A Lesson in Love (1954 film)

A Lesson in Love (Swedish: En lektion i kärlek) is a 1954 Swedish comedy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film is about the marriage of a gynecologist named David and his wife Marianne. The film's score was composed by Dag Wirén.

A Lesson in Love
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ingmar Bergman
Written by	Ingmar Bergman
Produced by	Allan Ekelund
Starring	Eva Dahlbeck Gunnar Björnstrand Harriet Andersson Yvonne Lombard Olof Winnerstrand Åke Grönberg
Cinematography	Martin Bodin
Edited by	Oscar Rosander
Distributed by	AB Svensk Filmindustri
Release date	4 October 1954 (1954-10-04)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish

Cast

• Eva Dahlbeck as Marianne Erneman
• Gunnar Björnstrand as David Erneman
• Yvonne Lombard as Susanne Verin
• Harriet Andersson as Nix
• Åke Grönberg as Carl-Adam
• Olof Winnerstrand as Professor Henrik Erneman
• Renée Björling as Svea Erneman
• John Elfström as Sam
• Birgitte Reimer as Lise
• Dagmar Ebbesen as Nurse Lisa
• Sigge Fürst as Vicar

Reception

A Lesson in Love received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports 100% approval (based on six critics), with an average rating of 7.2/10.^[1]

On the film's U.S. release in 1960, Bosley Crowther opined in The New York Times, that its subject "...is the complexity of love...It is a subject that Mr. Bergman expanded in his subsequent "Smiles of a Summer Night," with more wit and satiric implication. But, for a warm-up, he got off nicely here...Mr. Bergman plays around with it in such a clever and thought-provoking way that the emotional dilemma implicit in it has humor, wisdom and charm...And, as in all of his pictures, Mr. Bergman has used a cast that seems to act with inspired understanding—which means, of course, sympathy with him."^[2]