Film Factories during WWI

Although the Filmfabriek Hollandia in Haarlem was by far the largest and most prolific production company in the 1910s, it was not the only one. Soon after WWI started, two new film companies arrived on the scene.

The first of these was Amsterdam Film Cie, owned by the director Theo Frenkel, sr. Frenkel had earned his stripes abroad and returned to the Netherlands at the outbreak of the war. With the help of a number of investors, Frenkel raised enough funds to produce six feature films as well as a few short films in five years. Two of these included Het wrak in de Noordzee – one of the highlights from the silent film era – and the surprising one-act film De dood van Pierrot.

Set photo of Het wrak in de Noordzee (NL, Theo Frenkel sr., 1915)

Big plans

Just like Hollandia, Amsterdam Film Cie had big plans for after the war. They intended to build a film studio near Voorburg and a factory for the production of film stock. Film material became scarce in the war years and Amsterdam Film Cie saw an opportunity not only to manufacture the film stock that they needed, but also to make money by selling it to others. These plans were announced with much to-do in Het Vaderland, a newspaper in The Hague, but after that, nothing more was ever heard about it.

Amsterdam Film Cie also encountered American competition. Just as Maurits Binger looked for support in Great Britain, Frenkel approached German producers - which resulted in two feature films which he co-produced with Turma-Film.

In 1923 Amsterdam Film Cie declared bankruptcy. Frenkel continued the collaboration under the name Theo Frenkel Film Cie, and two more co-productions followed until Turma, too, went bankrupt. Frenkel then started working for The Dutch Film Co.

Epic high point

The second company to appear on the scene was Rembrandt Film Co., which was started up by entrepreneur and producer/director Johan Gildemeijer. The first film by the Rembrandt Film Co., Fatum, was released in 1915. For this firstling, Gildemeijer hired Theo Fenkel, sen. as his director; thereafter he would direct all of his other films. Gildemeijer reached the high point of his career as a director with his film Gloria transita, an epic film about an opera singer. The lead role was played by August van der Hoeck, who provided live accompaniment for every screening of the film, along with the other actors from the film.

The Rembrandt Film Co. also had its difficulties during the war, and made its final film in 1937, but it was never driven to bankruptcy. Although it produced four long feature films during the war years, film production nearly came to a standstill after the war. Gildemeijer did make Onze oost, a long compilation of Dutch East Indian films from the collection of the Koloniaal Instituut (‘Colonial Institute’) as well as a second music film, Gloria fatalis. After these projects, however, nothing much was heard of Gildemeijer until 1937 when his last film came out – the short sound film Fantasia Musica. An earlier sound film project of his, Romance impromptu, was never completed.

Besides these two major companies, there were also a few smaller producers who were actively making feature films in 1918-1919. Of all of these, AFKO Film in Arnhem was the most active.

Production companies that made fiction films during the period 1914-1920

AFKO Film
Amsterdam Film Cie
Blitz-Film Company
Claxon Film Compagnie
Engel-Wilson Film Comp
Filmfabriek Hollandia
Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Witte Films
Rembrandt Film Co
Zodiak Film Cie

Still from Artiestenzomerfeest (NL, Onbekend, 1916)

Filmfabriek Hollandia – A National Superpower

Hollandia would grow to become the most important producer of Dutch feature films before WWII.

Cinetone Studios in Duivendrecht, near Amsterdam.

Film Studios

In many early films, it is obvious that the recordings were made on a set that was built outside: curtains flutter, hanging lamps swing and hair waves in the wind.