New Swedish Star

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 99, 24 September 1948, Page 3

New Swedish Star

After the advent of such popular female stars as Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Signe Hasso and Mai Zetterling, a new male star from the same Swedish dramatic school is topping the popularity poll in America. He is Frank Sundstrom who was chosen for the role of .Tchaikovsky in the new Allied Artists’ film, “Song of My Heart” after many prominent actors had been' interviewed. He got the part because of two things—his acting ability, and the fact that ‘he most closely resembled in physical appearance the famous Russian composer. This was verified when two of the musicians in the orchestra left during the making of the picture, on the grounds that every time they looked at the Swedish actor, they thought they were seeing a ghost. Both musicians had worked with Tchaikovsky in Moscow. In other ways Sundstrom was a “natural” for the part. As a boy of twelve he had appeared on the concert stage in America, playing the violin. He knows music, loves it and directing the orchestra proved just right for him. Further, his English was excellent, for his mother was Ameridan-born and yet he had just the right tinge of accent to give it the foreign flavour that went well with the part. A naturally shy character, Sundstrom is a good prototype of the character he portrays on the screen.