A Ship to India

But it's not one of his best. The characterizations of the film's protagonists are inconsistent from scene to scene and some of them leave a viewer with many unanswered questions (like the mother's motivations.) Beyond that, the cinematography is pretty dowdy, particularly the exterior footage.

Still, it has elements that Bergman fans will recognize from his more famous films, and it contains sequences of despair and anguish that can haunt a viewer days later. Birger Malmsten, who plays the lead character Johannes and who will be seen in several later Bergman films, is immensely likable and compelling as the hunchback son who finally stands up to his despotic father. While many of the early Bergman films are uninteresting at almost every level ("Port of Call," for instance) this one is well worth a look for the hard core Bergmaniac, if you can find it.

Cast

• Holger Löwenadler (Kapten Blom)
• Anna Lindahl (Alice Blom)
• Gertrud Fridh (Sally)
• Naemi Briese (Selma)
• Hjördis Petterson (Sofi) (as Hjördis Pettersson)
• Lasse Krantz (Hans)
• Jan Molander (Bertil)
• Erik Hell (Pekka)
• Åke Fridell (Variety hall owner)
• Douglas Håge (Customs officer) (scenes deleted)

Rest of cast listed alphabetically

• Ami Aaröe (Young girl at the beach) (uncredited)
• Torgny Anderberg (Man) (uncredited)
• Ingmar Bergman (Man wearing a beret at the funfair) (uncredited)
• Rolf Bergström (Blom's companion) (uncredited)
• Torsten Bergström (Blom's companion) (uncredited)
• John W. Björling (Older man) (uncredited)
• Ingrid Borthen (Girl on the street) (uncredited)
• Gustaf Hiort af Ornäs (Blom's companion) (uncredited)
• Svea Holst (Woman present at the arrest of Blom) (uncredited)
• Kiki (Dwarf) (uncredited)
• Uno Larsson (Older man with glasses and hat) (uncredited)
• Peter Lindgren (Foreign sailor) (uncredited)
• Gunnar Nielsen (Young man at the beach) (uncredited)
• Charles White (Black sailor) (uncredited)