Sir Arne's Treasure
About Sir Arne's Treasure
Sir Archie, Sir Filip, and Sir Donald, Scottish mercenaries, escape prison and murder Sir Arne's household for a chest of gold. Elsalill, the only survivor, lives with a fishmonger in Marstrand and falls in love with Sir Archie, not knowing he is one of the killers. She hears him confess and gives him away. When the guard comes he uses her as a shield, she is killed, and he carries her body across the ice toward a frozen-in ship. The fishmonger brings sailors who turn the killers off, and a procession comes over the ice for Elsalill.
Cast & crew
More about Sir Arne's Treasure
Mauritz Stiller directed and wrote the screenplay with Gustaf Molander, from Selma Lagerlöf's 1903 novel The Treasure. Svenska Biografteatern released Herr Arnes pengar on September 22, 1919. Shooting ran from February 12 to May 10, 1919. Marstrand's alleys were built on the Lidingö studio lot. A ship frozen in at Furusund was used for the ice scenes. A 1917 stage version had opened at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, and a German company had asked for the story. After a Gothenburg staging, Svenska made the film itself.
Themes
Look
Julius Jaenzon shot the Lidingö sets and the ice at Furusund, where a ship had been left frozen in over the winter.
Music
Silent, with Swedish intertitles. Helmer Alexandersson composed the score.
Preservation
The Swedish Film Institute holds a tinted 35mm element. The catalog describes the color as Desmet tinting.
Notes
- Richard Lund plays Sir Archie. Mary Johnson is Elsalill. Hjalmar Selander is Sir Arne. Concordia Selander is his wife. Wanda Rothgardt is Berghild. Axel Nilsson is Torarin, the fishmonger.
- Encyclopedia.com lists Erik Stocklassa as Sir Philip and Bror Berger as Sir Donald, and gives the length as 5,226 feet.
- The Swedish Film Institute catalog lists a copy at 1 hour 47 minutes. Wikipedia's player timing is 1 hour 48 minutes 28 seconds. The infobox running time is 122 minutes.
- Harry Dahlström and Alexander Bako are named as art directors in one reference, and Axel Esbensen for costumes.
- The script keeps chronological order, cuts back the supernatural, and takes details from the 1917 German play.
Scenes
- The three Scots kill Sir Arne's household and take the chest.
- Elsalill hears Sir Archie confess and betrays him.
- Her body is brought back across the ice after the ship turns the killers away.
Influenced by
- The Treasure (1903), by Selma Lagerlöf
- A 1917 German stage adaptation
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-sir-arnes-treasure)
