By 1920, Svenska Bio merged with Skandinaviska Filmcentralen to become producers of a string of productions lavish enough to rival Hollywood. Erotikon was among the first of these super-productions, boasting one of the earliest aerial sequences and a specially composed ballet performed at the Swedish Opera House. Stiller heaped extravagance upon extravagance, amassing an almost oppressive decor for this dark, slightly depraved comedy. But the luxuriously laden interiors become the antipode to a cast of characters who thrive quite humorously on the aridity of distrust. Five players are the principals in an unprincipaled game of infidelity: a professor of entomology whose peculiar interest is the polygamous sex life of the striver beetle; his wife, who is carrying on an affair with a sculptor and a flirtation with an airplane-flying baron; and their niece, the professor's own constant nymph who strives only to perfect her stuffed cabbage. The humor is eked from the constant vying for position in this amorous charade. Stiller's deftness with sophisticated humor, the brisk tempo, and the risqué portrayal of the upper-middle class brought Erotikon praise from many corners; most noteworthy perhaps was Lubitsch's claim that his famous "touch" was derived from this film.