''The Family Secret'' (Swedish: ''Familjens hemlighe'') is a 1936 Swedish

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Gustaf Molander Gustaf Harald August Molander (18 November 1888 – 19 June 1973) was a Swedish actor and film director. His parents were director Harald Molander, Sr. (1858–1900) and singer and actress Lydia Molander, ''née'' Wessler, and his brother was th ...

and starring

Olof Winnerstrand Carl Olof Magnus Winnerstrand (26 August 1875 – 16 July 1956) was a Swedish actor. Biography Born in a bourgeois home in Stockholm, Winnerstrand was a son of the well-known Stockholm goldsmith and jeweller C.A. Winnerstrand, and started ...

, Karin Swanström and Erik 'Bullen' Berglund.Qvist & Bagh p.145 It is based on the 1903 French play '' The Secret of Polichinelle'' by

Pierre Wolff Pierre Wolff (1 January 1865, in Paris – 1944) was a French playwright. Biography Pierre Wolff was a Jewish writer, who wrote numerous plays, as well as some libretti for operettas. He was the nephew of journalist Albert Wolff. His dramas wer ...

, and a French adaptation was also produced the same year. The film premiered in Gothenburg in December 1936. The film's sets were designed by the art director

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 ...

Synopsis

A middle class family, planning an arranged marriage for their adult son with a wealthy heiress, are shocked to discover that he is already engaged and has a small child with his fiancee.

Cast

as Arvid Ekman * Karin Swanström as Lillie Ekman * Erik 'Bullen' Berglund as John Hessler * Birgit Tengroth as Margit Berg *

Kotti Chave Kotti Chave (born Björn Julius Haraldsson Chave; 18 September 1911 – 4 May 1986) was a Finnish-born Swedish film actor.Quirk p.56 He was the son of the theatre actor Harald Sandberg. Selected filmography * ''In the Hour of Trial'' (1915) * ''T ...

as Arne Ekman *

Hjördis Petterson Hjördis Olga Maria Petterson (17 October 1908 – 27 May 1988) was a Swedish actress. She appeared in more than 140 films. She was born in Visby, Sweden and died in Stockholm. Selected filmography * ''Perhaps a Poet'' (1933) * ''Eva Goes ...

as Ellen Winkler * Gösta Bernhard as Olle *

Wiktor Andersson Wiktor Herman "Kulörten" Andersson (19 June 1887 – 13 September 1966) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1923 and 1958. Selected filmography * '' Boman at the Exhibition'' (1923) * '' A Stolen Waltz'' ( ...

as Orderly *

Ingrid Borthen Ingrid Borthen (1913–2001) was a Norwegian-born Swedish stage and film actress. Goble p.271 She was involved with the Dramatist Studio of Sweden in Stockholm. She was married to the actor Ulf Johanson. Selected filmography * '' The Family S ...

as Marianne Winkler, Ellen's daughter *

John Botvid John Botvid (12 September 1889 – 20 February 1964) was a Swedish actor and comedian. Biography John Botvid Börjesson was born at Gothenburg, Sweden. Botvid debuted as a film actor in 1917. He was frequently featured on the movie screen duri ...

as First mate * Greta Ericson as Gullan, Margit's friend at work * Jullan Jonsson as Emma, Hessler's housemaid * Ka Nerell as Greta, child nurse *

Ruth Weijden Ruth Weijden (born Ruth Augusta Gustafsson; 20 July 1889 – 27 June 1956) was a Swedish stage and film actress.Kwiatkowski p.45 Selected filmography * ''The Saga of Gosta Berling'' (1924) * '' Sin'' (1928) * '' Artificial Svensson'' (1929) * ' ...

as Maria, Ekman's housemaid

References

Bibliography

* Per Olov Qvist & Peter von Bagh. ''Guide to the Cinema of Sweden and Finland''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000.

External links

* 1936 films Swedish comedy films 1936 comedy films 1930s Swedish-language films Films directed by Gustaf Molander Remakes of French films Swedish films based on plays Swedish black-and-white films 1930s Swedish films {{1930s-Sweden-film-stub