AllMovie

This picture, based on the John Sigor Johnson stage play, Eyvind of the Hills, was one of those made by Victor Sjostrom -- then known in the U.S. as Victor Seastrom -- before he was brought out to work in America. Karl (Sjostrom) is an escaped convict who finds work on the farm of Halla, a wealthy woman (Edith Erastow). They fall in love, much to the disgust of the Constable (Miles Ahrens), who wants Halla for himself. He finds out that Karl is a fugitive and tells her, and Karl admits it himself. His only crime, however, was stealing a sheep to feed his starving family, so Halla is content to run away with him. They go live in the hills, but the Constable tracks them down and wrecks their lives, throwing their child from the cliff. The couple realizes that they will never be free from persecution, so they commit suicide in a snow drift. Sjostrom made the most of this simple story, which was shot in Iceland, and it went a long way to build his reputation internationally.