Film Studios

In the first years of film, there were a couple of film studios in the Netherlands. F.A. Nöggerath, jun. opened a small studio complex in Sloten, near Amsterdam, and the Filmfabriek Hollandia had its own studio in the middle of downtown Haarlem. For most film recordings, however, filmmakers chose to work outside or in a small studio. This can be seen in many early films, where it’s clear that the recordings were made on a set that was built outside: curtains flutter, hanging lamps swing and hair waves in the wind.

Utopian fantasy

It seemed as if things were starting to shift after WWI when Amsterdam Film Cie announced it would build itself a large studio with an adjoining film factory (where film stock would be produced) near Voorburg, near The Hague. In the end, this utopian fantasy never materialised, and after that first announcement, nothing more was ever heard from them about this plan. Just like most other European film companies, Amsterdam Film Cie suffered from fierce competition from the United States and had to adjust its ambitions.

After its bankruptcy, Filmfabriek Hollandia’s studio was taken over by the newly founded The Dutch Film Co, which recorded several feature films there. Benno also used the studio a couple of times for his company Actueel-Film, but after Actueel stopped its production, the studio remained vacant.

A change in the works

At the end of 1927, it looked like a change was coming. Eureka, a company from Schiedam owned by Adriënne Solser and her son André Boesnach, announced the opening of their new studio. This was done with much ado and Boesnach called his studio – which featured a laboratory and a workshop for set construction – the biggest that was ever built in the Netherlands. He received quite some criticism for this, as the former Filmfabriek Hollandia complex in Haarlem was much larger than Boesnach’s studio. The latter didn’t last long: shortly after it opened its doors, Boesnach passed away suddenly. This marked the end of Eureka’s activities, and the studio went to IFI; it was also unable to make a full-fledged production there.

Holland’s Hollywood and Dutch sound studios

True change only really started happening with the emergence of the sound film. In the first years of the sound film, Dutch musicians travelled to France (to Paramount Studios in Joinville) or to the English Elstree Studios to record.

But with the increasing demand for Dutch sound films, it turned out there was also a need for well-outfitted film studios. The brothers Isaac and Jules Biedermann were the first to achieve this. In 1930, they started up Cinetone, a company that originally intended to produce short sound films.

In 1933 they bought an old factory building on the Duivendrechtsekade on the south side of Amsterdam, where they set up their sound film studio. Using the name Cinetone Studio’s, the complex would develop into the most important film studio in the Netherlands. Their first films were made in 1933. The very first of these, a Belgian feature titled Meisjes in vrijheid/Filles en liberté was never released, but their second film, De Jantjes, became an unprecedented success and established a name for Cinetone. In the 1930s, more than 20 features were recorded at Cinetone and the studio was nicknamed ‘Holland’s Hollywood’.

A second studio emerged in Eindhoven: Philiwood. This was the complex where the ‘first Dutch feature film’, Willem van Oranje, was recorded. It turned out to be the only feature film that was ever recorded in Eindhoven, although the studio was also used by the Hungarian director, George Pàl, to make his famous animated puppet films that were commissioned by the Dutch manufacturer, Philips.

A third attempt to establish a sound studio in the Netherlands ended up being an enormous flop. In the summer of 1933, a Belgian businessman, Adhemar Rijckaert, submitted a proposal to the mayor of Ter Heijde, a town located southwest of The Hague. He offered to build a studio there called Filco Filmstudio’s. The mayor and the aldermen agreed and the first construction activities were started. Soon, however, it became clear that Rijckaert was unable to meet his financial obligations. After Rijckaert was expelled from the Netherlands as an undesirable alien, Ter Heijde was left with the half-built ruins.

A third studio was eventually established, this time in Wassenaar, on the other side of The Hague. In 1935, Loet C. Barnstijn opened Filmstad Wassenaar, a complex with two sound studios located on the Oosterbeek estate. The first film that was produced there was Het mysterie van de Mondscheinsonate. Barnstijn had big plans, but things were changing yet again. The hype had passed and the production of Dutch feature films was on the decline. In order to avoid bankruptcy, Barnstijn even had to start producing cine films.

Death blow

During WWII, these two studios were confiscated by the Germans. Cinetone was renamed UFA Filmstadt Amsterdam and Filmstad became UFA Filmstadt Den Haag. In the period from May 1941 to March 1944, there were 18 German feature films recorded in both studios.

At the end of the war, the complex in Wassenaar was bombed by the Allies and Cinetone was plundered by the Germans. This was the final death blow for Wassenaar as a film town. Cinetone Studios made a restart after the war.