Arne Mattsson

Who was Arne Mattsson?

Arne Mattsson was a Swedish film director, born in Uppsala.

His early movies were mostly comedies. His biggest success was Hon dansade en sommar, which earned him the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and a nomination for the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952. It caused some controversy at the time because it containined nudity.

His 1953 film of Peder Sjögren's second novel, Bread of Love, based on Sjögren's experiences as a volunteer in the Finnish Continuation War of 1941-44 angered the author, was banned in Finland and incurred the wrath of the Soviets at the Cannes Film Festival. In spite of all this, Sjögren grudgingly admitted that as a study of men under severe pressure it was impressive.

In 1958 he directed Damen i svart, the first in the series of five Hillman-thrillers, centred on Folke Mellvig's crime-solving middle-class city couple Kajsa and John Hillman. The second in the series, Mannekäng i rött, is considered by some to be a precursor of the Italian giallo films, notably Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace.