A Lover in Pawn
About A Lover in Pawn
Victor Sjöström plays Sammel Eneman, a pawnbroker the coast town talks about as merciless. Concordia Selander is Mutter Boman, landlady of the inn Goda Hoppsudden. Greta Almroth is her daughter Tora, engaged to the sailor Knut (Harald Schwenzen). Hjalmar Bergman called the script “En farlig pant,” a dangerous pledge. The English title is A Lover in Pawn. The German title is Ich gab dich zum Pfande.
Cast & crew
More about A Lover in Pawn
Sjöström directed Bergman’s script for Svensk Filmindustri. Julius Jaenzon, billed J. Julius, photographed the Råsunda interiors and exteriors at Öregrund, Vallentuna, and Gävle. Arthur Sjögren hand-lettered the titles and drew the vignettes. The Swedish premiere was 11 October 1920. It runs 117 minutes. Simon Lindstrand keeps the tavern Cap Devil. William Larsson is a shipmaster. Emmy Albiin plays a poor woman in Eneman’s shop.
Themes
Making
Sjögren’s titles are part of the picture’s look, not a later translation. Jaenzon shot both the studio town at Råsunda and the Baltic coast towns named on the production card.
Look
Julius Jaenzon shot the pawnshop, the inn Goda Hoppsudden, and the coast exteriors at Öregrund, Vallentuna, and Gävle.
Music
Silent, with Swedish intertitles lettered by Arthur Sjögren.
Preservation
A 117-minute print circulates, including an Internet Archive copy.
Notes
- Other release titles: Maître Samuel (France), Mesterman (Denmark), Mestarimies (Finland), Maestro Samuele (Italy).
- Wikidata also lists 1 December 1920, 21 February 1921, and 24 May 1921.
- Hjalmar Selander plays a rural dean. Georg Blomstedt is the parish clerk. Gösta Gustafson is a churchwarden.
- John Ekman is a tough at Cap Devil. Linnéa Hillberg is a pawnshop customer.
- The Swedish Film Database holds a nine-page dialogue list titled Mästerman, a story for film by Bergman, staged by Sjöström.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-a-lover-in-pawn)
