Diskret Ophold

For a movie made in 1946 this production carried a tricky subject matter. Moral restrictions forbid people to have sexual relationships before marriage, and if they had, the demand was that it bore no consequences. Ole Palsbo has a clear element of social responsibility underlining his career as a film director, so focusing his attention on one of the many secret places in the province providing shelter for becoming young mothers was just up his alley. The subject matter is treated with responsibility and taste and having a prolific comedy actor as Ib Schønberg with a vast list of titles already on his CV playing the father of the house rendering his role with a certain kind of humor and good common sense, this is just what the poor young girls need in a situation like theirs. Palsbo could present a character with only a few lines of dialog, and the staging is precise and to the point all through. He died far too early in 1952 and you can only imagine the number of quality films he could have directed if he had been allowed to continue his craft for some more years.