His 1953 film of Peder Sjögren's second novel, Bread of Love (Kärlekens bröd), based on Sjögren's experiences as a volunteer in the Finnish Continuation War of 1941–44 angered the author, was banned in Finland and incurred the wrath of the Soviets at the Cannes Film Festival.
[4] In 1958 he directed Damen i svart, the first in the series of five Hillman-thrillers, centred on Folke Mellvig's crime-solving middle-class city couple Kajsa and John Hillman.
The second in the series, Mannekäng i rött (1958), is considered by some to be a precursor of the Italian giallo films, notably Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace.
[5][6] The popularity of his mystery movies declined and in the 1970s and 1980s he made mostly low-budget thrillers – some in collaboration with Mats Helge Olsson – which got mostly bad reviews.
The director, Arne Mattson is mentioned in chapter 29 of the police procedural novel, The Laughing Policeman, by Major Sjowall and Per Wahloo