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This movie was restored by
the Archival Film Collections, the Swedish Film Institute
THE WOMAN HE CHOSE
The five act film drama is based upon the story of the same name by
Directed by VICTOR SJÖSTRÖM
Photography by HENRIK JAENZON
Act one.
The Marsh Croft lay at the base of the forest ridge that enclosed the parish.
The valley lay like a world apart,
with which the forest and all that belonged to it had nothing in common.
The marsh which had given the croft its name.
The girl from the Marsh Croft ... Greta Almroth.
Helga's parents ... William Larsson and Thekla Borg.
"You are going with me to Per Mårtensson!
"If he does not willingly accept the child,
"you will have to take him to court."
"No, no, father - not that! I will provide for my child on my own!"
Per Mårtensson from the West Farm ... Gösta Cederlund.
His wife ... Edla Rothgardt.
"Do you willingly admit that you are the father of her child?"
"Then you will be reported to the court!"
The day of the trial.
Gudmund Erlandsson ... Lars Hansson.
His parents.
Mother Ingeborg had been ill for several years.
She could not walk, but sat still in a chair day in and day out.
Mother Ingeborg ... Concordia Selander.
Erland Erlandsson was a very withdrawn man
and so taciturn that he sometimes didn't utter a single word throughout a day...
Erland... Hjalmar Selander.
"Give the papers to the juryman and tell him to make sure the judge gets them."
"Oh, then it's you - you, who..."
"I thought you knew who I was. Or I should not have gotten on!"
The juryman's Hildur at Älvåkra ... Karin Molander.
"I drove over to ask if the Juryman would ride with me.
"I am going to the court house as well."
"No, he has already gone; Father is always so punctual."
"But, I dare say, he would have been pleased to ride behind such a fine horse
"and in such a splendid cart as the one Gudmund has."
The court house.
The juryman Erik Persson was the richest and most powerful man in the parish...
TO BE CONTINUED
THE WOMAN HE CHOSE ACT TWO
The judge... Nils Arehn.
"Helga Nilsdotter against Per Mårtensson of the West Farm."
"She is standing outside, I guess she is too ashamed to come in."
She knew how severe the people in the parish were
on any issues which affected the marriage relation.
They knew of no worse sin than the one she had committed.
"Does Per Mårtensson keep up his denial of paternity?"
"Are you prepared to take the oath thereon?"
"Place two fingers on the Holy Scriptures!"
Helga knows that there is nothing so terrible as perjury.
There is no mercy or condonation for it.
The gates of the infernal regions open up when the perjurer's name is mentioned
"I Per Mårtensson swear and testify..."
"He must not take the oath!"
"He must not forswear himself!"
"He is the father of the child, but I do not want him to forswear himself!
"I wish to withdraw the claim!"
The judge is no longer rueful at his people,
since he has found so much love and godliness in one of the humblest.
"The case shall be stricken!"
"Thank you!"
"Don't you think it's hard enough for me already -
"do you also have to mock me!"
When Gudmund arrived home he told his mother about the session and Helga.
"There seems to be something good in that Marsh Croft girl still.
"She might be very grateful to any one who helped her now."
It occurred to him that he ought to go to the Marsh Croft
and deliver his mother's greeting that very evening.
"Is that you, Helga, who is sitting here crying?"
"You look as though you wanted to jump into the lake!"
"Well, what matters it if I did -
"it is best for a miserable creature like me to put an end to myself!"
"You must calm down and listen to me if you want me to help you!"
"I have spoken with mother about you, and she has sent me to you.
"She thinks of asking if you would care to take service with us."
"Does she know that..."
"She knows as much about you as all the rest do."
"You deserve thanks for coming. You have saved my life."
"Come, let me accompany you inside to your parents."
"You can be proud of your daughter. She did so well at the court house
"that the judge took her by the hand and thanked her in front of everyone."
"Well, then you will come to Närlunda tomorrow and talk with mother!"
Helga came to Närlunda, and there all went well.
"Hildur and her parents will visit us this afternoon!"
"But do you think that the good and magnificent juryman's Hildur
"would keep someone like me in her house?"
TO BE CONTINUED
THE WOMAN HE CHOSE ACT THREE
Then the juryman came to Närlunda with his wife and daughter.
This was the first time that Helga saw, at close range,
her whom Gudmund was to marry.
"But that's the Marsh Croft girl!"
"You cannot possibly have taken that Marsh Croft girl into your household?"
"If that girl is staying here at Närlunda then I'll never come here!"
"I guess Helga will have to leave. One cannot sacrifice Hildur for her."
"You may go to mother - she wishes to talk with you."
"It is not with my good will that I am letting you leave.
"But so long as I have any power here, you shall never have to suffer want."
"Doubtless, she is one of those who think first and foremost on themselves."
Helga had become for him a standard by which he measured people...
The day Helga was to move, the master drove her up to the Marsh Croft himself.
"When you have finished weaving the linen cloth you shall bring it to me,
"and then I will provide you with more work."
"Thank you for all."
A few days before the wedding Gudmund drove to town.
He happened to come across a number of young men from his parish.
Every evening Helga sat staring down at the valley.
She felt as though she had left all of her happiness down there.
All insisted that Gudmund must drink,
and they succeeded finally in getting him thoroughly intoxicated.
TO BE CONTINUED
THE WOMAN HE CHOSE ACT FOUR
He returned home so late that he slept far into the afternoon.
"It looks as though I had been in a fight last night."
He tried to remember what had happened during the night,
but it was like trying to peer into a great darkness.
...between some drunken farmers and workers.
The fighters fled as soon as the police turned up,
but one of them lay dead on the ground.
A broken off knife-blade from a large clasp-knife was found embedded
in the dead man's skull, and using this clue the police has now succeeded in...
"What is going on here? Where are you going?"
"Come! Quick! Help me over to the window!"
"For God's sake, tell me what it is!"
"Is our Gudmund a murderer? That is not possible!"
No matter how much he ponders he cannot remember anything about the fight...
Still: the broken off knife-blade was surely enough proof...
"We shall say nothing. He must make a confession on his own."
The wedding day.
"Look, the youths come rowing - they have all dressed up!"
Gudmund has to say one more goodbye before he leaves the farm.
"I wanted to wish Gudmund all the best for his wedding day."
"I do not deserve that you are all so good to me!...
"Father, I have killed a man!"
"What gave you the idea to confess now?"
"It was because Helga came and wished me luck.
"Then there was something hard in me that broke..."
"Now I think you agree with me that we must let the juryman know this at once."
TO BE CONTINUED
THE WOMAN HE CHOSE ACT FIVE
"Do you have any idea why Gudmund and his father have not yet arrived?"
"We would like a private conference with you and Hildur before we proceed."
"I think you must have read about a fight in town the other night,
"where a man was killed..."
"I happened to be in town that night..."
"Gudmund had drunk too much that night."
"When I read in the papers
"that a knife-blade was embedded in the dead man's skull,
"I took out my knife and saw that a blade was missing..."
"Wont you say farewell to me, Hildur?"
"Was it with that hand you guided the knife?"
"Now I am sure of my situation. It would be best to cancel the wedding."
"I will go to the sheriff now. Go home and say goodbye to mother."
''Why, it is she that I'm fond of!
"Think, that I did not know it until now!"
"My eyes have been opened! It is you that I'm fond of!
"Now that I am freed I can tell you!"
"Perhaps it is with you as with Hildur, you are afraid of me?
"- Or... perhaps you still love that Per Mårtensson?"
"Yes, I have already told you that I like him..."
"Farewell, then! Now we must go our separate ways, you and I!"
"A messenger has arrived for you from Närlunda!
"I told her to go to the dairy since the house is still full of guests."
"Before I say anything more, I must know if Hildur loves Gudmund."
"Perhaps I have never loved him so much as today..."
"Hildur must come with me at once
"and say that Hildur will wait devotedly for Gudmund while he is in prison -
"then all will be well between you!"
"Never do I want to marry anyone who has been in prison!"
"Gudmund is innocent! No one else knows of it than I."
"The day Hildur came to visit Närlunda."
"I was afraid that Gudmund would be mad at me,
"so I never told him that I had broken the knife.
"And he has probably never noticed it himself."
"Before he learns that he has done no wrong,
"Hildur must go to him, as if of her own accord, and make it up."
"Shall I not say that I know he is innocent?"
Murderer found this morning. Lemdström, District commissioner
"Now I wont go further. Hildur must go alone to the farm now.
"But Hildur must take care she never mentions that I have talked to Hildur."
"It is with Gudmund that I wish to have a word or two..."
"I was... it was much too hard, that which I said to you this morning..."
"No! I cannot lie! I don't want you to think that I'm better than I am!
"There was someone who came to me and told me that you were innocent
"and advised me to try to make everything right again..."
"...and I was not to mention that I already knew you were innocent,
"for then you wouldn't think it so noble of me to come..."
"Who gave you that advice?"
"It was Helga who wished that I won you back
"by making you think that I'm better than I am..."
She could see in his eyes that he now knew where he had her.
Now she could no longer run away from him.
THE END