Midsummers' Day, Jean sees Julie's finch Serine, and declares they cannot take a birdcage. When Julie says she would rather Serine die than be left behind, Jean breaks its neck; Julie curses him and the day she was born. When the Count returns, he finds Julie has killed herself by razor, under the portrait of the Countess. Cast Production Sjöberg had directed a stage adaption of August Strindberg's Miss Julie in 1949, starring Ulf Palme as Jean and Inga Tidblad in the title role. For the film adaptation, not only Palme was kept but also many of the set designs. Tidblad however, at the age of almost 50, was replaced by the 27-year-old Anita Björk. Tidblad's interpretation was held as an ideal by the director and only during the exterior sequences, which had not been part of the stage version, did Björk feel that the part actually belonged to her. Filming took place between 28 April and 18 July 1950 in Sandrew's studios and various locations in the Stockholm area, including Dalarö, Stora Wäsby Castle, and the Drottningholm Palace Park. In the book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (Simon and Schuster, 1967), Alfred Hitchcock said he had hired Björk as the female lead for I Confess in 1952, after seeing her in Miss Julie. However, when Björk arrived in Hollywood with her lover Stig Dagerman and their baby, Jack L. Warner, head of Warner Brothers. insisted that Hitchcock find another actress. Reception Alf Sjöberg won the highest honour of the Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, the equivalent of the Palme d'Or in later years. Sjöberg, who won earlier for Torment, was the first Swedish director to win the award, and the only one until 2017, when Ruben Östlund won for The Square. Miss Julie was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film in 1952. In 1987, The New York Times critic Walter Goodman criticized the film, writing "Bjork seems bewildered by the constant shifts of emotional response required of her". The Guardians Philip French recalled Bjork in 2000 as "an unforgettable Julie". In 2008, Entertainment Weeklys Tim Purtell called it "startling" and cited Bjork for a "feverish performance". Reviewing The Criterion Collection DVD, Stuart Henderson cited for "exciting liberties" taken with the classic play, creating a "deeply compelling" film. In his 2015 Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gave it three stars, commending it as "Superbly acted