Rutger Hauer and Jos Bergman in Floris (1969)
Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 23, 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Publicity still for the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969).
Finally we found some collectors cards of our favourite series, Floris (1969). The Dutch television series was the start of the successful careers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris van Rosemondt. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp). Apart from Sindala and Floris, all the characters are based on historical figures.
The success of television series like the British Ivanhoe (1958-1959) with Roger Moore, the French Thierry La Fronde/Thierry the Sling (1963-1966) with Jean-Claude Drouot, and the Flemish Johan en de Alverman (1965) with Frank Aendenboom inspired Carel Enkelaar, manager of NTS Television in 1967 to make a similar series, set in the Netherlands. Hanne Aboe Derwart highly recommends the series at IMDb: "One of the first Middle Age series ever, the stories of the adventures of Floris in medieval Holland are also among the most funny tv-series ever. The budget was very low, which can be seen, but the interaction between the actors is nothing less but wonderful. Floris and his trusty companion Sindala is in best Robin Hood style, but with the addition of Eastern magic to the swordfighting skills and sheer strength (and luck) of our hero. (...) The fact that the series is in b/w actually helps, no need to mess around with anything when somebody's wounded. If you can locate the tapes, watch it."
In 1969, Floris was the most popular TV series in the Netherlands. The series had many reruns through the years. It has also been shown in East Germany (as Floris - Der Mann mit dem Schwert) and Scotland dubbed in English. In the UK, the series aired on Yorkshire Television in 1970 as The Adventures of Floris. None of the English dubbed episodes survive. 1975 saw a German remake of the series, Floris von Rosenmund (Ferry Radax, 1975), again starring Rutger Hauer, but with German actor Derval de Faria as Sindala. This version put much more emphasis on the comedic aspects of the stories. The series also lead to the film Floris (Jean van de Velde, 2004) and features Michiel Huisman as the grandson of the original Floris. Some of the footage from the 1969 series with Hauer and Bergman is included. Hauer was originally asked to play the father of young Floris, but he declined.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Rutger Hauer and Jos Bergman in Floris (1969)
Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 23, 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Publicity still for the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969).
Finally we found some collectors cards of our favourite series, Floris (1969). The Dutch television series was the start of the successful careers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris van Rosemondt. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp). Apart from Sindala and Floris, all the characters are based on historical figures.
The success of television series like the British Ivanhoe (1958-1959) with Roger Moore, the French Thierry La Fronde/Thierry the Sling (1963-1966) with Jean-Claude Drouot, and the Flemish Johan en de Alverman (1965) with Frank Aendenboom inspired Carel Enkelaar, manager of NTS Television in 1967 to make a similar series, set in the Netherlands. Hanne Aboe Derwart highly recommends the series at IMDb: "One of the first Middle Age series ever, the stories of the adventures of Floris in medieval Holland are also among the most funny tv-series ever. The budget was very low, which can be seen, but the interaction between the actors is nothing less but wonderful. Floris and his trusty companion Sindala is in best Robin Hood style, but with the addition of Eastern magic to the swordfighting skills and sheer strength (and luck) of our hero. (...) The fact that the series is in b/w actually helps, no need to mess around with anything when somebody's wounded. If you can locate the tapes, watch it."
In 1969, Floris was the most popular TV series in the Netherlands. The series had many reruns through the years. It has also been shown in East Germany (as Floris - Der Mann mit dem Schwert) and Scotland dubbed in English. In the UK, the series aired on Yorkshire Television in 1970 as The Adventures of Floris. None of the English dubbed episodes survive. 1975 saw a German remake of the series, Floris von Rosenmund (Ferry Radax, 1975), again starring Rutger Hauer, but with German actor Derval de Faria as Sindala. This version put much more emphasis on the comedic aspects of the stories. The series also lead to the film Floris (Jean van de Velde, 2004) and features Michiel Huisman as the grandson of the original Floris. Some of the footage from the 1969 series with Hauer and Bergman is included. Hauer was originally asked to play the father of young Floris, but he declined.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.