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A for Adultery – The Scarlet Letter 75
appear in superimposition through her face. This kind of dissolve, then, may
create highly ambiguous images as they don’t always deal with clear-cut parallels
or simple meanings.
Fig. 12: The Letter A for adultery prefigured (The Scarlet Letter).
Not least striking is the fact – which seems rather unique in this case, compared
to other Sjöström films in Sweden and in Hollywood – that these dissolves do
not appear in the original scenario; instead, they seem to have been added during
the shooting or editing process. Thus, not only is there a continuity from the
use of dissolves in the director’s Swedish period, but the device has also been
further developed and elaborated, in spite of the more standardized mode of
production in Hollywood. How, then, did Sjöström manage to maintain some
aspects of his style in Hollywood? Part of the explanation probably lies in the
fact that he, like other European directors, was hired from outside. At least for a
while, this might have granted him a special status: he was not just one of the
ordinary workers of the film factory. His contract mentioned above, regulating
his rights and obligations, also seems to confirm his exceptional status in the
system.
On a more general level, this continuity between The Scarlet Letter and
the director’s earlier “Swedish style” was observed by many contemporary