The Phantom Carriage
Short description
The Phantom Carriage follows David Holm, a man who has descended into alcoholism and cruelty toward those close to him. On New Year's Eve he sits drinking in a cemetery with two companions as they recall an old belief: the last sinner to die before midnight on New Year's Eve is condemned to drive Death's carriage for the coming year, gathering the souls of the dead until the burden passes to someone else at the next year's end. David dies as midnight strikes, and the phantom driver arrives to claim him, forcing him to confront the wreckage of his past.
Victor Sjöström directed and wrote the screenplay, with Charles Magnusson producing for SF Studios. Sjöström also plays David Holm, and the cast includes Hilda Borgström as Mrs. Holm, Tore Svennberg as Georges, Astrid Holm as Sister Edit, Concordia Selander and Lisa Lundholm. The film marked the third feature in the director's career, following A Man There Was and A Lover in Pawn, and was part of a productive Swedish period before he moved to Hollywood.
On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.7 out of 10 based on 375 votes. The film runs 108 minutes and blends drama, fantasy and horror through its supernatural premise and the ghostly carriage at its center.
What's left behind the scenes
- In accordance with the rules of the time, the film (1920) was expected to face the censors' scissors due to its supernatural theme; however, the censors decided not to deal with the film at all, which in their view was preferable to the scandals with screenwriter Selma Lagerlöf that would have inevitably followed otherwise.
- While preparing for filming, director and screenwriter Victor Sjöström spent some time in the slums of Stockholm, pretending to be a pauper.
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