Everybody knows Hollywood. Many are familiar with the Swedish cinema and the names of Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström, Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman. Some have heard that there used to be a film production studio in Råsunda, Stockholm. But very few people know that the island of Lidingö once played a major role in Swedish filmmaking. More than a hundred silent films were produced here in the beginning of the 20th century, several of which really made film history.
AB Svenska Biografteatern, also called Svenska Bio, was founded in 1907 in Kristianstad with film producer Charles Magnusson as director. In 1911, Svenska Bio moved to the capital. A studio was built on a 1,650 square metre plot on Kvarnvägen, Lidingö (now Läroverksvägen 9). It was a two-story wooden building, the upper floor had glass walls and a glass roof that resembled a large greenhouse. On the ground floor there were make-up rooms, clothing, storage and an office. The recordings in the studio were made in daylight and the company produced about twenty feature films annually. In 1914, Svenska Bio's weekly review (Svenska Bios veckorevy) was launched. These were the first Swedish newsreel films, which presented filmed current events to cinemagoers.
In films that remain from the Lidingö period, you can recognize some places from the island. In “The Treasure” ("Herr Arnes penningar”) based on Selma Lagerlöf's novel and directed by Mauritz Stiller you can see the film's Marstrand, built next to the Lidingö studio. Just behind you can see the villas on Bredablickshöjden. In "Love and journalism" one can see children playing outside Hersby school.
Svenska Bio became internationally recognized thanks to the films directed by Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller. In the autumn of 1919, the studio had paid off. The business was expanded and continued the following year at the newly built film city in Råsunda (see our story about it
https://reveal.world/story/sweden-s-hollywood).
Unfortunately, the original building on Lidingö island did not survive.
