''Barabbas'' is a 1953 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 ...

directed by

Alf Sjöberg Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg (21 June 1903 – 17 April 1980) was a Swedish theatre and film director. He won the Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for '' Torment'' ( sv, Hets) (part of an eleven-way tie), and in 1951 ...

. It is based on the 1950 novel ''

Barabbas Barabbas (; ) was, according to the New Testament, a prisoner who was chosen over Jesus by the crowd in Jerusalem to be pardoned and released by Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the Passover feast. Biblical account According to all four canoni ...

'' by

Pär Lagerkvist Pär Fabian Lagerkvist (23 May 1891 – 11 July 1974) was a Swedish author who received the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature. Lagerkvist wrote poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his ...

about the biblical character who was released instead of Jesus. The film was entered in the

1953 Cannes Film Festival The 6th Cannes Film Festival was held from 15 to 29 April 1953. The Grand Prix of the Festival went to ''The Wages of Fear'' by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The festival opened with '' Horizons sans fin'' by Jean Dréville. During the opening ceremony ...

. It was one of the biggest Swedish productions of its time. In 1961 an American adaptation of the same novel was released, starring

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

in the lead role.

Cast

* Ulf Palme as Barabbas *

Georg Årlin Georg Adolf Wilhelm Årlin (30 December 1916 – 27 June 1992) was a Swedish film actor who appeared in 50 films between 1940 and 1988. Born in Rödeby, a southern Sweden locality in Blekinge County's Karlskrona Municipality, Georg Årlin di ...

as Lazarus *

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 Hjalm ...

as Leper at Death Valley *

Eva Dahlbeck Eva Elisabet Dahlbeck (8 March 1920 – 8 February 2008) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film ''Brink of Life'' (1958). Dahlbeck retired ...

as The Mother * Sture Ericson as Father of hare-lipped * Sven-Eric Gamble as Christian in slave caves at Rome *

Åke Grönberg Karl Åke Edvard Grönberg (26 March 1914 – 15 September 1969) was a Swedish film actor who appeared in nearly 100 films. Grönberg was a versatile stage personality of his day, performing as a singer, variety artist, actor, in musical show ...

as Armful watchman at Rome *

Erik Hell Erik Hell (11 August 1911 – 11 March 1973) was a Swedish actor. Hell was born in Kalliokoski, Finland, to a Norwegian father and a Finnish mother. He moved to Sweden with his family in 1918 during the Finnish Civil War. He married the actre ...

as Man at Jerusalem *

Anders Henrikson Anders Henrik Henrikson (13 June 1896 – 17 October 1965) was a Swedish actor and film director. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1913 and 1965. He also directed 30 films between 1933 and 1956. Selected filmography Actor * '' The ...

as Roman procurator on Cyprus *

Barbro Hiort af Ornäs Barbro Hiort af Ornäs (28 August 1921 – 27 November 2015) was a Swedish stage and film actress. Biography She was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, the daughter of Alma ( née Ärnström) and Erik Hiort af Ornäs. She had a brother, Torbjorn. ...

as Maria of Magdala *

Jarl Kulle Jarl Lage Kulle (28 February 1927 – 3 October 1997) was a Swedish film and stage actor and director, and father of Maria Kulle. Kulle was born in the village of Truedstorp, outside Ekeby, Sweden, and was the son of the merchant Nils Kulle a ...

as Leper at Death Valley * Torsten Lilliecrona as Supervisor at copper mine on Cyprus * Peter Lindgren as Soldier which assaulted gang *

Yvonne Lombard Yvonne Lombard (born 28 May 1929) is a Swedish actress. Born in Stockholm, Lombard studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten") there, where she trained between 1948 and 1951 with the likes of Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin. She has per ...

as Prostitute *

Holger Löwenadler Holger Carl Minton Löwenadler (1 April 1904 – 18 June 1977) was a Swedish film actor. He starred in Ingmar Bergman's ''A Ship to India'' (1947). He appeared in ''Divorced'' (1951), which was written by Bergman. Other appearances include ...

as Thief * Stig Olin as Member of Barabbas' gang *

Per Oscarsson Per Oscar Heinrich Oscarsson (28 January 1927 – 31 December 2010) was a Swedish actor. He is best known for his role in the 1966 film ''Hunger'', which earned him a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Early life Oscarsson was born, along ...

as Boy *

Gösta Prüzelius Karl Gösta Prüzelius (11 August 1922 – 15 May 2000) was a Swedish actor. His first film part was in the 1945 film Flickorna i Småland. He played in films as diverse as '' Summer with Monika'', '' Space Invasion of Lapland'', ''Fanny and ...

as Member of Barabbas' gang * Sif Ruud as Fat Woman * Gunnar Sjöberg as Supervisor at copper mine on Cyprus *

Erik Strandmark Erik Alfred Strandmark (14 September 1919 – 5 January 1963) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Torsåker, Sweden and died in a plane crash in Trinidad and Tobago in 1963. Partial filmography * ''Live Dangerously'' (1944) - Corpora ...

as Petrus

Production

After a year of preparation, shooting started in the spring of 1952 in Israel and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and then moved to Sweden for interior scenes during the summer. As the assigned cinematographer Göran Strindberg became ill early during production, the still up-and-coming

Sven Nykvist Sven Vilhem Nykvist (; 3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer. He worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman. He won Academy Awards for his work on two Bergman fil ...

, later star cinematographer for Ingmar Bergman, had to replace him for the exterior shots. Additional filming occurred during the autumn and into December.Summary at Svenskfilmdatabas.se
(in Swedish) '' Swedish Film Institute''

References

External links

* * 1953 films 1953 drama films 1950s Swedish-language films Swedish black-and-white films Films based on Swedish novels Films directed by Alf Sjöberg Films based on the Gospels Swedish drama films Films set in Cyprus Films shot in Israel Films shot in Rome Films shot in Sweden Portrayals of Mary Magdalene in film 1950s Swedish films {{1950s-Sweden-film-stub