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| Director Gustaf Molander |
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| Ingrid Bergman as a child with her father |
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| 1937 wedding day with Petter Lindström |
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| Ingrid Bergman in costume |
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| Bergman in 1939 |
Ingrid Berman Tribute: ONLY ONE NIGHT (En enda natt) C+ Sweden (90 mi) 1939 d: Gustaf Molander
A rarely seen film, among the earliest appearances of Ingrid Bergman, but she was already a star in Sweden, voted by a poll of 30,000 Swedish moviegoers as the most admired movie star in 1937, even above Greta Garbo, appreciated for her beauty and grace, as well as her natural acting style. Obtaining a scholarship for the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm at the age of 17, she was discovered by Swedish director Gustav Molander, who taught acting at the school and was the brother of the Theatre School director Olof Molander, with Greta Garbo among his students, immediately realizing Bergman possessed a unique quality, leaving school after only one year, as she was hired by Sweden’s largest movie studio, Svensk Filmindustri, and began making films full-time in the mid-1930’s. The Swedish film industry in which Ingrid Bergman received her early training was one of the most advanced, technically and artistically, outside of Hollywood, and while he did not end up directing her debut film, it was Molander who supported Bergman and gave her self-confidence, teaching her “how to underplay, to be absolutely sincere and natural, and never try to be cute. Always be yourself, and always learn your lines.” Known as an actresses' director, Molander was crucial to the development of the Swedish film industry itself, starting out as a writer before directing films, one of few Swedish directors who easily made the transition from silent films to sound successfully, making over 70 films in just over half a century in a wide variety of genres, where the 1930’s were arguably his most prolific, with several considered the Swedish Golden Age’s central work. Working with actresses Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, and Ingrid Thulin, all more commonly associated with the films of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, while also making six films with the young Ingrid Bergman in the 1930’s, which paved the way for her international career, where she went on to win three Academy Awards, two for best actress, GASLIGHT (1944) and ANASTASIA (1956), and one for best supporting actress, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974). A master of serious comedy, all of Molander’s most successful films can rightly be described as melodramas, where the appeal was heard all the way across the ocean to America, as several of his stories were purchased by American companies and remade for American audiences, including INTERMEZZO (1936) and A WOMAN’S FACE (1938), both of which starred Ingrid Bergman, with INTERMEZZO (1939) becoming Bergman’s American Hollywood debut, while A WOMAN’S FACE (1941) was remade with Joan Crawford. It’s fun to see Bergman in her native Sweden at such an early stage of her career, knowing what an acclaimed, international star she would eventually become, fluent in Swedish, English, German, Italian, and French, acting in all of them, while speaking Italian to her own children and English professionally. Never before had she been so beautifully portrayed, exuding elegance and photographic radiance in some memorable costumes, where she remains among the most contemporary of the classic Hollywood stars, listed at #4 on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 greatest female stars, AFI's 100 YEARS…100 STARS.
Bergman didn’t really become a star until the 1940’s, when her supporting role in the 1942 classic Ingrid Bergman Tribute: Casablanca effectively changed the course of her entire career. Appearing in eleven films in her native Sweden before the age of twenty-five, Bergman’s characters were always plagued with uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. Though she was far from enthusiastic about the script, describing it as “a piece of junk,” she agreed to make this film, which is the one the studio wanted to make, but only if they would allow her the starring role in A WOMAN’S FACE, a distinctly unglamorous role where she is bitter and horribly disfigured from a fire, a completely unsympathetic character, allowing her to stretch her range and versatility, wanting to be more than just a pretty face. While this film was shot before A WOMAN’S FACE, it was released a year afterwards, where Bergman’s co-star is Edvin Adolphson, a notorious flirt in his early 40’s, known for his matinee idol good looks, appearing in more than 500 films going back to the silent era, and played a significant role in helping Bergman get her first screen appearance, directing her in a light comedy during her summer vacation from drama school, where they became lovers, despite their age difference and the fact that he had a wife and child at home, yet they remained friends for life. Bearing some resemblance to Ingmar Bergman’s Sawdust and Tinsel (Gycklarnas afton) (1953), this is another film that takes place in a traveling carnival show, featuring rough-edged and hardened characters on the fringe of society who lead tempestuous lives, never staying in any one place for long, never really calling anyplace home, so the traveling road show is really their familiar place. Adapted by Gösta Stevens, the screenwriter of most of Molander's best films, from a novel by Danish author Harald Tandrup, Valdemar Moreaux (Edvin Adolphson) is one of the carnival barkers at the merry-go-round, yet his distinction is that he lives with Helga Mårtensson (Aino Taube), the owner of a carnival, affectionately calling her by her last name, which, coincidentally enough, is also the name of the traveling show. There’s an honest simplicity to their lives, as they seem to have a loving, yet carefree and easy going relationship, filled with off-handed humor and sarcastic remarks, with nothing really holding either one of them down, having moved around a lot in their lives, describing themselves as rootless free spirits, so a certain insecurity prevails even in the best of times. While establishing an easy rhythm accentuating many of the featured carnival shows, the wealthy landowner Count Magnus von Brede (Olof Sandborg), a former army colonel, whose property the carnival occupies, is seen off in the distance with his beautiful yet independent-minded young ward Eva (Ingrid Bergman), a Renaissance woman visiting for the summer who is studying for her doctorate in philosophy, yet we also see her toting a rifle in her hand for shooting ducks, while later we see her performing a charming song at the piano. Von Brede thinks there’s something familiar about Valdemar, reminding him of someone, but he can’t seem to place his finger on who it is.
When Valdemar receives an invitation to the Count’s mansion, he assumes it’s the business of not asking permission to set the carnival on his land, but the Count isn’t bothered by that at all, and is more interested in Valdemar’s personal history, which strikes a chord, seeing qualities in him that he likes. This well-choreographed scene reveals the young man’s special charm, quickly realizing he’s actually his lost son, the result of a one night stand, so he sends word offering him a job working in his stables. After some discussion with Mårtensson, he thinks this might offer him possibilities, yet when he arrives and is shown his luxurious quarters, he quickly realizes these aren’t the accommodations for a stable boy. Trying to make up for lost time, providing access to a kind of aristocratic breeding he was denied growing up, the Count wants him to be the son he never had, the successor on his massive estate, where his presence mirrors that of Eva, both young, enterprising young people with bright futures ahead of them. While the Count attempts to bring them both together romantically, they are both stubborn and headstrong, with Eva not afraid to speak her mind, where the pridefulness she expresses in her character is something rare onscreen, even today, as this film shows what a unique talent Ingrid Bergman was. There’s a playfulness about their exchanges as Valdemar attempts to integrate himself into this new lifestyle, with Eva remaining emotionally aloof, but even she is affected by his personal charm, but as soon as he gets amorous, she gets cold feet, willing to accept warmth and companionship, and even love, but refuses to engage in sexual relations, finding that off limits, where her dream relationship is two separate bedrooms, always wanting to exert her independence. It’s a strange and confusing reaction, to be sure, which may puzzle viewers even today, and initially Valdemar is willing to go along, where the luxurious comfort has its rewards, not lacking for anything, but as soon as he presses the physicality in love, Eva is immediately hurt and disgusted, losing all trust in the man. Realizing that there is such a vast difference between the free-wheeling life he was used to and the more constrained life he is now expected to lead, this is essentially an exposé of class differences, given a melodramatic sweep at the center, reflecting the oppressive straitjacket of the aristocracy, where the two young lovers are extremely appealing, as you can sense the emotion simmering just under the surface. It recalls the sunny sophistication of Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) (1955), with dark undertones that keep audiences off balance, yet it’s a provocatively realistic drama where two worlds meet on a collision course with destiny, but reality kicks in with unexpected results.
