Eventyret om dansk film 1: Filmen kommer til Danmark - 1896-1909

Margrete Jespersen

Viggo Larsen

The peace of the anarchist and his wife&apos;s house is disturbed by the mother-in-law. He sees no other advice than to blow her up.

Anarkistens svigermor

Denmark&apos;s Contribution to the Chase

&quot;The Anarchist&apos;s Mother-in-Law&quot; was an early production for the then-new Nordisk studio. Through the 1910s, Nordisk was Denmark&apos;s biggest movie producer--a period that was arguably the golden age of Danish cinema due to their unusually significant international influence and market share. During the 1910s, directors like Carl Dreyer, Benjamin Christensen and August Blom and stars Asta Nielsen and Valdemar Psilander emerged. At this early stage, Viggo Larsen was Nordisk&apos;s regular director. Given that supposedly the first Danish fictional film (&quot;Capital Execution&quot; (&quot;Henrettelsen&quot;, 1903)) was made only three years before this one, &quot;The Anarchist&apos;s Mother-in-Law&quot; is well made for the time.

This short comedy tells an intelligible narrative in nine scenes without the aid of title cards. In it, the &quot;anarchist&quot; husband is caught canoodling the maid by his wife and his mother-in-law (played by a man in drag). The mother-in-law, then, chases him through the home and outside after he jumps through a window. The final scene has the anarchist planting a chair and pan of water for the mother-in-law to trip over and has him blowing her up with dynamite. This film is intelligible because it relies upon early international comedy trademarks: violent and broad knockabout humor, punishing a cheating husband, the man in drag and the chase. Thousands of early films were made with variations on this formula. (I&apos;ve been especially interested in the history of early chase films, and have commented on IMDb on many of them from various countries.)

&quot;The Anarchist&apos;s Mother-in-Law&quot; also features a primitive jump cut once to transition between scenes and again for trick effects.

"The Anarchist's Mother-in-Law" was an early production for the then-new Nordisk studio. Through the 1910s, Nordisk was Denmark's biggest movie producer--a period that was arguably the golden age of Danish cinema due to their unusually significant international influence and market share. During the 1910s, directors like Carl Dreyer, Benjamin Christensen and August Blom and stars Asta Nielsen and Valdemar Psilander emerged. At this early stage, Viggo Larsen was Nordisk's regular director. Given that supposedly the first Danish fictional film ("Capital Execution" ("Henrettelsen", 1903)) was made only three years before this one, "The Anarchist's Mother-in-Law" is well made for the time.

This short comedy tells an intelligible narrative in nine scenes without the aid of title cards. In it, the "anarchist" husband is caught canoodling the maid by his wife and his mother-in-law (played by a man in drag). The mother-in-law, then, chases him through the home and outside after he jumps through a window. The final scene has the anarchist planting a chair and pan of water for the mother-in-law to trip over and has him blowing her up with dynamite. This film is intelligible because it relies upon early international comedy trademarks: violent and broad knockabout humor, punishing a cheating husband, the man in drag and the chase. Thousands of early films were made with variations on this formula. (I've been especially interested in the history of early chase films, and have commented on IMDb on many of them from various countries.)

"The Anarchist's Mother-in-Law" also features a primitive jump cut once to transition between scenes and again for trick effects.

The peace of the anarchist and his wife's house is disturbed by the mother-in-law. He sees no other advice than to blow her up.

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