The Prisoner of Karlsten's Fortress
About The Prisoner of Karlsten's Fortress
Count de Faber reads that Swedish professor Johan Plussman has already made the explosive he is after, and on the boat to Sweden he meets Plussman's daughter Mary. Plussman will not sell. De Faber chloroforms him, steals the formulas, and, after Mary tries to stop him with a pistol, takes her by car and then by boat to Karlsten Fortress, where the keeper Berger is an old friend of his. Mary gets a note out in a wine bottle. Fishermen bring it to her fiancé, Dr. Johnson; she climbs the fortress wall, drops from a ledge, and the kidnappers and rescuers fight at the shore.
Cast & crew
More about The Prisoner of Karlsten's Fortress
Georg af Klercker directed and shared the script with Willy Grebst. On 4 November 1916 the Swedish censor shortened the burglary and the chloroform scene in act one, and cut the attack on Mary, taking the print from 1,254 meters to 1,229.
Themes
Background
The film opened in November 1916, while Sweden stayed out of the First World War. In the story a foreign count tries to buy a Swedish explosive the inventor says his own country needs.
Making
Hasselblads Fotografiska AB made the film in Gothenburg. Part of the shooting was done on Marstrand, where Karlsten Fortress stands, and in Uddevalla. Gösta Stäring was the cameraman.
Look
Gösta Stäring shot the fortress exteriors on Marstrand and the scenes in Uddevalla.
Music
The 1916 release was silent. Lotta Hasselquist Nilsson wrote a score for the Swedish Film Institute copy shown on Filmarkivet.
Preservation
The Swedish Film Institute digitally restored the film in 2021. Filmarkivet presents that copy at about 64 minutes. The National Library of Sweden also logs a tinted restoration, transferred at 19 frames a second, at about 55 minutes.
Notes
- The Swedish title is Fången på Karlstens fästning, billed as an adventure film in four acts.
- It opened at Brunkebergsteatern in Stockholm on 14 November 1916.
- Manne Göthson, who plays Professor Plussman, was also assistant director.
- Nils Chrisander plays de Faber, an explosives expert. Maja Cassel plays Mary. Arvid Hammarlund plays Dr. Johnson.
- Victor Arfvidson plays Berger, the fortress keeper. Gustaf Bengtsson plays de Faber's chauffeur.
- William Engeström plays the fisherman who finds the bottle. Hugo Björne, Gabriel Alw, and Sture Baude appear as students.
- Plussman's refusal in the Swedish Film Database summary is the line "Mitt eget land behöver uppfinningen" — my own country needs the invention.
Scenes
- Mary levels a pistol at de Faber after he chloroforms her father and takes the formulas.
- From a cell in the fortress she throws a wine bottle with a message into the sea.
- She hangs from a ledge on the wall, falls, and the fight moves to the shore.
Influenced by
- Willy Grebst's script, written with af Klercker
Also available
- Filmarkivet.se (Swedish Film Institute, 2021 restoration)
- Wikimedia Commons (Fången på Karlstens fästning (1916).webm)
Quotes
Mitt eget land behöver uppfinningen.
