De greep

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Summary

Short tragedy by Léon Boedels about an old man who has to watch his son getting tricked by his daughter-in-law, with serious consequences.

Misfortune, tragic developments, and a fatal ending dominated many of the early Dutch fiction films. For the American market, it later became common to add a happy ending to a film, but this was clearly not necessary for Dutch audiences. De greep fits into this tragic tradition.

The film tells the story of old Hardouin, who can still hear and see, but can no longer move or speak. Hardouin sees his son die in the wine cellar at the hands of his evil wife Rose. After the death of his son, the old man once again finds the strength to stand. Enraged and embittered, he strangles his daughter-in-law.

De greep is a film adaptation of the then-popular play 'La Griffe', by the French writer Jean Sartène. Influenced by international developments, producer F.A. Nöggerath Jr. and director Léon Boedels were among the first in the Netherlands to base a film on an existing literary work. But the adventure was short-lived: film distribution was still in its infancy, which made it difficult to sell or rent the film to third parties. Later, when the Dutch film industry had matured, Nöggerath would make a second attempt.

Information

original title
De greep
foreign release title
The Grip
alternative title
In de greep
production year
1909
release date
04-08-1909
country
Netherlands
category
Fictional
director
original distributor
production company

Images

Cast

Actor

Crew

Technical notations

sound
Silent
colour
Black & White, Tinting
format
35mm
acts
1

Resources

Algemeen Handelsblad, 4 augustus 1909

F. van der Maden, Mobiele filmvertoning in Nederland 1895-1913, Nijmegen (1981), p. 295

Nijmeegsche Courant, 5 oktober 1909

H. de Wit, Film in Utrecht van 1895 tot 1915, Utrecht (1986); Bijlage: p. 133

De Kinematograaf, No. 102, 1 januari 1915

De Kinematograaf, No. 105, 22 januari 1915

De Kinematograaf, No. 121, 14 mei 1915

G. Donaldson, Of Joy and Sorrow. A Filmography of Dutch Silent Fiction, Amsterdam (1997), p. 75

more information

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