Valdemar Psilander is the small circus' leading clown. Gudrun Houlber, the beautiful bareback rider and he are in love. So, when he gets an offer from the great impressario, Erik Holberg, he takes along Gudrun and her parents. Within a few years, his act has made him famous and rich. One evening, he discovers that Gudrun and Count Robert Schmidt are having an affair. After she offers the usual banal apologies, he asks her if she loves Schmidt; she says she does, so he sends her to him.
Director A.W. Sandberg's movie of a clown suffering for a lost love -- don't they all? -- is a wonderfully well produced movie for the year it was made, with a fine assortment of shots, some unusual compositions (Psilander discovers the affair in a mirror at his dressing table), and some excellent acting. Sandberg seems to have been dissatisfied with the movie, because he made a longer version nine years later that was almost twice as long, but this one, telling the story almost purely from Psilander's viewpoint is a fine and effective version of the tale.
Director A.W. Sandberg's movie of a clown suffering for a lost love -- don't they all? -- is a wonderfully well produced movie for the year it was made, with a fine assortment of shots, some unusual compositions (Psilander discovers the affair in a mirror at his dressing table), and some excellent acting. Sandberg seems to have been dissatisfied with the movie, because he made a longer version nine years later that was almost twice as long, but this one, telling the story almost purely from Psilander's viewpoint is a fine and effective version of the tale.
