Mauritz Stiller

Background

Mauritz Stiller was born in Helsinki, his family was of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, having lived in Russia and Poland before settling in Finland. At age four, Stiller's mother committed suicide, after which he was raised by family friends.

Education

Mauritz Stiller was educated locally.

Career

Stiller has been overshadowed by his own discovery, Greta Garbo. He chose her for her first big part in The Atonement of Gosta Berling, a film seen by Louis B. Mayer in 1925. It is not clear on exactly what terms Mayer invited its actress and director to Europe. MGM were not averse to Swedish talent: they were having some success with Victor Sjostrom. Josef von Sternberg let it be known that he urged Stiller on Mayer and suggested that Garbo be brought along “in the luggage.’’ But the briefest survey of Mayers career emphasizes that he would have been more susceptible to Garbo’s talents than to Stiller’s. Events make it fairly clear that Stiller was the passenger. MGM never really employed him, and Mayer jealously guarded Garbo against her former Svengali. Garbo’s American debut, Tim Torrent, was assigned to Monta Bell, and Stiller pointedly neglected. Hotel Imperial, The Woman on Trial, and The Street of Sin were all made at Paramount, while The Temptress Garbo’s second film was quickly removed from Stiller’s hands. He returned to Sweden in rage and died within a year.

All of which makes it difficult to assess his contribution as a director. He was widely held to be one of the leading Swedish directors, matched only by Sjostrom. Stiller worked in a variety of genres, and Sir Arne’s Treasure is a magnificent spectacle concerning Scottish mercenaries in a wintry, sixteenth-century Sweden. But his most characteristic vein was comedy unusually sophisticated and often dealing with an artist figure. Thus the two Thomas Graal films are instances of the fusion of art and life, such as has preoccupied Bergman. While Erotikon, a story about the love life of a sculptor, has the sort of sexual interchange of Smiles of a Summer Night and Now, About These Women.

Works

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  • Sir Arne's Treasure

    (Sir Arne's Treasure: Erik Stocklassa, Bror Berger, Richar...)

  • The Saga Of Gosta Berling (Silent): Greta Garbo, Mauritz Stiller, Lars Hanson

    (Buy The Saga Of Gosta Berling (Silent): Read 19 Movies & ...)

  • Sir Arne's Treasure: Concordia Selander, Mary Johnson, Gosta Gustafson, Axel Nilsson

    (Buy Sir Arne's Treasure: Read 9 Movies & TV Reviews - Ama...)

  • Erotikon: Anders De Wahl, Karin Molander, Mauritz Stiller, Charles Magnusson: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy Erotikon: Read 10 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazon.com)