The Phantom Carriage

The Phantom Carriage is a 1921 film about the driver of a ghostly carriage that forces a drunken man to reflect on his life on New Year's Eve.
 * Directed and written by Victor Sjöström, based on the novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! by Selma Lagerlöf.

Do the Dead Come Back? Can Your Soul Leave Your Body - And Return Again? Is Spiritualism a Reality?taglines

David Holm

 * I want to be good, but no one believes me. Is it any wonder I cry?

Georges

 * Remember that it's New Year's Eve, the last day of the year! Whoever dies on this eve must drive Death's carriage.
 * There is an old, old carriage... It is no ordinary driver who holds the reigns, for he's in the service of a strict master named Death. For him, a single night is as long as 100 years on Earth. Night and day he must carry out his master's business.
 * There is no escape. He must perform his forlorn duty.
 * Though horse and carriage are always the same, the driver is not. The last soul to die each year - the one who passes over at the stroke of midnight - is destined to be Death's driver for the following year.
 * You know, David, if I could send a message to mankind, I would send them a New Year's greeting. I would like them to dwell on a single New Year's prayer: 'Lord, please let my soul come to maturity before it is reaped.'

Edit

 * [to Death] You see that I'm not afraid of you. I will gladly heed your summons, but grant me a day's reprieve, for there is someone I must talk sense into.

Dialogue

 * Maria: Don't fret over those poor souls now, Sister Edit. You've done enough for them.
 * Edit: Send for David Holm!


 * David Holm: You should take me to the hospital in your carriage as quickly as you can.
 * Georges: No living soul rides in that carriage. By the time I arrive, it's too late for a doctor. You know full well that I am no longer among the living.


 * David Holm: [to a coughing woman] Why turn away so carefully? I'm a consumptive myself, but I cough in people's faces in hopes of finishing them off. Why should they be better off than us?
 * Edit: He's merely amusing himself. He's not as wicked as he pretends to be.


 * Mrs. Holm: I can't help crying too. I won't be truly happy until all my sorrow is drained.
 * David Holm: Lord, please let my soul come to maturity before it is reaped.

Taglines

 * Do the Dead Come Back? Can Your Soul Leave Your Body - And Return Again? Is Spiritualism a Reality?
 * Weird, Mysterious, Thrilling Drama of a Human Life, and a Savage Lost Soul. Based Upon an Actual Experience.
 * A Marvelous Picture Telling a Wonderful Story

Cast

 * Victor Sjöström — David Holm
 * Hilda Borgström — Mrs. Holm
 * Tore Svennberg — Georges
 * Astrid Holm — Edit
 * Lisa Lundholm — Maria
 * Einar Axelsson — David's Brother
 * Nils Aréhn — Prison Chaplain
 * Olof Ås — The First Driver