Freddy Wingardh (in his only known film appearance) is an Arctic explorer who returns from Greenland with an unusual specimen: Asta Nielsen, an Eskimo woman. As she stays around the family's estate, she causes a lot of problems with her behavior, rubbing noses with Wingardh, wearing pants and sleeping on the ground.... and giving birth to a baby.
When I think of Asta Nielsen, I certainly don't think of comedy, but she is fearlessly funny here. For a serious actor to assay this bumptious sort of humor is an act of bravery, and she certainly pulls out all stops, with her style of hairdo (it sticks up in a spike over her head), and her clear willingness to look bizarre. Still, Miss Nielsen was a fearless actress, willing to essay all sorts of roles, like streetwalker and a Prince of Denmark. It's a well constructed comedy; as soon as she has milked one set of gags for all they are worth, it's on to another, in a constant and varying demonstration that she may look odd to the staid family, but she knows what she wants and when she wants it... and gets it, too.
When I think of Asta Nielsen, I certainly don't think of comedy, but she is fearlessly funny here. For a serious actor to assay this bumptious sort of humor is an act of bravery, and she certainly pulls out all stops, with her style of hairdo (it sticks up in a spike over her head), and her clear willingness to look bizarre. Still, Miss Nielsen was a fearless actress, willing to essay all sorts of roles, like streetwalker and a Prince of Denmark. It's a well constructed comedy; as soon as she has milked one set of gags for all they are worth, it's on to another, in a constant and varying demonstration that she may look odd to the staid family, but she knows what she wants and when she wants it... and gets it, too.
