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Ghosts (G. Nichols, June 1915) D. W. Griffith production based on a play by Henrik Ibsen, with Henry B. Walthall (Alving and Oswald), Mary Alden and Erich von Stroheim for Majestic Motion Picture Company (Mutual Master Pictures), distribution General Film ¹

The film starts with ‘A lifelike portrayal of the great poet and dramatist Henrik Ibsen.’

The first scene depicts a party in Captain Alving’s hunting cabin. The host celebrates his appointment as the king’s chamberlain. An opulent group, led by Alving (Henry Walthall), enjoys the drink and then goes dancing. A band is playing on the first floor. And then ‘enters a little later the doctor’ who looks at the riotous behavior of Alving and his company with concern and disapproves: ‘You must stop this riotous life. You know all too well why.’ But Alving laughs at him. Here we also get to know ‘Johanna and her husband who does not notice that she is emotionally neglected’. She angrily turns away from him and asks Alving to dance during his conversation with the doctor. Alving immediately waltzes away with her and the doctor gives up and leaves. The husband watches with concern how his wife sits on a bench with Alving and clinks wine glasses with him. He looks at his wife admonishingly and Alving immediately offers him a drink, which he refuses. Johanna snuggles against her husband, but as they walk away she smiles knowingly at Alving, who exchanges a look of understanding with her. The party continues.

‘Chamberlain Alving tries to connect with the wealthy Nordje family for financial reasons.’ He talks sweet talk to old Mrs. Nordje. ‘The wealthy heiress and her lover.’ The maid tells daughter Helen, who is standing in the garden with her childhood friend Pastor Manders, that Chamberlain Alving wants to speak to her. She was just planning to take a walk with Manders, with whom she is in love. That they are in love with each other is also suggested by the flower she holds in her hands and the flower that Manders has in his buttonhole (00:04:13). The maid takes Helen away. ‘Helen’s mother and the aunt’s who want to rise socially see the new chamberlain as an opportunity to enter the court.’ Alving meets Helen, who is still holding the flower, and kisses her hand, which she quickly pulls away. The maid leads Helen away to her room. Helen is concerned while she places the flower in a vase (00:05:23): the love for Pastor Manders is no longer so self-evident. In the meantime, Alving proposes to her mother to marry Helen. Mother has to think about that for a moment and then agrees. Helen dresses up in her riding costume: she goes for a horse ride with Alving and walks away arm in arm with him. Meanwhile, Manders smells the flower from his buttonhole (00:06:26). The two leave, followed by a guard on horseback. Along the way, Alving tells Helen that ‘her mother and aunts have agreed to his marriage proposal.’ But Helen wants nothing to do with it.

‘The doctor’s visit.’ The doctor comes by in his carriage and tries to talk Mrs. Nordje out of the wedding plan, but she is not sensitive to it and mother and aunts treat the doctor haughtily: ‘Your fears are unfounded, doctor’. Mother and the aunts turn away from him. And when he speaks to Alving alone, he tells him: ‘I forbid you this marriage, it would be a crime if you became a father.’ But Alving wants nothing to do with it: he has set his sights on Helen. The doctor has warned Alving, mother and the aunts and now gives up.

After the wedding – the wedding dinner.’ At the wedding dinner, the guests gather around the table and sit down, only Alving is missing. Helen goes looking for him and finds him in a side room in an intimate (filmed in medium-close) conversation with Johanna. Alving feels caught and Helen looks sad. The three of them return arm in arm to the dining room where (tellingly) Johanna takes a seat next to Alving and Helen on the other side of the table. Alving enjoys himself in an intimate, close, circular vignetted shot with Johanna (00:11:07), while Helen looks on sadly (00:11:12). Pastor Manders does not participate in the dinner and breviaries. ‘The guests at the wedding have gone home early and she (Helen) realizes the reason (the groom’s irresponsible behavior).’ Helen, mother and the aunts all look angry and sad.

Helen is desperate and has no support from her mother and aunts, who turn away from her. ‘In her despair she visits her old love, pastor Manders’ and tells him what is bothering her. Manders has to make every effort to control himself and says: ‘You are obliged to stay with your husband.’ Helen hates that, but he can’t do anything for her. ‘Now that she has been tutrned down by her family and the church, she accepts her fate.’ Alving, meanwhile, is out of touch again and chases the maid around the table (00:14:19), dragging the entire tableware with him. And he pulls in his drunken state the sad Helen against her will onto his lap when she comes home (00:16:20). Some time later Oswald was born. ‘After Oswald’s birth…’ Helen is in maternity bed, the doctor is standing in the baby’s cradle and Alving is sitting in another room cheerfully and irresponsibly smoking a pipe. The maternity nurse takes care of the baby. The doctor admonishes Alving, but Alving laughs at his words and enthusiastically reaches for the bottle again.

‘Eight years later’ Alving has become a lot grayer. Helen works anxiously and Oswald is already quite a boy. ‘Johanna is critically ill and coughing (tuberculosis?) and asks the nurse to call her daughter Regina.’ Regina is playing in the garden accompanied by the governess. The nurse does not trust the situation and calls the doctor. Regina and her mother have an intimate farewell conversation in medium-close and in a round out-of-focus vignette (00:19:51). And then Johanna asks for writing paper and a pen. The nurse looks worriedly out the window to see if the doctor is arriving yet. Johanna dies while writing a letter. ‘The doctor arrives too late’ and can’t do anything for her. He finds the crumpled letter in her right hand (extreme close-up 00:21:19). Johanna’s husband rushes over and kneels with Regina next to his dead wife. In a quiet corner, the doctor unfolds the note, which reads: ‘Alving, I want you to know that Regina is your daughter. She was…’ The doctor is shocked and sees his suspicion confirmed, but does not want to confront the husband and Regina with this. He folds the note and puts it in his pocket.

‘After Johanna’s death, Oswald becomes very friends with his neighbor Regina.’ While Helen is reading, the two play together, with Oswald drawing Helen (this refers to his drawing talent that led to his later career). Oswald shows his mother and also his father the drawing. He crawls onto his father’s lap, while Alving pours a drink and gives it to his son to drink. Helen doesn’t trust it and goes to investigate. Oswald thinks the drink is disgusting, but his father urges him to drink it. As a result, ‘Oswald is placed in a boarding school to remove him from his father’s influence.’ (The clerk at the school office (00:24:20) is Erich von Stroheim). Oswald is warmly welcomed by the headmaster and says a touching farewell to his mother.

‘Years later his father died and Oswald became a successful painter in Paris.’ A luxurious group of gentlemen and ladies come to visit his studio and speak highly of his work. Meanwhile, Regina is a great support to her father, at least the one she believes is her father. ’ She reads to the old man and he enjoys it. ‘Helen decides that her late husband’s entire fortune will be donated to an orphanage.’ She discusses this with Pastor Manders when she receives a telegram: ‘Oswald’s painting will hang in the Palais de Luxembourg.’ Helen immediately calls Regina, who is sitting with her ‘father’ and tells them the good news. And then she takes the box with shares and bonds from the linen cupboard: ‘I don’t want my son to inherit anything from his father (and therefore not his irresponsible behavior), he has all his qualities from me.’ And she makes her deceased husband’s entire fortune available to the pastor to finance an orphanage.

Meanwhile, Oswald and his friends go all out celebrating his success. There is a shower of confetti and Oswald raises his glass. But during the party Oswald gets his first attack of a severe headache, this is ‘the first sign of the congenital blemish/disorder’ (Tabes dorsalis, a late complication of untreated syphilis that is accompanied by lightning pains). His friends are worried, but can’t do anything for him.

‘Oswald returns to his parental home’, kisses his mother and greets Regina, both of whom walk around with flowers in their hands. He walks with Regina to the neighbor / Regina’s father (at least the one she thinks is her father) who is fond of his garden. But Oswald’s attention is focused on Regina, which is also evident from the fact that he caresses the flowers that she carries with her and offers to him (00:31:12). They sit together on a bench and talk animatedly. But then Oswald suffers another debilitating headache. Oswald staggers home, leaving a worried Regina and her father behind. His mother Helen, who is arranging flowers, catches Oswald, whose attack of pain we see in medium-close (00:32:50), and hugs him. The cameraman performs a fairly complicated pan and tilt movement (00:33:06). ‘The doctor examines Oswald and recognizes the condition, but hides the diagnosis from his patient.’ ‘As the days pass’ Oswald and Regina spend time together in the garden and become increasingly attached to each other. And then Helen receives an official letter from the King with ‘the royal assignment to paint a portrait of the King.’ Regina is pleased, but Oswald is concerned about whether he can carry out this assignment with his headaches.

And indeed he returns home a few days later after a failed painting attempt. Now that ‘His hopes are gone, he returns home.’ He can barely stand on his feet. Again, we see an advanced pan and tilt movement (00:36:52). Helen takes him in lovingly and hears ‘the news of her son’s failure.’ Regina walks up with a bouquet of flowers in her arms (full of love for Oswald 00:37:53), hears of the failure, is shocked by Oswald’s condition and throws her arms around him.

‘They decide to get married early’, although Oswald acts dazed, and Regina hugs him. ‘The doctor is unaware of the engagement.’ He is whitewater fishing when an acquaintance brings him a letter (the invitation to the engagement), but he doesn’t have time for that right now and he puts the letter in his pocket. ‘Preparations for the wedding.’ Regina tries on her wedding dress and the doctor reads ‘the wedding invitation.’ He is shocked, this wedding should not take place. He immediately breaks off his fishing trip and rushes in his carriage towards his practice. In cross-cut’s we see the preparation for the wedding intersected by the doctor’s retreat (00:39:50, 00:39:54, 00:40:02, 00:40:07, 00:40:11, 00:40:22, 00:40:32, 00:40:39, 00:40:54, 00:42:04, 00:42:07, 00:42:11, this is a typical Griffith race to the rescue). While the church is already full, the pastor is standing in front of the altar, and the doctor finds Johanna’s letter, in which she states that Regina is Alving’s daughter, in his desk. The groom and his witness now enter the church where the wedding will take place and the bride also arrives accompanied by her alleged father. Bride and groom now stand in front of the altar and Pastor Manders begins the blessing. Just as Oswald is about to put the ring on Regina’s finger, the doctor arrives. He immediately intervenes and stops the wedding ceremony. All are astonished. Bride and groom, Helen Alving and her ‘father’ go with the doctor to a side room where the doctor states that the wedding cannot take place because Regina is Oswald’s sister. The doctor then shows Johanna’s note: ‘Alving, I want you to know that Regina is your daughter. She was…’. We see Oswald and Regina both in close-up and in an out-of-focus vignette (00:43:22, 00:43:28) that symbolizes their loneliness. Regina’s ‘father’ is upset and Helen is sad. Oswald flies to the doctor and gets another attack of headache. Regina, whom we see in close-up with a grim face at 00:44:18, pulls apart her bridal bouquet (00:44:07). Her ‘father’ wants to comfort Regina, but she says: ‘You, my father? No! I’m an outcast, goodbye!’ And she laughs spitefully, throws her bouquet on the floor (00:44:48) and leaves.

Oswald walks around with a vial of poison in his fist: ‘the clutching hand of heredity.’ He hides the vial in a bowl on the dresser. In the meantime, Helen arranges the finances (of the orphanage) with Pastor Manders. Oswald, who has a headache again, looks out of the window: he sees (eyeball POV 00:46:30) the church, which he ‘in his madness and frustration’ set on fire, going up in flames. He appears psychotic, throws open the window and is enthusiastic about the destruction. Helen tries to guide him away from the window, draws the curtain while Oswald screams and embraces him lovingly.

Oswald has developed ‘locomotor ataxia!’ (manifestation of Tabes dorsalis in the third stage of syphilis), he can no longer coordinate his movements, has nystagmus and can barely stand. Helen tries to protect him caringly and kisses her son. Oswald tries to grab the poison bottle, but he can’t with his mother nearby. Oswald says: ‘Give me the sun, mother, give me the sun!’ Helen opens the curtains and sunlight streams into the room. A spotlight illuminates Oswald’s face on the sunny side. Oswald tries to grab the sun’s rays, much to Helen’s dismay. She walks outside to warn pastor Manders. Oswald tries to get up from the rocking chair, but his legs collapse and he crawls on the ground. With the last of his strength he pulls himself up from the sideboard and manages to pull down everything on it. In the meantime, Helen rushes home with Pastor Manders. Alving gets hold of the poison bottle, rises one more time, takes the poison and dies almost immediately, just as his mother comes running in. Helen and Pastor Manders kneel next to the dead Oswald. Pastor Manders supports the broken mother.

Eyeball POV:

Oswald looks out the window: he sees (eyeball POV 00:46:30) the church, which he ‘in his madness and out of frustration, set on fire, going up in flames.

Flowers as a symbol of (failed) love:

Helen is actually in love with her childhood friend pastor Manders, which is also suggested by the flower she holds in her hands when she stands with Manders, who also has a flower in his buttonhole (00:04:13). She goes for a horse ride with Alving. When she comes to her room (00:05:23) she smells her flower with concern and puts it away in a vase (the love for Pastor Manders is no longer so self-evident). This does the case for Manders: he smells the flower from his buttonhole (00:06:26).

Oswald walks with Regina to the neighbor / Regina’s father who is fond of his garden. But Oswald’s attention is focused on Regina, which is also evident from the fact that he caresses the flowers that she carries with her and offers to him (00:31:12).

Regina walks up with a bouquet of flowers in her arms (full of love for Oswald 00:37:53), hears about the failure (to paint), is shocked by Oswald’s condition and throws her arms around him.

After the failure of the marriage, Regina pulls apart her bridal bouquet (00:44:07). Everything the bridal bouquet stands for is lost.

Violence against women:

Alving is now out of touch again and chases the maid around the table (00:14:19), dragging the entire tableware with him. And he pulls sad Helen onto his lap against her will when she comes home (00:16:20).

Pan and Tilt Movement:

Oswald’s mother Helen catches Oswald during his bout of pain and hugs him. The cameraman performs a fairly complicated pan and tilt movement (00:33:06). When Oswald returns home after a failed painting attempt, he can barely stand on his feet. This scene again features an advanced pan and tilt movement (00:36:52).

Close-up:

We see Oswald and Regina both in close-up and in an out-of-focus vignette (00:43:22, 00:43:28) that symbolizes their loneliness.

Regina, whom we see in close-up at 00:44:18 with a grim face, pulls apart her bridal bouquet.

Suicide:

Oswald walks around with a vial of poison in his fist: ‘the clutching hand of heredity.’ He hides the vial in a bowl on the dresser. Alving gets hold of the poison bottle, rises one more time, takes the poison and dies almost immediately, just as his mother comes running in.

Gengangere

/ Geister (literally translated those who return but in this context the doom/stain that passes through inheritance to the next generation) is an 1881 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Oswald confesses to his mother that he has an incurable disease – syphilis – which the doctors believe he inherited from his father. Syphilis can be transmitted from mother to the unborn child via the placenta or birth canal (congenital syphilis).

Mary Alden

(Helen), here aged 32, plays Stoneman’s mulatto housekeeper in Birth of a Nation. Erich von Stroheim did costume design for this film and plays a role as a clerk at the boarding school office (00:24:20)

Footnotes

1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYtk4szlZlg ↩