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24 Transition and Transformation
In Eld ombord (Fire Onboard, 1923), Sjöström’s last film in Sweden before his
departure to Hollywood, British actor Matheson Lang played the male lead.
Even in this case the critics noted the international profile of the film, here particularly
concerning the structure of the story:
And there the film should have ended – with the ship exploding as a great climax of
this brilliant dramatic crescendo. But as we know, there is a cinema audience on the
other side of the Atlantic whose taste and preferences doesn’t allow for tragic endings,
and to them, author and director have surrendered and added a “happy ending”
to the film. 18
American Voices on Sjöström
If some sceptical voices had been raised in Sweden, however, several of Sjöström’s
films after his breakthrough had attracted attention and been well received
by American critics and audiences. The National Board of Review of Motion
Pictures arranged for a special screening of Sjöström’s The Girl from the
Marsh Croft together with Out of the Fog, a Metro production directed by
Albert Capellani in 1919 with Russian star Alla Nazimova, based on a script by
June Mathis. 19 A report was made after this screening, based on an audience
survey, posing one main question: “What, if any, distinctive characteristics do
you perceive in the European production, ‘The Girl from the Marsh Croft’,
which are absent from representative high grade photoplays produced in the
United States?” 20 To this, the majority responded that “the production is characterized
by a greater naturalness, a more careful attention to detail and the
creation of atmosphere, and perhaps on the whole a higher degree of artistry”.
Only a few critical remarks concerning dramaturgy and “the mechanics of the
two films presented” were in favour of the American production. 21
American critics generally hailed A Man There Was: Sjöström’s acting as
well as the scenes shot at sea. The New York Review wrote: “In looking at ‘A Man
There Was’, we cannot think of an American director who could have brought
out its psychology or its realistic scope any better – perhaps not so well.” 22 The
Exhibitor’s Trade Review comments that: “This Swedish Company might give
tips to certain American producers on how to make an intensely dramatic feature
without a flourish of action, piffling sentiment, excessive romance, geegaws
and curls.” 23 The Outlaw and His Wife was also imported and became
a great success, but in an American version. As for The Phantom Carriage, it
received unanimous praise from American critics for its photographic qualities
as well as for the acting. However, some doubts voiced by director Tom Terriss