The Devil’s Wanton [Prison] [Fängelse] *** (1949, Doris Svedlund, Birger Malmsten, Eva Henning, Hasse Ekman) – Classic Movie Review 11,052

Writer-director Ingmar Bergman’s gloomy 1949 black and white drama The Devil’s Wanton [Prison] [Fängelse] is an intriguing early work from the Swedish maestro.

It is a typically dark and anxiety-ridden, though slightly faltering minor film from Bergman, in which a distraught prostitute heroine, Birgitta (Doris Svedlund), looks for love and comfort with a similarly distressed person, and finds it with a young writer.

His wife has abandoned him after their baby is killed by her lover.

The film starts with a hard-drinking writer (Birger Malmsten) telling his one-time maths pupil, now a film director (Hasse Ekman), the story as a movie project.

Instead of opening titles, an unseen narrator (Ekman) reads the credits and title ten minutes into the film. The only title is ‘Slut’ (Swedish for End).

The Swedish title Fängelse translates as Prison, one of its English language titles, though The Devil’s Wanton is much more entertaining.

Also in the cast are Stig Olin, Irma Christenson, Anders Henrikson, Marianne Löfgren, Bibi Lindqvist, Curt Masreliez, and Britta Holmberg.

The Devil’s Wanton [Prison] [Fängelse] is directed by Ingmar Bergman, runs 98 minutes, is made by Terrafilm, is released by Terrafilm (1949) (Sweden) and Astarte Films (1960) (UK), is written by Ingmar Bergman, is shot in black and white by Göran Strindberg, is produced by Lorens Marmstedt, is scored by Erland von Koch and designed by P A Lundgren.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,052

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