''Iron Wills'' (Swedish: ''Hårda viljor'') is a 1923 Swedish silent

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by John W. Brunius and starring Eugen Skjønberg,

Linnéa Hillberg Linnéa Paulina Hillberg ; 26 October 1892 – 3 July 1977) was a Swedish actress. Biography Born in Uddevalla on the Swedish west coast, Linnéa Hillberg made her stage debut in 1913. Early on she acted (1914–18) with the Karin Swanström T ...

and Torsten Hillberg.Sadoul p.32 It was shot 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 of its time in Europe. It was built in 1919–1920 based on designs by Swedish arch ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and on location in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

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

Axel Esbensen.

Plot

Fredrik Mack owns a large glue factory in a fishing village in

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

. Mack is the most powerful man in the area. Among his subordinates is the telegraph operator Ove Rolandsen, a real ladies' man who shamelessly takes advantage of the affection that Marie van Loos, the local priest's housekeeper, has for him. Rolandsen lives with the fisherman Levion, where, in his spare time, he experimented with and invented a glue that is better than Mack's. When Mack's daughter Elise returns from her studies in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

, Rolandsen pursues her. She is not completely immune to his charm but is also wooed by the more stately Captain Henriksen. There is a heated argument between Marie van Loos and the over-refreshed Rolandsen at a party at Mack's house. Captain Henriksen takes advantage of the situation and tricks Rolandsen into proposing to Elise, who mockingly rejects him. This leads to his public humiliation and sudden engagement to Marie. After a burglary at Mack's house, Rolandsen, in need of money, falsely confesses to the crime and receives the reward offered for identifying the thief, even if it was the thief themselves. This results in Rolandsen losing both his job and fiancée. He redeems himself by rescuing Elise from an assault. The real burglar is later revealed to be the

poacher Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunti ...

and moonshiner Enok, clearing Rolandsen's name. Ultimately, Rolandsen receives a lucrative patent offer for his glue and forms a business partnership with Mack. He and Elise reconcile and unite their futures.

Cast

* Eugen Skjønberg as Ove Rolandsen *

as Marie van Loos * Torsten Hillberg as Fredrik Mack Jr. *

Karin Alexandersson Karin may refer to: *Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vampire'', a Japanese media franchise * Karin Hanazono, title character of the manga and anime ''Kamichama Karin'' *Karin Kokubu, a main character in ...

as Priest's Wife * Solveig Bang as Helga Levion * Lilla Bye as Elise Mack *

Helge Kihlberg Helge or Helgi is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch mostly male name. The name is derived from Proto-Norse ''Hailaga'' with its original meaning being ''dedicated to the gods''. For its Slavic version, see Oleg. Its feminine equivalent is Olga. ...

as Guest * William Larsson as Levion *

Yngve Nyqvist Yngve is a Scandinavian male given name, mostly used in Sweden and Norway. It is the modern form of either Old Norse Yngvi or of Ingwin. ''Yngvi'' was the Old Norse name of the Germanic god ''Ingu-'', later identified with Freyr, or of ''Ingwian- ...

as Henriksen * Gustav Ranft as Fredrik Mack Sr. *

Carl Ström Carl Johan Vilhelm 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 Wills'' (1923) * '' Gustaf Wasa'' (1928) * '' Cavaliers of the C ...

as Priest * Albert Ståhl as Enok

References

Bibliography

* Hjort, Mette & Lindqvist, Ursula. ''A Companion to Nordic Cinema''. John Wiley & Sons, 2016. * Sadoul, Georges. ''Dictionary of Film Makers''. University of California Press, 1972.

External links

* 1923 films 1923 drama films Swedish silent feature films Swedish black-and-white films Films directed by John W. Brunius 1920s Swedish-language films Films based on works by Knut Hamsun Silent Swedish drama films 1920s Swedish films {{1920s-Sweden-film-stub