At the beginning of the last century, Viktor Sjöström was a major player in Swedish cinema. Something that soon attracted wide, international attention. So, in 1924 the director was invited to Hollywood to take charge of "He Who Gets Slapped" - the very first feature film at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The result was a smash hit.
But in Tinseltown you're only as good as your latest movie. Soon, the studio asked Sjöström to film "The Wind", a project that forced the director to shoot for several weeks in the soaring heat of the Mojave Desert. And not only that. To simulate the severe weather conditions required by the story, the film company hired eight giant wind machines. These were used to create the devastating sandstorms that almost drove the film's young heroine insane. Lillian Gish, who played the lead role, later revealed that "The Wind" was one of the most challenging movies she had ever appeared in.
In the summer of 1927, Viktor Sjöström finished the shooting. He and producer Irving Thalberg were pleased with the result, but were in for a shock when high-ranking studio executives in New York saw the movie. They believed that the ending was too dark and ordered Sjöström to call in his actors again to do reshoots. It would take a full eighteen months before the Swedish director managed to complete a film that MGM's management could finally approve.
Unfortunately, the delay proved disastrous for "The Wind". During the time that Viktor Sjöström and his crew were recording a new ending for their film, "The Jazz Singer" was released in cinemas. And after this first so-called "talkie" made its triumphant march across the world, the public was only interested in movies with sound. "The Wind" therefore became a major bomb at the box office. Which also ended Viktor Sjöström's career in Hollywood. Disappointed, he returned to his native Stockholm, never to make another movie again.
But in Tinseltown you're only as good as your latest movie. Soon, the studio asked Sjöström to film "The Wind", a project that forced the director to shoot for several weeks in the soaring heat of the Mojave Desert. And not only that. To simulate the severe weather conditions required by the story, the film company hired eight giant wind machines. These were used to create the devastating sandstorms that almost drove the film's young heroine insane. Lillian Gish, who played the lead role, later revealed that "The Wind" was one of the most challenging movies she had ever appeared in.
In the summer of 1927, Viktor Sjöström finished the shooting. He and producer Irving Thalberg were pleased with the result, but were in for a shock when high-ranking studio executives in New York saw the movie. They believed that the ending was too dark and ordered Sjöström to call in his actors again to do reshoots. It would take a full eighteen months before the Swedish director managed to complete a film that MGM's management could finally approve.
Unfortunately, the delay proved disastrous for "The Wind". During the time that Viktor Sjöström and his crew were recording a new ending for their film, "The Jazz Singer" was released in cinemas. And after this first so-called "talkie" made its triumphant march across the world, the public was only interested in movies with sound. "The Wind" therefore became a major bomb at the box office. Which also ended Viktor Sjöström's career in Hollywood. Disappointed, he returned to his native Stockholm, never to make another movie again.