City Films

In 1923, the distribution companies HAP & BenS (both owned by Loet C. Barnstijn) published a catalogue that neatly classified all the films they had for rent into various categories. The first series in their catalogue Nederlandsche Natuur- en Stadsopnamen (‘Dutch Nature and City Shots’) was made up of 93 stedenfilms (‘city films’). Mullens himself called these ‘panoramas’ or ‘city panoramas’.

Most of these films were made between 1918-1922 by Haghe Film, Willy Mullens’ company. A few recordings were made by Filmfabriek Hollandia and AFKO, a company from Arnhem. In addition, there are four other films in the catalogue that were made by foreign companies.

The first city film

In 1915, Willy Mullens was commissioned by the Vereeninging Vreemdelingenverkeer to make a film for tourists about The Hague and Scheveningen. The film was titled Mooi Holland and was released in that same year.

In 1918 another city film was made, this time commissioned by the city of Arnhem. From that moment on, Mullens started using a more systematic approach. He wrote to a large number of municipalities: ‘By making a film of your city and its surroundings, you will be both contributing to the popularity and knowledge of your city for Dutchmen as well as increasing the traffic of foreigners to your area’. Municipalities would supervise the filmmaking so that the depiction would be as optimal as possible. Mullens himself would handle the filming; the distribution of the films would be taken care of by HAP. The municipalities would each receive a copy of the film.

Mullens drew up a price list for the municipalities:

- communities with fewer than 10,000 residents: 100 guilders (150 metres of film)

- communities with between 10,000 and 30,000 residents: 200 guilders (220 metres of film)

- communities with between 30,000 and 60,000 residents: 300 guilders (330 metres of film)

- communities with more than 60,000 residents: 350 guilders (380 metres of film)

Communities could purchase an extra copy of the film for 85 cents per metre.

The films would become part of an archive that contained films from all municipalities and important events. The final result would end up as a sort of film encyclopaedia.

More than a hundred cities on film

In the meantime, the Nederlandsch Centraal Filmarchief opened in 1919. The archive had set itself the goal to collect films that provided an image of the social and cultural life of the Netherlands, to enable later generations to watch and study the images. In fact, the opening of the archive gave Mullens’s idea an official status. Mullens became an advisor to the Nederlandsch Centraal Filmarchief and signed a contract agreeing to deposit the negatives of his city films (as well as his current affairs films and short documentaries) in the archive. In return, the archive used its position to secure financial and organisational support for his film activities.

In total, Mullens made about 120 city films; 73 of these were mentioned in the HAP & BenS catalogues.
Most of the city films, especially those by Haghe Film, were made according to a fixed plan. They began with a long, panaroramic shot of the city from a high perspective, usually a church tower. The city centre was shown, followed by a glimpse of wooded surroundings or waterways on which the city was situated. This was followed by a series of shots of the best-known historical buildings and the most important streets, plazas and industries. Each shot was accompanied by intertitles that explained what was being shown.

In a few cases, Mullens made use of what was known then as a ‘phantom ride’. This was a film technique involving a camera attached to a moving automobile or tram. 

Nederlandsche Natuur- en Stadsopnamen (HAP and BenS catalogue): 

Amsterdam (Oud)
Amsterdamsche straten en pleinen
Arnhem en omstreken
Bolsward
Edam (Doode steden)
Eindhoven
Elst
Enkhuizen 
Franeker
Gouwe en Oude Rijn (Langs)
Harlingen
Heerlen
Hoorn
Kampen
Leeuwarden
Maas (Langs de)
Maastricht
Medemblik
Oud Keizerrijk (Een)
Rijswijk (ZH)
Schoonhoven
Sittard
Sneek
Stavoren
Utrecht
Valkenburg
Vechtstreek (De)
Visschersplaatsen a/d Zuiderzee
Walcheren (Door)
Weesp
Zaltbommel

Related pages

The Dutch Central Film Archive

In September 1919, the Vaderlandsch Historisch Volksfeest, a folkloristic festival, was organised in Arnhem.