''His Excellency'' (Swedish: ''Excellensen'') is a 1944 Swedish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Hasse Ekman Hasse Ekman (born Hans Gösta Ekman; 10September 191515February 2004) was a Swedish director, actor, writer and Film producer, producer for film director, film, Theatre director, stage and television director, television. Biography Hasse Ekman ...

and starring

Lars Hanson Lars Mauritz Hanson (26 July 1886 – 8 April 1965) was a Swedish film and stage actor, internationally mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era. Biography Born in Göteborg, Sweden, Hanson began his career on t ...

Gunnar Sjöberg Gunnar Sjöberg (25 March 1909 – 8 June 1977) was a Swedish film actor. Selected filmography * '' Russian Flu'' (1937) - Delegat från Sundsvall (uncredited) * ''John Ericsson, Victor of Hampton Roads'' (1937) - Seaman * '' Styrman Karls ...

and

Elsie Albiin Elsie Albiin (17 December 1921 – 3 April 2009) was a Swedish actress born in Helsingborg. She appeared in several films, including 1953's '' Intimate Relations''. She was a widow for the last eleven years of her life. Her husband was Tony Fo ...

. It was made at the

Råsunda Studios Filmstaden was a film studio situated in Råsunda, Solna Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. History Filmstaden was once one of the most modern film studios in Europe. It was built in 1919–1920 on the basis of designs by Swedish architec ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Arne Åkermark Arne Åkermark (1902–1962) was a Swedish art director who worked on around a hundred and eighty films during a thirty-year career. In 1948 Åkermark was employed in Britain for Ealing Studios epic '' Scott of the Antarctic''.Barr p.199 Selec ...

. It is based on a 1942 play of the same title by

Bertil Malmberg Bertil Frans Harald Malmberg (13 August 1889 - 11 February 1958) was a Swedish writer, poet, and actor. He was born in Härnösand to Teodor Malmberg and Hanna Roman. Malmberg is the 1956 winner of the Dobloug Prize, a literature prize awarde ...

. It was part of a growing number of Swedish films more overtly critical of German war policy, and the only one of them to openly identify the occupiers as Germans and set it in a real country.Wright p.78

Plot

A celebrated

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n poet strongly opposes

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, meanwhile his daughter falls in love with a leading Nazi who becomes commander over the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

where his Excellency later is imprisoned.

Cast

as His Excellency Herbert von Blankenau *

as Captain Max Karbe *

as Elisabeth von Blankenau, his Excellency daughter *

Stig Järrel Stig Järrel (8February 19101July 1998) was a Swedish actor, film director and revue artist. Järrel was one of the most popular actors in Sweden during his career, and also one of the most productive, participating in a total of 131 films. He a ...

as maj. Monk *

Hugo Björne Hugo Björne (4 February 1886 – 14 February 1966) was a Swedish film and theater actor. Biography Ernst Hugo Alexis Björne was born in Varberg in Halland, Sweden. He made his stage debut in 1907 and belonged to the acting company of Hjalmar ...

as father Ignatius *

Tord Stål Tord Stål (14 September 1906 – 2 July 1972) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1938 and 1969. He starred in the film '' Leva på 'Hoppet, which won the Silver Bear (Comedies) award at the 1st Berlin Int ...

as Dr. Amann * Sven Magnusson as Wilhelm *

Hampe Faustman Erik "Hampe" Faustman (born Erik Stellan Chatham; 3 July 1919 – 26 August 1961) was a Swedish actor and film director. He appeared in more than 20 films between 1940 and 1961. He also directed 20 films between 1943 and 1955. He was married ...

as Warder *

Håkan Westergren Håkan Karl Leonard Westergren (29 April 1899 – 15 October 1981) was a Swedish actor. He was mostly known for playing in Swedish comedy movies during the 1930s and 1940s, but was sometimes seen in some more serious roles. He was married to ...

as Police Officer *

Carl Ström Carl Ström (18 June 1888 – 18 November 1957) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1923 and 1955. Selected filmography * '' Iron Will'' (1923) * '' Gustaf Wasa'' (1928) * ''Cavaliers of the Crown'' (1930) ...

as Josef *

Magnus Kesster Magnus Kesster (29 July 1901 – 15 April 1975) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1937 and 1957. Selected filmography * ''The Pale Count'' (1937) * ''Happy Vestköping'' (1937) * ''A Cruise in the Albertina'' (1938 ...

as Dr. Blumenreich *Torsten Hillberg as Colonel *

Sigge Fürst Karl Sigurd Tore "Sigge" Fürst (3 November 1905 – 11 June 1984) was a Swedish film actor who appeared in more than 130 films. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden and died there of lung cancer in 1984. As well as appearing in films, Fürst ma ...

as Kubelik *

Ivar Kåge Ivar Kåge (21 February 1881 – 21 April 1951) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1913 and 1949. Selected filmography * '' The Conflicts of Life'' (1913) * ''Where the Lighthouse Flashes'' (1924) * '' The ...

as Marshal of the Court *

Sven Bergvall Sven Bergvall (25 May 1881 – 2 November 1960) was a Sweden, Swedish actor. Biography Bergvall made his stage debut in 1901 and was since 1917 at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Dramaten. He acted in Swedish films from 1914 to 1954. He fought en ...

as President of Poet's Academy

References

Bibliography

* Iverson, Gunnar, Soderbergh Widding, Astrid & Soila, Tytti. ''Nordic National Cinemas''. Routledge, 2005. * Qvist, Per Olov & von Bagh, Peter. ''Guide to the Cinema of Sweden and Finland''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. * Wright, Rochelle. ''The Visible Wall: Jews and Other Ethnic Outsiders in Swedish Film''. SIU Press, 1998.

External links

* 1944 films Films directed by Hasse Ekman 1940s Swedish-language films Swedish drama films 1944 drama films Swedish black-and-white films Swedish films based on plays Films set in Austria 1940s Swedish films {{1940s-Sweden-film-stub