Dollar (1938) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The movie is set at a mountain resort in Åre, a Swedish ski destination. The narrative unfolds across several key locations including the Royal Yacht Club, luxurious hotels, a nearby casino, and a medical clinic. The snowy winter landscape serves as both a scenic backdrop and a plot device, with a blizzard intensifying the dramatic tensions among the characters.

• åre
• sweden
• ski resort
• mountain
• royal yacht club
• location

The movie is set in 1938, reflecting the era of its production. The elegant attire, social customs, and lifestyle of the wealthy characters align with pre-World War II European high society. The film captures the sensibilities of the late 1930s, including the psychoanalytic practices referenced in the clinic subplot.

• 1938
• era
• time period
• 1930s
• vintage

The film explores several interconnected themes: Wealth and Status drives the characters' decisions and creates pressure that leads to drastic actions; Love and Jealousy fuels romantic entanglements and strains marriages; Deception revolves around hidden debts, secret payments, and masked motives; and Psychoanalysis serves as both a literal plot device and metaphorical lens for examining the characters' psychological struggles.

• themes
• wealth
• status
• love
• jealousy
• deception
• psychoanalysis

Wealth is central to the characters' relationships and motivations. The six affluent couples navigate social obligations where money influences trust, power, and loyalty. Company shares, debts, and social standing create pressure that pushes characters toward drastic actions. The film illustrates how money can both protect and betray relationships within elite social circles.

• wealth
• money
• social class
• status
• elite society
• debt

Deception drives the plot through questions of who paid Louis's debt, who benefits from keeping secrets, and how appearances mask true intentions. The characters engage in amasquerade of propriety, with misleading motives coming to light through revelations about money and allegiance. The truth eventually reshapes all bonds among the couples.

• deception
• secrets
• lies
• masquerade
• hidden motives

The story centers on three couples: Ludvig and Sussi Battwyhl, Louis and Katja Brenner, and Julia and Kurt Balzar. All are affluent millionaires without apparent occupations who gather for a mountain vacation. Their relationships become increasingly complicated as romantic liaisons develop between the couples.

• couples
• characters
• relationships
• Ludvig
• Sussi
• Louis
• Katja
• Julia
• Kurt

Julia Balzar is a wealthy Swedish actress married to Kurt Balzar. She navigates a complex web of social obligations and private loyalties, showing both resolve and compassion as secrets threaten her marriage and friendships. Her pragmatic, protective nature drives much of the emotional conflict within the group.

• Julia Balzar
• actress
• Kurt Balzar
• wife
• Swedish

Louis Brenner is a compulsive gambler whose mounting debts threaten the stability of everyone around him. His mood swings, secrecy, and jealousy propel major conflicts throughout the film, testing loyalties and trust among the couples. His gambling addiction is the catalyst for many of the story's tensions.

• Louis Brenner
• gambler
• debt
• jealousy
• compulsion

Sussi Brenner experiences severe psychological distress that manifests as physical paralysis. Her condition anchors the medical-clinic subplot and becomes the focus of a wager between the wealthy American psychoanalyst Mary Jonston and Dr. Jonson. Her vulnerability ultimately drives the emotional resolution among the couples.

• Sussi Brenner
• paralysis
• illness
• psychological
• clinic
• treatment

Mary Jonston is a wealthy American psychoanalyst who arrives to join the group at the resort. She bets on curing Sussi's psychological paralysis and uses the clinic as a stage for control and manipulation. Her arrival complicates the existing relationships and drives a wedge between the couples while pursuing her own romantic interests with Dr. Jonson.

• Mary Jonston
• American
• psychoanalyst
• clinic
• wager
• doctor

The clinic scene reframes personal conflict as psychological struggle, with Mary wagering on a cure for Sussi. Diagnosis and therapy function as performances that expose power dynamics between healer and patient. The pursuit of insight intersects with manipulation, shaping the course of relationships among the wealthy vacationers.

• clinic
• psychoanalysis
• therapy
• treatment
• psychology
• Doctor Jonson

Dollar is a comedy from 1938 with screwball comedy elements. Despite dealing with moderate themes like gambling debts and suspected infidelity, the tone remains consistently light. Even serious moments like Sussi's paralysis are treated with a whimsical air and resolve positively, leading to a happy ending where all couples reconcile.

• comedy
• screwball
• tone
• genre
• light
• happy ending