Boefje
Dutch actress Annie van Ees (1893-1970) performed hundreds of times in the stage play Boefje [Little Rascal] (1922), about a little streetboy who is always into mischief but has a heart of gold, here above opposite her husband, the Dutch thespian Cor van der Lugt-Melsert. In 1935 Annie had already played Boefje 500 times. In 1939, when Van Ees was 45, married and had a son, she starred in a film after the play, directed by Detlev Sierck, the future Douglas Sirk.
The popular Dutch novel Boefje (1903) by M.J. Brusse which had been the basis for the play, was scripted by the Germans Carl Zuckmayer and Curt Alexander, the former famous for Der blaue Engel, the latter the regular scriptwriter of Max Ophüls in the 1930s. The film was the last to be produced at the film studio Filmstad in Wassenaar near The Hague, built by Dutch film distributor, importer and cinema owner Loet Barnstijn and run by production manager Leo Meyer, who had been trained in Berlin. Curiously enough, the schoolmaster guarding the young rascal (cf. Ciske de Rat etc.), was turned into a catholic priest in the film, in spite of the Dutch pillarization which made it almost tabu to show either calvinist or catholic clergy in Dutch cinema.
Sirk had left Germany rather late, in 1937, after making succesful films as Schlussakkord and Zu neuen Ufern with Zarah Leander. His second wife, the Jewish Hilde Jary, had fled to Rome after being denounced by Sirk's first wife, the pro-nazi Lydia Brinken. Sirk and Jary went to Paris where he supervised a French remake of Schlussakkord. For the shooting of Boefje he came to Holland only for a few weeks. Sirk complained about the lack of money and the fact he could not have real children to work with. He was not very concentrated on the film, only thinking of getting a visum for the States. After the shooting was over, he left and did not wait for the editing. In 1941 he emigrated to the States. To Sirk himself, his experience in the Netherlands didn't leave him a big impression. He mentioned the film afterwards as 'Bouvier'. IMDB states, oddly enough, that Sirk's first feature film had been a Dutch film too, 't Was 1 April [It was 1th April], the Dutch version of the German comedy April, April, both shot in Berlin in 1935.
Boefje was selected for the first Cannes festival of 1939 but because of the war the festival never took place. In 2002 Boefje was shown in Cannes after all, in a commemorative edition honouring the 1939 edition. Boefje had its original Dutch premiere at the Amsterdam City Theater on 4 October 1939. The film has been restored by the Netherlands Filmmuseum and is now available on dvd. Memorable is the imagery of prewar, unbombed Rotterdam, done by Hungarian cameraman Akos Farkas.
(Sources: Kathinka Dittrich, Achter het doek. Duitse emigranten inde Nederlandse speelfilm in de jaren dertig; Cinema.nl; Wikipedia: Imdb)
Photo Coret, The Hague. N.V. Vereenigd Rotterdamsch Hofstadtooneel
Boefje
Dutch actress Annie van Ees (1893-1970) performed hundreds of times in the stage play Boefje [Little Rascal] (1922), about a little streetboy who is always into mischief but has a heart of gold, here above opposite her husband, the Dutch thespian Cor van der Lugt-Melsert. In 1935 Annie had already played Boefje 500 times. In 1939, when Van Ees was 45, married and had a son, she starred in a film after the play, directed by Detlev Sierck, the future Douglas Sirk.
The popular Dutch novel Boefje (1903) by M.J. Brusse which had been the basis for the play, was scripted by the Germans Carl Zuckmayer and Curt Alexander, the former famous for Der blaue Engel, the latter the regular scriptwriter of Max Ophüls in the 1930s. The film was the last to be produced at the film studio Filmstad in Wassenaar near The Hague, built by Dutch film distributor, importer and cinema owner Loet Barnstijn and run by production manager Leo Meyer, who had been trained in Berlin. Curiously enough, the schoolmaster guarding the young rascal (cf. Ciske de Rat etc.), was turned into a catholic priest in the film, in spite of the Dutch pillarization which made it almost tabu to show either calvinist or catholic clergy in Dutch cinema.
Sirk had left Germany rather late, in 1937, after making succesful films as Schlussakkord and Zu neuen Ufern with Zarah Leander. His second wife, the Jewish Hilde Jary, had fled to Rome after being denounced by Sirk's first wife, the pro-nazi Lydia Brinken. Sirk and Jary went to Paris where he supervised a French remake of Schlussakkord. For the shooting of Boefje he came to Holland only for a few weeks. Sirk complained about the lack of money and the fact he could not have real children to work with. He was not very concentrated on the film, only thinking of getting a visum for the States. After the shooting was over, he left and did not wait for the editing. In 1941 he emigrated to the States. To Sirk himself, his experience in the Netherlands didn't leave him a big impression. He mentioned the film afterwards as 'Bouvier'. IMDB states, oddly enough, that Sirk's first feature film had been a Dutch film too, 't Was 1 April [It was 1th April], the Dutch version of the German comedy April, April, both shot in Berlin in 1935.
Boefje was selected for the first Cannes festival of 1939 but because of the war the festival never took place. In 2002 Boefje was shown in Cannes after all, in a commemorative edition honouring the 1939 edition. Boefje had its original Dutch premiere at the Amsterdam City Theater on 4 October 1939. The film has been restored by the Netherlands Filmmuseum and is now available on dvd. Memorable is the imagery of prewar, unbombed Rotterdam, done by Hungarian cameraman Akos Farkas.
(Sources: Kathinka Dittrich, Achter het doek. Duitse emigranten inde Nederlandse speelfilm in de jaren dertig; Cinema.nl; Wikipedia: Imdb)
Photo Coret, The Hague. N.V. Vereenigd Rotterdamsch Hofstadtooneel