Historien om en gut
About Historien om en gut
Esben Gram, son of a consul, is played by Esben Lykke-Seest. At school a classmate slips the teacher's watch into his pocket. His father does not believe him. Afraid of punishment, he stows away on the Bella Rosa, whose skipper is Emil Schibbye, then jumps ship and works as a herd boy on a farm. A thief gang takes him in. He escapes, scouts help him, and the police catch the gang after a chase. He comes home to his mother, played by Lila Lykke-Seest, learns that his father now knows he is innocent, and is cleared at school.
Cast & crew
More about Historien om en gut
Peter Lykke-Seest wrote and directed it for Christiania Film Co., the company he started in 1916. It was the last of the seven features he made there. Carl-Axel Söderström was the cameraman. The censorship-card summary in the National Library filmography is the source for the watch, the ship, the farm, the gang, and the scouts.
Themes
Background
This was the last feature from Christiania Film Co. Norwegian production thinned in the 1920s as American pictures took more of the market.
Making
Lykke-Seest cast his own household: his son in the lead and his wife as the mother. The National Library lists Christiania Film Co. as both producer and distributor.
Reviews
Store norske leksikon calls it Lykke-Seest's most successful film and credits the parallel cutting with carrying the chase after the gang.
Look
Carl-Axel Söderström photographed it. The parallel cutting Store norske leksikon describes ties Esben's flight to the pursuit of the thieves.
Preservation
The film is extant. It was screened at Il Cinema Ritrovato in 2019.
Notes
- Esben Lykke-Seest was 14. His mother in the film is played by the director's wife, billed as Lila Lykke-Seest.
- Hans Ingi Hedemark plays the boatswain. Arthur Barking plays a policeman.
- The ship in the story is the Bella Rosa.
- It opened on 30 April 1919 at Bio-Kino, Stortingsgata 14, Kristiania. Norske Intelligenssedler carried an advertisement that day.
- English-language listings call it The Story of a Boy.
- Il Cinema Ritrovato showed it in 2019 in a program of films then 100 years old.
Scenes
- A classmate drops the teacher's watch into Esben's pocket.
- He hides aboard the Bella Rosa and later leaves the ship.
- He gets away from the thief gang and the police take them after a chase.
- Back at school, the watch charge is lifted.