En Sølvbryllupsdag / Their Silver Wedding

Lau Lauritzen: En Sølvbryllupsdag / Their Silver Wedding (DK 1920). Oscar Stribolt (Mr. Gommersen), Olga Svendsen (Mrs. Ludovica Gommersen). Photo: Det Danske Filminstitut, København.

[Nozze d’argento] (DK 1920) regia/dir: Lau Lauritzen Sr. scen: Aage Brodersen. photog: Hugo J. Fischer. cast: Oscar Stribolt (Mr. Gommesen), Olga Svendsen (Mrs. Ludovica Gommesen), Lauritz Olsen (avvocato/Lawyer Vinkel), Aage Bendixen (suonatore di triplo corno/triple-horn player). prod: Nordisk Films Kompagni. dist: Fotorama. uscita/rel: 20.4.1920 (Palads, København). copia/copy: DCP, 17' (da/from 35 mm,18 fps; orig. l. 374 m); did./titles: SWE. fonte/source: Det Danske Filminstitut, København.

    Grand piano: Philip Carli.

    Teatro Verdi, Pordenone, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM): Slapstick Prog. 5 Marriage Rows, 13 Oct 2023.

Ulrich Rüdel (GCM 2023): " An actor and theater director, Lau Lauritzen Sr. (1878-1938) first worked in cinema in 1911, but it was his attachment to Nordisk in 1914 that initiated an extremely prolific career in silent comedy. After directing more than 200 comedy shorts at Nordisk he moved on to Palladium, where he established and directed the comedy team of Pat and Patachon through dozens of feature-film successes from 1921 onwards. Lau’s short Nordisk comedies benefit from a number of comic talents, such as stars Frederik Buch and Carl Alstrup, as well as supporting actors like Carl Schenstrøm, soon to find true fame as the tall partner in the “Pat and Patachon” series as Fy, short for Fyrtårnet (literally, “The Lighthouse”), in Scandinavia, and “Pat” internationally. "

" In En Sølvbryllupsdag, the comedy is carried by the wonderful, too-obvious-not-to-team duo of portly Oscar Stribolt (probably best known as the memorable monk in Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan, 1922) with the equally rotund and brimmingly delightful comedienne Olga Svendsen, who were already paired in popular stage revues starting in 1914. In the story’s charming opener, the two Gommesens wake up in marital happiness, but when an argument ensues, Mrs. Gommesen storms out of the building. In true marital farce fashion (foreshadowing Seven Chances), the lawyer Vinkler enters the scene with a check for 25,000 kroner from an uncle in Chicago, which can be cashed only upon condition of a proven, peaceful, happy marriage. A nicely staged and photographed chase through Copenhagen and an increasingly inebriated lawyer enter the mix as Mr. Gommesen frantically tries to find his wife and put things right. Also seen in the cast as one of the musicians come to serenade the couple, playing the triple French horn, is diminutive Aage Bendixen, whom Lauritzen would team with Schenstrøm in two 1919 Nordisk shorts, and subsequently two 1921/22 Palladium films, in his first attempt to create the team later known as “Pat and Patachon.” En Sølvbryllupsdag had some success abroad, including in Britain, where it was released by Wardour Films in June 1922 as Their Silver Wedding. "

" Comedies such as this suggest that through his comedy assembly line, Lauritzen provided the Nordic equivalent of the charming, slapstick-infused comedies starring John Bunny and Flora Finch or Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew enjoyed by contemporary American audiences. At the same time, these were forerunners of the popular Danish comedies, or folkekomedie, of the 1930s to 1950s. Arguably, this kind of story also provided the narrative framework creatively and successfully employed for the “Pat and Patachon” slapstick concept to carry entire feature films, basically an inversion of what was to detrimentally water down, for example, the Marx Brothers’ antics at M-G-M. A romantic plot, here in the shape of a light comedy, provides enough solid narrative structure and emotional engagement to sustain a feature-length film, while two slapstick comics entangled in and merely supporting the story effectively become the main attraction. A case in point is Lauritzen’s Sol, Sommer og Studiner [Sun, Summer, and Studies] from 1921 – intended and released as a Stribolt feature, it made supporting comics Pat and Patachon, played by Schenstrøm and Madsen, brand-new film stars, and eventually the hit export of 1920s Danish silent cinema. " – Ulrich Rüdel

AA: "A lean accord is better than a fat quarrel" (a Finnish proverb in verbatim translation). The silver bride does the Nora thing and bangs the door of the doll house for good, we are led to believe. But a cash reward from a rich American uncle is available for a lasting solid marriage through thick and thin, till death do us part. A frantic chase through Copenhagen is needed until things can be put right again. Yes, Lau Lauritzen is a good director of comedy, with talent in directing actors, too.