Gjest Baardsen is a Norwegian film from 1939 written and directed by Tancred Ibsen. Alfred Maurstad played the title role. The film is based on the life of the outlaw Gjest Baardsen, but it is a blend of fact and fiction. The plot is taken from a chapbook published by Holger Sinding under the pseudonym Halle Sira.
The film was shot at the Fuhr farm in Luster Municipality, at Turtagrø in the Sognefjellet mountains in Luster Municipality, and at Videseter in the Strynefjellet mountains in Stryn Municipality.
The film was screened in the United States with English subtitles in the 1940s.
Contents
Plot
The film is set in a time of famine. Norway has been at war with England and Sweden, and times are difficult. Gjest Baardsen has gotten into trouble with the law, apparently due to a trifle. But Gjest breaks free, and instead it is the sheriff that is handcuffed while Gjest escapes.
Reviews
Newspapers have written the following about the film: "Meet the master thief and the folk hero Gjest Baardsen, who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. He tricks the constable and bailiff into a fight, and no prisons or chains can hold him." "Maurstad plays the folk hero with an obsessive freshness, with daring moves and a Hardanger fiddle, and escapes over fjords and mountains."
Cast
Alfred Maurstad as Gjest Baardsen
Vibeke Falk as Anna Reinche
Joachim Holst-Jensen as Mons Peder Michelsen, the jailer
Lauritz Falk as an officer
Jens Holstad as an officer
Karl Bergmann as Reincke, the customs officer
Sophus Dahl as a constable
Lars Tvinde as a constable
Sigurd Magnussøn as a constable
Henny Skjønberg as Karen
Henrik Børseth as a farmer
Edvard Drabløs as a fisherman
Martin Linge as a fisherman
Einar Tveito as Mathias Strandvik
Ole Leikvang as a farmer
Johannes Jensen as Johannes, the constable's officer
Victor Ivarson as the inspector
Johan Hauge as the judge
Hans Bille as the chief of police
Thorleif Mikkelsen as a policeman
Songs
"Fjellsangen" (lyrics by Holger Sinding, melody by Adolf Kristoffer Nielsen), sung by Alfred Maurstad
"Svarterabben" (lyrics and melody by Alfred Maurstad), sung by Alfred Maurstad
Alfred Maustad and an orchestra directed by Adolf Kristoffer Nielsen also recorded these two songs in Oslo on February 20, 1940. They were released on the Telefunken 78 rpm record T-8261, and the first song also on the Sonora 78 rpm record 3748.