Fänrik Ståls sägner (1926)

The two-part historical film Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926) is set during the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia in 1808-1809, during the Napoleonic era. The script was written by Ivar Johansson and was based on the epic poem 'The Tales of Ensign Stål' (1848) by nineteenth-century writer Johan Ludvig Runeberg. The silent Swedish film was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm, and exteriors were shot at Tavastehus, Ritoniemi, Ruovesi and other places. Cinematography was by Hugo Edlund and Karl Andersson, and sets were designed by Vilhelm Bryde. Runeberg's work had already been filmed in 1910 and would be remade again in 1939.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 461. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Edvin Adolphson as General G.K. von Döbeln in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 462. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Thor Modéen as General J.A. Sandels in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 463. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Nils Ohlin as Lt. Wilhelm von Schwerin in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 464. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Alfred Lundberg as General K.N. af Klercker in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 465. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Adolf Niska as the Russian Lt. Colonel Jakob Kulneff in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926).

Patriotic material in a highly literary setting

The first part of Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (1926) begins with the opening stanzas of 'Our Country', illustrated with Finnish landscape pictures. This is followed by the beginning of the frame story about the young Runeberg (played by his own great-grandson), who visits and eventually becomes good friends with Fänrik (Ensign) Stål, the narrator (John Ericsson). The film then links back to the situation of the frame story from time to time. Without clearly marked boundaries, the content of the following poems from 'The Tales of Ensign Stål' by Johan Ludvig Runeberg is retold in more or less detail with motifs from the Finnish War of 1808-1809: "The Governor", "Kulneff", "Field Marshal", "Trosskusken", "Old Lode", "von Törne", after which the capitulation of Sveaborg (Suomenlinna) is finally reconstructed.

In addition, there are also fragments from other legends. Two legends, 'Wilhelm von Schwerin' and 'Munter', begin here and end in the second part of Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (1926). The story of von Schwerin, played by Nils Ohlin, has been embroidered with a love story, which has no counterpart in Runeberg. In addition to Runeberg, Ericsson and Ohlin, other major actors in the film were, e.g. Einar Fröberg as field-marshall Klingspor, Alfred Lundberg as general af Klercker, Nils Wahlbom as general major Adlercreutz, Edvin Adolphson as major von Döbeln, Thor Modéen as major Sandels, Thor Christiernsson as lieutenant-colonel Lode, Helge Karlsson as Munter, and Adolph Niska as the Russian lieutenant-major Kunteff.

After the success of the first Karl XII film (1925), the team of Herman Rasch, Ivar Johansson and John W. Brunius began planning a film about Gustaf III, based on Carl Jonas Love Almquist's 'The Queen's Jewel'. The plans went as far as to begin filming, but were interrupted, probably for two main reasons: another film about Gustaf III was being filmed at the SF studios in 1925, and Gösta Ekman was lured over to Germany to play Faust and thus betrayed the team from Karl XII. Under the new company name Nordstjärnan, the gentlemen instead turned to another patriotic material in a highly literary setting, Runeberg's poem cycle about the Finnish war of 1808-1809, 'Fänrik Ståls sägner'. The project aroused fierce opposition in some quarters, mainly in Finland, where there was fear of a commercial desecration of the Runeberg text, especially after it leaked out that the fifteen-year-old Wilhelm von Schwerin had been provided with a love story in the film script. Despite Brunius's assurances that this fictionalisation was a mistake that should be eliminated, distrust of the film adaptation remained.

Once the film was completed, the criticism was no longer due to a lack of patriotic spirit. However, it caused a great stir within certain cinema owners' circles when this patriotic epic was handed over to the foreign distribution company Liberty by the exclusive rights holder, Svenska Biografernas Förening (Swedish Cinema Association), for distribution. By investing 100,000 kronor in the filming, the SBF had secured this exclusive right. The association would soon emerge as its own producer of historical spectacle films and - in competition with Nordstjärnan - record the genre's final disaster film, Gustaf Wasa in 1928 and 1928. Unlike most other 1920s films with historically patriotic motifs, Fänrik Stål's Tales seems to have been fairly successful financially. This does not mean that it was the greatest success with the public, but rather that it was cheaper to produce than Karl XII.

Unfortunately, even if some critics praised the patriotic feeling that the film evoked, the overall attitude of the reviewers was very critical. Monotonous and undramatic, theatrical and unrealistic were recurring objections, and the comparison with Herman Rasch and John W. Brunius's earlier historical splendour, Karl XII, did not turn out at all in the new film's favour. Dramaturgically, the film suffers from having no unifying central figure. As in Karl XII, the many episodes are presented as tableaux lined up on top of each other, and as such, emphasis is placed on connecting the imagery to well-known models from art. In Ensign Stål's Tales, it is primarily Albert Edelfelt's illustrations that Hugo Edlund's photographic compositions allude to.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 467. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Thor Christiernsson as Lt. Colonel K.L. Lode in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 468. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. John Ericsson as Ensign Stål and Carl Michael Runeberg as Johan Ludvig Runeberg, his great-grandfather, in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926). Caption: Runeberg and Ensign Stål.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 473. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Scene from Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926). Caption: The March of the Björnborgs.



Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 478. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Josef Fischer as Colonel Jägerhorn, Otto Malmberg as Admiral K.O. Cronstedt (Commander of Sveaborg), and Alfred Lundberg as General K.N. af Klercker in Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926). Caption: At Sveaborg.

Sources: Svensk Filmdatabas, Wikipedia (Swedish and English) and IMDb.