
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
8.1Crotchety 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
7.5After 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
8.0A 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
7.7An 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
6.4A 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
6.0Documentary 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
1990s · 2 titles
10.0A tribute to Swedish film, which was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of film in 1995 and consists of about a hundred clips from Swedish film history with many of its stars.
Stjärnbilder
1995
NRA quick overview of Swedish film history, featuring a breathtaking cavalry of scenes from about 170 films.
Minns ni?
1993
1980s · 2 titles
6.0Documentary 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
8.0Two part biography of Greta Garbo - 1. The Temptress 2. The Clown. Reminiscences of her early life in Stockholm, with excerpts from her films. Narrated by Bibi Andersson.
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
1986
1950s · 7 titles
8.1Crotchety 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
6.8A 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
10.0A 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
5.2A 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
6.0A 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
8.0A 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
9.0When 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
9.0An allegory of Germany's WWII occupation of Norway. Members of a theater ensemble join the resistance.
There's a Fire Burning
1943
6.9Swedish 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
7.2The 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
4.7A 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
9.0Together 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
9.0The 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
8.0Georg 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
8.0A 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
10.0Swedish version of Norwegian National Author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's novel.
Synnöve Solbakken
1934
7.0In 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
5.4Lena 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
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
7.0Mr 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
9.0Vera Nilsson is friendly with the poor neighbor boy Håkan, this is not seen kindly by Vera's father Nils.
Scattered Pages
1931
9.0The 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
7.7An 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
6.9About loaner Master Samuel, based on a writings by Hjalmar Bergman
A Lover in Pawn
1920
6.2A 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
9.0Young 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
6.2A 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
5.8Karin 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
6.1After 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
7.2A 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
NRMary 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
NRA young doctor is found unconscious in the mountains and is brought to a Sami village.
Daughter of the Highlands
1914
7.1Terje 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
Doctor Arthur Born tries to produce a cure for the plague.
She Won
1916
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
5.4A 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
5.4Frau 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
NRA 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
The old friends Otto Berner and Charles Von Barton stands on separate sides in a political conflict.
Life’s Conflicts
1913
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
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
6.8Part one of an ambitious screen adaptation of Selma Lagerlöf's book Jerusalem.
Sons of Ingmar
1919
5.3A 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
NRAfter a harsh argument between her and her father, a young girl with artistic talent leaves home for a new life.
When Love Kills
1913
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
NRAn old poor man steals some wood and gets sentenced to 1 1/2 years of hard labor.
The Strike
1915
NRA 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
7.5After 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
7.5After 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
7.7An 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
7.7An 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
6.4A 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
6.1After 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
6.1After 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
7.3When 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
6.8In 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
6.4An unemployed man encounters trouble when he tries to find a way to help his sick wife.
The Price of Betrayal
1915
7.2A 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
7.2A 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
NRA young doctor is found unconscious in the mountains and is brought to a Sami village.
Daughter of the Highlands
1914
NRA young doctor is found unconscious in the mountains and is brought to a Sami village.
Daughter of the Highlands
1914
Therèse is a young woman who has married an older man to be able to live a wealthier life.
Therèse
1916
Therèse is a young woman who has married an older man to be able to live a wealthier life.
Therèse
1916
6.7After 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
6.7After 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
NRAn 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
NRAn 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
NRA film about family secrets... and deathbed confessions.
A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession
1912
NRA film about family secrets... and deathbed confessions.
A Secret Marriage or The Deathbed Confession
1912
The widower Stensson lives a happy life on his farm with his two children.
Guilt Redeemed
1915
The widower Stensson lives a happy life on his farm with his two children.
Guilt Redeemed
1915
NRCavalry 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
7.1In 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
7.1In 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
7.1Terje 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
7.1Terje 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
4.4Middle-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
4.4Middle-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
8.0Baron 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
Doctor Arthur Born tries to produce a cure for the plague.
She Won
1916
Doctor Arthur Born tries to produce a cure for the plague.
She Won
1916
6.9About loaner Master Samuel, based on a writings by Hjalmar Bergman
A Lover in Pawn
1920
6.1Two 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
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
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
7.1Jan-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
10.0After 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
