Night Music
About Night Music
Baron Robert von Meislingen wants to be a poet, and the guests in his bachelor rooms pretend to admire his recitals. In a poor flat in one of his houses, Peter Långhår reads his play Night Music to his friend, old Jens. The baron, who loiters backstage and is taken with the extra Rosa Lund, pretends to patronize Peter, hears the play, and learns the manuscript is hidden under a floorboard. Rosa and her fiancé, bookkeeper Emil Ström, get Jens into an old people's home; on his next visit Jens finds Peter murdered. At the gala of Night Music the baron is hailed as the author. Rosa lures him to the theater, an actor made up as Peter shocks him through a trap in the stage, and, dying, he confesses the murder and the theft and leaves his fortune to charity.
Cast & crew
More about Night Music
Georg af Klercker wrote the script from a Danish idea and directed for Hasselblads Fotografiska AB. Manne Göthson, who plays the baron, was also assistant director. AB Victorias Filmbyrå opened the four-reeler at Nytorgsteatern in Stockholm on January 28, 1918. Censors had passed 1,259 meters on October 19, 1917 (certificate 18515), for viewers 15 and older.
Themes
In film history
Ingmar Bergman paid the Swedish Film Institute to restore the film and gave Georg af Klercker a posthumous Ingmar Bergman Prize. The restored print opened on February 4, 1993, at Bio Victor, with the first performance of Bergman's one-act play Sista skriket.
Reviews
In Social-Demokraten, the critic signed Co called the film fairly mediocre and wrote that Hasselblad's best work was nature pictures, not acted films. Svensk Filmografi also quotes a notice that praises the Otterhällan poor-quarter sets and the playing of Gabriel Alw and Justus Hagman, and finds Manne Göthson unconvincing as the baron.
Look
Gustav A. Gustafson photographed the film at the Hasselblad studio on Otterhällan. A contemporary notice said the poor quarter was the street immediately outside the studio door.
Music
Silent. Josef Schneider arranged the music for the premiere at Nytorgs Teatern in Stockholm.
Preservation
The Swedish Film Institute restored the film with money from Ingmar Bergman. The restored version premiered at Bio Victor in Stockholm on February 4, 1993. A copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- Manne Göthson is Baron Robert von Meislingen, Gabriel Alw is Peter Långhår, and Justus Hagman is old Jens. Agda Helin, billed as Agda Björkman, plays Rosa Lund.
- Johnny Björkman is Rosa's fiancé Emil Ström. Tekla Sjöblom is the widow Mrs. Lund. Hugo Björne plays the theater manager, and Sture Baude is billed as an actor.
- The Finnish distribution title was Yöllisiä säveleitä.
- A Göteborgs-Posten history piece notes Jens walking in front of Vasa hospital, the baron taking cheers outside Börsen, and the lovers in Slottsskogen.
- The restored print was shown at the San Francisco Film Festival on April 29, 1997.
Scenes
- Old Jens finds Peter Långhår murdered on the floor of the poor flat.
- An actor made up as Peter shocks the baron, who falls through a trap in the stage and confesses.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-nattliga-toner-aka-night-music)
