The title comes from a comment that Danish director Carl Dreyer made about Swedish director Victor Sjostrom, and the focus here is on the Svensk studio and the role played by adaptations of contemporary novels by the author Selma Lagerlof.
An overview of the French silent film industry during the twenties, covering technical and artistic innovations and achievements, and looking at the work of Abel Gance and Carl Dreyer, among others.
British silent film was small and old fashioned ; many actors snubbed working in movies and few establishment society figures respected directing. Documentary, however, was a field where there was a distinctive contribution.