You have to be very prejudiced against silent films and brainwashed by modern film technology not to be charmed by "My friend the private detective" from 1924. It begins as a summery comedy, but when the evil Elisa Mogensen is written into the plot, it takes on a darker tone . The actors are natural, and there is little of the overacting you sometimes associate with films from that time. Norwegian Gunnar Tolnæs is charming in the role of a detective.
The sickly hunting master Niels Rømer of Rømersholm has married the much younger singer Elisa Mogensen, who soon found out that life on the estate was even more boring than she imagined. One day Elisa catches sight of the young and strong Anders, and is impressed when she sees him lifting a large tree trunk. Anders is the boyfriend of her stepdaughter Birthe. Elisa decides to seduce him. Elisa claims that she has sprained her foot, and asks Anders to carry her up to her bedroom. There she reveals that the injury was just a hoax, but Anders does not allow himself to be seduced. As Birthe and her father come in through the door, they see Anders trying to push Elisa away. She lets them believe that he has tried to molest her and says: "Niels, save me from that man!"
Birthe doesn't want to see him anymore. Anders must leave the estate. Elisa is found murdered in Birthe's room. Anders becomes the prime suspect.
Elisa didn't know that she unknowingly gave the real perpetrator an alibi.
The sickly hunting master Niels Rømer of Rømersholm has married the much younger singer Elisa Mogensen, who soon found out that life on the estate was even more boring than she imagined. One day Elisa catches sight of the young and strong Anders, and is impressed when she sees him lifting a large tree trunk. Anders is the boyfriend of her stepdaughter Birthe. Elisa decides to seduce him. Elisa claims that she has sprained her foot, and asks Anders to carry her up to her bedroom. There she reveals that the injury was just a hoax, but Anders does not allow himself to be seduced. As Birthe and her father come in through the door, they see Anders trying to push Elisa away. She lets them believe that he has tried to molest her and says: "Niels, save me from that man!"
Birthe doesn't want to see him anymore. Anders must leave the estate. Elisa is found murdered in Birthe's room. Anders becomes the prime suspect.
Elisa didn't know that she unknowingly gave the real perpetrator an alibi.
