Director Carl Theodor Dreyer made his first two films, The President (1919) and Leaves From Satan's Book (1921) in his native Denmark. For his third film, Dreyer signed a one-picture deal with the Swedish company Svensk Filmindustri. The director was hoping for more artistic freedom and more financial stability in the Swedish film industry. After all, Svensk Filmindustri was the home of director Victor Sjostrom, whose work Dreyer admired. This third film was to be Parson's Widow (1920). It was based on a novel by Kristofer Janson called Praestankan that took place in a rural parsonage in 17th century Norway, a setting that gave Dreyer the chance to make a film that dealt with everyday people.

The plot of Parson's Widow revolves around a 70-year-old widow, a parson's wife, who has now been widowed for the third time. With her husband's death, the church must select a new parson. But, according to tradition, the replacement must not only accept the position and take over the residence, he must also marry the former parson's widow. Three candidates are considered, but matters get more complicated once the selection is made -- when the chosen one falls for a younger woman.

Dreyer intended Parson's Widow to be a comedy, but it certainly has its dramatic moments as well. Film critics have mused that it is indeed two films in one -- a light comedy on the surface but a drama at heart, especially when the widow (played by Hildur Carlberg) is on screen. Carlberg was in her eighties when Parson's Widow was made, and Dreyer realized early on that his lead actress was not well. "She worked very hard and we were uneasy about her health," Dreyer recalled. "One day she took me aside and said, 'Don't be alarmed. I promise you I'll not die until we have finished the shooting.'" Carlberg kept her promise, but unfortunately she didn't live long enough to see the finished film, a fact that makes her scenes in Parson's Widow all the more poignant.

Parson's Widow was filmed in Lillehammer, Norway at Maihaugen -- a recreated village that displays over 500 years of Norwegian history. The collection of homes and other buildings (now numbering over 180 structures) was assembled by a dentist named Anders Sandvig. He started the museum in 1887 to preserve part of the culture for future generations. Sandvig explained his vision of the open air museum this way: "I see Maihaugen fully completed as a collection of homes, where you might step inside to the people who once lived there, and learn their ways of life, their taste, their work." The buildings, which were located all over Norway, were disassembled, brought to Maihaugen and rebuilt in their original manner. And thanks to this detailed, preexisting location, Dreyer did not build a single set for Parson's Widow. Even the furniture and props were part of the collection. Dreyer would again use Maihaugen as a backdrop in 1926 when he filmed The Bride of Glomdal.

Parson's Widow was the first of Dreyer's films to have a regular showing in the U.S. It also played in New York when Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) premiered, under the misleading title The Witch Woman.

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Screenplay: Carl Theodor Dreyer, Kristofer Janson (story)
Cinematography: George Schneevoigt
Cast: Greta Almroth (Mari), Einar Rod (Sofren), Hildur Carlberg (Margarete Pedersdotter), Olav Aukrust (First Candidate), Emil Helsengreen (The Gardener), Mathilde Nielsen (Gunvor).
BW-80m.

by Stephanie Thames