Gustaf Molander

Biography

He attended the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school 1907-1909 and went on to become an actor at the same theatre 1913-1926. His first work for the movies was the script to Wanted - A Film Actress (1917) and the follow-up Thomas Graals bästa barn (1918). He made his directing debut with Bodakungen (1920). During the 1920s he made his first movies based on the Selma Lagerlöf novels. During the following years, his movies became very distinguished and recognizable: often sophisticated comedies in an upper-class environment with a touch of money and aristocracy: Swedenhielms (1935), 0028151 or Sara Learns Manners (1937). During the WWII he is involved in movies about the political situation at the time: Rid i natt! (1942) or 0035801. During these years, he also made his masterpiece, Ordet (1943). He was more or less forced to leave the production company Svensk Filmindustri (SF), whom he had been faithful during his career, in the late 1950s, when they wanted to get rid of everything old and tried.