Der Verführer (1958) Online

This film contains the essence of spring feelings: love, humour, nice weather and all that stuff. Lena Söderblom is at her best, and so is Gunnar Björnstrand, who does his romantic character quite well. Jarl Kulle is outstanding as the neurotic opera singer, as is Hjördis Petterson as his mother. Well worth seeing.

Delightful comedy from Sweden matching most professional Hollywood comedies, both in intrigue, music, outstanding acting, ingenious script and above all brilliant direction. Göran Gentele was very versatile as a director, made Hitchcock thrillers ('Brott i sol'), musicals ('Värmlänningarna') high gear comedies almost amounting to screwball and finally opera. At the age of 54 he became director at the Metropolitan in New York as the crown of his career but never reached there, as he suddenly died in a traffic accident.

This film features Gunnar Björnstrand, the grand old gentleman of Swedish film, he was in many Bergman films and always perfect, like a Swedish Ronald Colman, but also the very young Lena Söderblom as a Swedish answer to Audrey Hepburn, - but she actually also reminds somewhat of Giulietta Masina at times.

The story is worth observing as well. A perfectly solid banker with his life structured with absolute strictness one day by mistake gets a love letter, it happens to be from a ballet girl, he falls in love with her, suddenly becomes aware of that he has a qualified singing voice, gets into the opera chorus and starts a double life.

The main character of the film is a sprightly comedy with constant ingenious turnings often leading to precarious complications amounting to a tremendous finale at the opera reminding of the best days of the Marx brothers.

Many other actors are excellent as well, like the diva Karl Julle and his awesome and deadly poisonous fiancée (Gaby Stenberg) while he lives for security with his old mother (Hjördis Pettersson). Douglas Håge is the sorely tried chorus master constantly getting into fits, and the music is Mozart, Rossini, Wagner, Verdi - in brief, an ace of comedies crowded with delights.