.

Life’s Conflicts

1913

No artwork available
5.9

Thomas Graal's a screenwriter, is very fond of his secretary Bessie. Overtaken by a kiss by Thomas she runs away. In his misfortune Thomas writes a screenplay inspired by Bessie. But she has not been really honest with him. 31 minutes of runtime are missing and presumed lost.

Thomas Graal's Best Film

1917

The Black Masks poster
1.0

"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.

The Black Masks

1912

Sons of Ingmar poster
6.8

Part one of an ambitious screen adaptation of Selma Lagerlöf's book Jerusalem.

Sons of Ingmar

1919

The Springtime of Life poster
5.3

A motherless child has a tumultuous existence, but she eventually becomes a famous international opera singer. Past and present meet when she performs in her original home town.

The Springtime of Life

1912

When Love Kills poster
NR

After a harsh argument between her and her father, a young girl with artistic talent leaves home for a new life.

When Love Kills

1913

No artwork available
NR

Sven Nilsson has a wife and a little child. One day the child gets very sick and Sven has to find a doctor.

In Time of Trial

1915

The Strike poster
NR

An old poor man steals some wood and gets sentenced to 1 1/2 years of hard labor.

The Strike

1915

The Vampire poster
NR

A lieutenant in love with a woman cheat on his money and forces him to forge a bill of exchange. He kills the creditor and flees abroad. A few years later he gets a job as a stagehand. By chance he run into the woman.

The Vampire

1913

Behind the camera

He Who Gets Slapped poster
7.5

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.

He Who Gets Slapped

1924

He Who Gets Slapped poster
7.5

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.

He Who Gets Slapped

1924

The Phantom Carriage poster
7.7

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.

The Phantom Carriage

1921

The Phantom Carriage poster
7.7

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.

The Phantom Carriage

1921

Crisis poster
6.4

A small-town piano teacher is shocked by the arrival of her foster daughter's biological mother, whose young lover soon follows and causes further disruption.

Crisis

1946

Kiss of Death poster
6.1

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.

Kiss of Death

1916

Kiss of Death poster
6.1

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.

Kiss of Death

1916

The Wind poster
7.3

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.

The Wind

1928

Under the Red Robe poster
6.8

In 1620s France, dreaded swordsman Gil de Berault returns from carrying out a mission for Cardinal Richelieu, and finds the Cardinal worried about growing opposition from the Huguenots in the south. The Cardinal also warns de Berault that dueling has been outlawed, and will henceforth be punishable by death. Gil, however, promptly disobeys the law and is indeed sentenced to death. The Cardinal offers to cancel the sentence if de Berault is able to capture the duke who is organizing plans for an uprising. Gil travels to the duke's castle and is allowed to stay as a guest, but the duke's wife and sister immediately suspect that he is a spy. He and his servant still make good progress, until he falls in love with the duke's sister, which complicates everything.

Under the Red Robe

1937

The Price of Betrayal poster
6.4

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

The Price of Betrayal

1915

The Outlaw and His Wife poster
7.2

A stranger comes to work at widow Halla's farm. Halla and the stranger fall in love, but when he is revealed as Eyvind, an escaped thief forced into crime by his family's starvation, they flee and become two of the many outlaws of Iceland's mountains.

The Outlaw and His Wife

1918

The Outlaw and His Wife poster
7.2

A stranger comes to work at widow Halla's farm. Halla and the stranger fall in love, but when he is revealed as Eyvind, an escaped thief forced into crime by his family's starvation, they flee and become two of the many outlaws of Iceland's mountains.

The Outlaw and His Wife

1918

Daughter of the Highlands poster
NR

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

Daughter of the Highlands

1914

Daughter of the Highlands poster
NR

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

Daughter of the Highlands

1914

No artwork available
NR

Therèse is a young woman who has married an older man to be able to live a wealthier life.

Therèse

1916

No artwork available
NR

Therèse is a young woman who has married an older man to be able to live a wealthier life.

Therèse

1916

Ingeborg Holm poster
6.7

After Ingeborg Holm's husband becomes sick and dies, the family's small grocery store fails, Ingeborg becomes bankrupt, and she is forced to move to the workhouse. Her three children go to foster homes. Ingeborg simply must see them again.

Ingeborg Holm

1913

Ingeborg Holm poster
6.7

After Ingeborg Holm's husband becomes sick and dies, the family's small grocery store fails, Ingeborg becomes bankrupt, and she is forced to move to the workhouse. Her three children go to foster homes. Ingeborg simply must see them again.

Ingeborg Holm

1913

The Governor's Daughters poster
NR

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.

The Governor's Daughters

1915

The Governor's Daughters poster
NR

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.

The Governor's Daughters

1915

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession poster
NR

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

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession

1912

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession poster
NR

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

A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession

1912

No artwork available
NR

The widower Stensson lives a happy life on his farm with his two children.

Guilt Redeemed

1915

No artwork available
NR

The widower Stensson lives a happy life on his farm with his two children.

Guilt Redeemed

1915

Halfbreed poster
NR

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.

Halfbreed

1914

The Scarlet Letter poster
7.1

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.

The Scarlet Letter

1927

The Scarlet Letter poster
7.1

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.

The Scarlet Letter

1927

A Man There Was poster
7.1

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.

A Man There Was

1917

A Man There Was poster
7.1

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.

A Man There Was

1917

A Lady to Love poster
4.4

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.

A Lady to Love

1930

A Lady to Love poster
4.4

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.

A Lady to Love

1930

The Masks of the Devil poster
8.0

Baron Reiner, a charming though unscrupulous Viennese aristocrat, becomes infatuated with Virginia, an innocent schoolgirl who is engaged to his best friend, Manfred. In order to seduce the girl, Reiner finances an oceanographic expedition for Manfred that takes him away for months (TCM).

The Masks of the Devil

1928

No artwork available
NR

Doctor Arthur Born tries to produce a cure for the plague.

She Won

1916

No artwork available
NR

Doctor Arthur Born tries to produce a cure for the plague.

She Won

1916

A Lover in Pawn poster
6.9

About loaner Master Samuel, based on a writings by Hjalmar Bergman

A Lover in Pawn

1920

The Sea Vultures poster
6.1

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.

The Sea Vultures

1916

No artwork available
NR

Two men are rivals for the affection of the beautiful Eufrosyne Linde - who is actually toying with one gentleman to make the other jealous.

It Was in May

1915

No artwork available
NR

Two men are rivals for the affection of the beautiful Eufrosyne Linde - who is actually toying with one gentleman to make the other jealous.

It Was in May

1915

Torment poster
7.1

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.

Torment

1944

The Tower of Lies poster
10.0

After his beloved daughter leaves for the city to pay off his debt, an old farmer goes mad when her letters become less frequent and it is suspected she may be using her body to get the money.

The Tower of Lies

1925