Max von Sydow (far left) on the set of "The Emigrants." Director Jan Troell is at far right./Skip Heine
When the great Max von Sydow's death was reported earlier this week, not many remembrances noted that the two-time Oscar nominee spent several months in Minnesota back in 1969, shooting films based on Vilhelm Moberg's novels about Swedish immigrants who settled in Stillwater in the 1850s. And the Star Tribune was -- or, rather, the pre-merger Star and the Tribune were -- on the story.
The first report came from Star columnist Barbara Flanagan in May, writing about the casting of "The Bible" veteran von Sydow and Ingmar Berman collaborator Liv Ullmann, under the direction of Jan Troell. Flanagan chatted with Swedish Consul General Bengt Odevall, whom Flanagan credited with luring the film from the originally-planned Canada to Minnesota for the sake of authenticity.
In June, the Minneapolis Tribune chimed in with a feature that preceded the arrival of the actors and focused on scouting locations at Fort Snelling, in Taylors Falls, Stillwater and other spots along the Saint Croix River. Jones noted that, at that point, the $1 million budget for "The Emigrants" was the highest ever for a Swedish film. Jones, apparently thinking about that year's erotic, Swedish hit, "I Am Curious Yellow," asked repeatedly whether von Sydow and Ullmann would do any skinny-dipping on screen but Troell informed him, "They didn't take their clothes off back then."
Minneapolis Tribune reporter Mike Steele picked up the story with a set visit that October. He went to Cassville, Wis. to chat with Troell and crew members about what was described as a painstaking process. Everyone still seemed to have their clothes on.
The results were released as two films, "The Emigrants" and "The New Land," both of which were nominated for the best foreign film Oscar. "The Emigrants" received four other nominations, including best picture, Troell for best director and screenplay and Ullmann for best actress. Von Sydow, who followed up with films such as "Three Days of the Condor" and "The Exorcist," had to wait until 1989's "Pelle the Conqueror" for a best actor nomination and he was cited in the supporting category for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."
