Thor Modéen is the great Swedish comedian of the 1930s and 1940s, both in the movies and at the theatre. His presence in a movie usually meant that it was rescued from disaster at the box-offices, even if he only appeared in a small role. He usually played cigar-smoking wholesalers, carefree recruits or policemen, and he always dominated any scene with him in it. In movies like Klart till drabbning (1937) or I natt - eller aldrig (1941) his pacemaker is Åke Söderblom, which creates a physical contrast between the big, phlegmatic and scatterbrained Thor Modéen and the short and tiny Åke Söderblom. He mainly appeared in low-brow comedies although he surely could have managed dramatic parts. Not many actors are well remembered almost fifty years after their deaths. Modeen is one of the few.