Episode 55: Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Although he's primarily known for dark films like The Seventh Seal (1957) and Persona (1966), Ingmar Bergman skyrocketed to fame with Smiles of Summer Night (1955), a surprising quaint little farce in the nature of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Featuring a leading cast used in previous films (most notably Gunnar Bjornstrand and Eva Dahlbeck), Bergman's script explores the sexuality of a myriad of people from different social sets; of course, since this was made in 1955, the sexuality is conveyed in subtext beneath some clever dialogue and witty repartee, which is really where all the fun is in this film.  Bergman would go on to win an award for Best Poetic Humor at the Cannes Film Festival, and Swedish cinema hasn't been the same since. Have a comment or question for the host?  Email Sean at [email protected], follow him on Twitter via @1001MoviesPC, and look for the podcast's Facebook page.