Based on an oft-revived 1888 play by August Strindberg, this intense 1951 period drama was a particularly notable prestige project for director Alf Sjöberg, one of the most influential figures in Swedish cinema. The narrative examines the conflict between the noble and working class as the title character is tempted on Midsummer's Eve to throw off the shackles of her aristocratic life with her father after she falls in love with a servant, Jean, her father's lowly valet.

A famously speedy and turbulent writer, Strindberg explored all avenues of both fiction and autobiography but is most revered for his stage work, with this one falling in between his two other most famous plays, The Father (1886) and Creditors (1888). Sjöberg had successfully staged the play in 1950, which prompted the idea to translate it to film. On stage the action takes place entirely in the house's kitchen, but the film smartly opens it up to other areas of the estate for a more cinematic feel.

Furthermore, the play only features three characters as opposed to the numerous additional supporting and bit roles seen in the film. Cast in the title role, Anita Björk had been acting for less than a decade and remained active in Swedish cinema, with a brief detour into Hollywood filmmaking with Night People opposite Gregory Peck in 1954. Cast as Jean, Ulf Palme had been acting for seven years longer than his leading lady and would work with Sjöberg again two years later on Barabbas. Oddly enough, one of his most famous roles in one people have never had a chance to see: a pivotal part in Jerry Lewis's still-unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972). Perhaps the most unusual participant in the film is its cinematographer, Göran Strindberg, whose grandfather was the playwright's cousin. Though he worked for less than two decades, he was extremely prolific with well over sixty Swedish films to his credit.

The film proved to be popular in Europe, nabbing the Grand Prix at Cannes (in a tie with Miracle in Milan). That made it a natural choice for expedient export, with an American release following soon after. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times found it "a surprisingly fascinating film... the playing of it has hypnotic charm," while Newsweek noted that "Anita Björk suggests the young Garbo." (An amusing connection, as Sjöberg was actually Garbo's classmate at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Academy.) The film was released roadshow style in the United States by Trans Global Pictures, who had just scored a hit on the art house circuit with Max Ophüls' La Ronde.

Though Swedish cinema was about to be overtaken by Ingmar Bergman and company, Sjöberg continued to direct as well and even made another Strindberg adaptation, The Father (1969). The play has continued to enjoy a long life on the stage (including a revival by Ingmar Bergman in 1985) and on the screen, including a 1999 version by Mike Figgis (which retains the kitchen-only setting), a lavish Swedish production in 2013, and a Liv Ullmann-directed adaptation in 2014 with Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell. However, the Sjöberg film remains the definitive screeb version to date as well as a textbook example of how to adapt a confined play into a vibrant, relevant work of filmic art.

By Nathaniel Thompson