For the second Thomas Graal film, Stiller abandoned the flashbacks of the earlier instalment in favour of a more chronological style. First Child begins with a series of comic set-pieces depicting the wedding of Thomas and Bessie before settling down into a spirited account of the Graal marriage, the birth of a son (‘Man hopes but God decides’) and the gradual lessening of friction between the husband and wife.
Sweden, 1918.
English titles.
Black and white.
Silent.
80 mins.