Haarlem Film City

Today a new film book will be presented, 'Haarlem filmstad' (Haarlem film city), edited by Harry Hosman and Arie Vestering. 'Haarlem Film city' describes the cinema life and the well-known and lesser-known studios, filmmakers and stars from the Dutch city. During the 1910s and 1920s, Haarlem even seemed to be the centre of the Dutch film world. Cameramen, actors and set builders walked back and forth in the Filmfabriek Hollandia at the Spaarne river, where dozens of silent films were created. Haarlem-based actresses like Annie Bos achieved star-status. For this new book, I wrote a chapter on film poster designer Frans Bosen, who worked and lived in Haarlem, and designed dozens of colourful film posters during the 1920s. EFSP joins the festivities around the book presentation with a post on the work of Frans Bosen, but we start with a very rare card with Annie Bos which we found just a few weeks ago.


Dutch postcard by E & B. Photo: Annie Bos in Toffe jongens onder de mobilisatie (deel 1)/Cool boys under the mobilisation (part 1) (Jan van Dommelen, 1914). Translation caption: The coast guard, My Johnny is here all day on the coast watching, I think he likes a bath, so I'll be the coast guard.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Salammbo (Pierre Maradon, 1924) with Jeanne de Balzac.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924) starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (1883-1939) was the elegant, dashing, and athletic star of several classic swashbuckling films of the silent era. He produced and starred in ever more elaborate, impressive costume films, such as The Three Musketeers (Fred Niblo, 1921), Robin Hood (Allan Dwan, 1922), The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924), The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926, the first full-length Technicolor film), and The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927) with Lupe Velez. With his marriage to Mary Pickford in 1920, the couple became Hollywood royalty and Fairbanks was referred to as ‘The King of Hollywood'.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Don Q Son of Zorro (Donald Crisp, 1925) starring Douglas Fairbanks.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925) with Lon Chaney.

Lon Chaney (1883-1930) was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. Between 1912 and 1930 he played more the 150 widely diverse roles. He is renowned for his characterisations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Wallace Worsley, (1923), He Who Gets Slapped (Victor Sjöström, 1924) and The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925).


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Tartüff/Tartuffe (F.W. Murnau, 1925) starring Emil Jannings.

If Weimar cinema had one film star, then it was Emil Jannings (1884-1950) for sure. Jannings managed to get away from his famous historical characters in such films as Anna Boleyn (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920) and Quo Vadis (Georg Jacoby, Gabriellino D'Annunzio, 1925) with two major films. In Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's Der letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (1924) he was a proud hotel doorman who loses his self-esteem and the esteem of others when he is reduced to a toilet man, working in the basement of the hotel. In Varieté/Variety (Ewald André Dupont, 1925), he was the strong acrobat, who killed his rival out of jealousy. Jannings magnificently expressed the fears and doubts of proud and big-hearted men, who are cheated by their surroundings. Murnau directed him in two more silent classics Tartüff/Tartuffe (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1925) with Lil Dagover, and Faust (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1926) as Mephisto opposite Gösta Ekman as Faust.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926) starring Emil Jannings.

Frans Bosen

As a designer of film posters, Bosen was a pioneer: he was one of the first Dutch designers to use film images. Before 1920, mainly 'letter posters' were made in the Netherlands: cinema advertisements with text only, on which a number of films were announced simultaneously. Another habit was to take over the placards from abroad with the films and stick the Dutch title on them. Frans Bosen, on the other hand, designed film posters with original images that stood out with their bright colors and short, powerful texts.

Frans Bosen (1891-1949) made dozens of film posters. The circumstances for these assignments were not comfortable: there was little time and money for it and he had to base his designs on a press photo of the film.

What is striking about his posters is that there is hardly any text on it. Modern film posters mention the credits of the actors, the producers, the director, the screenwriters, the composer, etc. In addition to the film title, Bosen sometimes only gave the name of the protagonist.

He designed the letters himself. Many posters also feature the logo of publisher De Brakke Grond, which was designed by him. The logo even contains his signature, on which he made small variations over the years. The result is often a calm, clear image.

The Bosen posters give a colorful insight into what was seen in Dutch cinemas in the 1920s. There are Hollywood classics among them, including the horror film The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925) and films with action hero Douglas Fairbanks, for example The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). But he also made many posters for European films, such as the religious film La Vie merveilleuse de Bernadette/The wonderful life of Bernadette (George Pallu, 1929).


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for The Triumph of the Rat (Graham Cutts, 1926) with Ivor Novello.

Gorgeous matinee idol Ivor Novello (1893-1951) was one of the multi-talents of the British stage and cinema during the first half of the 20th century. On stage, the 'British Sex God in tight pants' produced and composed a string of hit musicals, starring himself. The 'Valentino from The Valleys' also appeared in the classic Hitchcock thriller The Lodger (1927) and other successful silent and early sound films in France, Great-Britain and Hollywood.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Wien, wie es weint und lacht/Vienna, how it cries and laughs (Rudolf Walther-Fein, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926) with Mady Christians.

Austrian-born stage actress Mady Christians (1892-1951) was a star of the German silent cinema and appeared in Austrian, French, British and Hollywood films too.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Die geschiedene Frau/The Divorcée (Victor Janson, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926) with Mady Christians.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for An der Schönen blauen Donau/The Beautiful Blue Danube (Frederic Zelnik, 1926) with Lya Mara.

Lya Mara (1897-1960?) was one of the biggest stars of the German silent cinema. Some immensely successful silent operettas presented her as the perfect Viennese Girl. Hundreds of postcards and trading cards cemented her stardom, which was even the subject of a novel, published in 100 episodes between 1927 and 1928. Her career virtually ended after the arrival of sound film.


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for Die tolle Lola/Fabulous Lola (Richard Eichberg, 1927) with Lilian Harvey.

Ufa's biggest star of the 1930s was British born German actress and singer Lilian Harvey (1906-1968). With Willy Fritsch she formed the 'Dream Team of the European Cinema'. In 1924, Harvey made her film debut as the young Jewish girl Ruth in the silent film Der Fluch/The Curse (Robert Land, 1925). Director-producer Richard Eichberg signed her on, and under his direction she played her first leading roles in Leidenschaft/Passion (Richard Eichberg, 1925) with Otto Gebühr, Liebe und Trompetenblasen/Love and Trumpet Blows (Richard Eichberg, 1925) opposite Harry Liedtke, Die keusche Susanne/The Innocent Susanne (Richard Eichberg, 1926) for the first time with Willy Fritsch, and Die tolle Lola/Fabulous Lola (Richard Eichberg, 1927).


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for The Ghost Train (Geza von Bolvary, 1927).


Dutch poster by Frans Bosen for La Vie merveilleuse de Bernadette/The wonderful life of Bernadette (George Pallu, 1929) with Alexandra.

A silent film reconstruction of Bernadette Soubirous's life (1844-1879), a 14-year-old girl that catholics believe had eighteen visions of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in a grotto near Lourdes, France. The place became a peregrination centre since then.

For more information in Dutch on 'Haarlem Filmstad' see Haarlemfilmstad.nl

Annie Bos

Every year in early autumn, the Dutch film industry and public gather at the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) to see, assess, discuss and celebrate Dutch cinema. From 21 to 30 September 2016, Utrecht is the capital of film, and at EFSP, Dutch cinema is also placed centre stage. We start with the brightest star of the silent cinema of the Netherlands, Annie Bos aka Anny Bos (1886-1975). Between 1912 and 1920, she was the queen of the Hollandia film factory. Bos was entitled 'The Dutch Asta Nielsen' and was the first Dutch film diva.


A rare Dutch postcard for Annie Bos, written here as Anny Bos. Photo: Hollandia-films, Haarlem. For us, this postcard was a holy grail. We're proud and glad to have found it.


Dutch postcard by E & B. Photo: Annie Bos in Toffe jongens onder de mobilisatie (deel 1)/Cool boys under the mobilisation (part 1) (Jan van Dommelen, 1914). Translation caption: The coast guard, My Johnny is here all day on the coast watching, I think he likes a bath, so I'll be the coast guard.


Italian promotion postcard for Philips. Photo: Emrik & Binger, Haarlem. Captions: Philips, Eindhoven (Olanda). Ragazza Olandese 11. Lampada Philips, Risparmio 75%, Luce Bianchissima.

Hollandia

Annie Bos was born in Amsterdam in 1886 as Johanna Bos, daughter of painter Gerard Jan Bos and his wife Aletta Maria Gertruda Halberstadt. Her father enabled her to follow the drama school in Antwerp, where she made her theatre debut. However, she soon returned to the Netherlands where she first appeared on stage in 1909. For three years she played small roles at the Van Lier brothers company and later joined that of Prot, but she had just a few opportunities to flourish as a stage actress here.

In November 1912 director Maurits Binger offered her the lead role in the film De levende ladder/The Living Ladder (Maurits Binger 1913). Binger had founded the production company Filmfabriek (film factory) Hollandia in 1912 and saw Bos as the ideal muse for the female leads in his films. Bos quickly belonged to the core group of the Hollandia players, such as Willem van der Veer, Fred Vogeding, Jan van Dommelen, Coen Hissink, Paula de Waart, Christine Chrispijn-van Meeteren and actor/director Louis Chrispijn,. Over the years, she received more and more recognition.

Her popularity grew also internationally, as Binger distributed her films over the borders as well, right from the start of De levende ladder. The audience preferred Bos over other Dutch actresses because of her natural style of play. The press compared her to the Franco-Russian actress Stacia Napierkowska. After the thrilling film Liefde waakt/An Artist’s Model (Louis Chrispijn, 1914) was released, Bos was nicknamed "the Dutch Asta Nielsen", turning her into the first Dutch film diva. Bos herself, though, hated that nickname and rather preferred the Italian diva Francesca Bertini. Across the country, young female fans imitated her hairstyle.

She was seen mainly in society dramas, thrill films and film adaptations of plays and books. Her big breakthrough came in 1916 when she played the lead in Majoor Frans/Major Frans (Maurits Binger, 1916), with Bos in a man-like role, as her character was raised as a boy because of an allowance by an aunt. The young Frans as a child was played by Lily Bouwmeester, who would become a Dutch film star in the 1930s. Although Bos received praise from critics, she was convinced that the transfer of her interpretation of the main character in Majoor Frans had failed.

From then on Bos became the most wanted film actress, but she nevertheless continued to do her own stunts. For a famous scene from Het geheim van Delft/The Secret of Delft (Maurits Binger, 1917), she let herself strapped to a mill’s wing going up to forty meters, and doing several rounds (filmed by the cameraman who did the same). As a reward, director and producer Binger gave her a bottle of champagne.


Adelqui Migliar and Annie Bos. Publicity still. Source: Immagine. Nuova Serie N. 16, 1990-1991.


Adelqui Migliar and Annie Bos. Publicity still for Een Carmen van het Noorden/Carmen of the North (Maurits H. Binger, Hans Nesna, 1919). Source: Immagine. Nuova Serie N. 16, 1990-1991.

Anna Bosilova

In her next film, Madame Pinkette & Co. (Maurits Binger, 1917), Annie Bos first played opposite the Chilean actor Adelqui Migliar. They would be paired in a long string of films, including De kroon der schande/The Coronet of Shame (Maurits Binger, 1918), the three-part film Oorlog en vrede 1914/1916/1918/War and Peace 1914/1916/1918 (Maurits Binger, 1918) and Toen’t licht verdween/When the Light Vanished (Maurits Binger, 1918).

Over the years, Bos got more chances to prove herself as an actress, as she started demanding more versatility in her characters. She played a demure young lady in the fishermen’s drama Op hoop van zegen/The Good Hope (Maurits Binger 1918), a comedian in American Girls (Maurits Binger, Louis Davids, 1919), and a daring femme fatale in Een Carmen van het Noorden/A Carmen of the North (Maurits Binger, Hans Nesna, 1919). In 1920 she was awarded a medal for her acting career.

After the end of World War I, filmmaking became more expensive. In 1919 Hollandia was about to go bankrupt and teamed up with a British studio to avoid collapse. Hollandia became Anglo-Hollandia. Bos still had the female lead in Het verborgen leven/The Hidden Life (Maurits Binger, B.E. Doxat-Pratt, 1920) and Zonnetje/Joy (Maurits Binger, B.E. Doxatt-Pratt, 1920), while Binger gave her the lead in a last project of his own: Rechten der Jeugd/Youth’s Rights (Maurits Binger, 1921).

Bos had to accept that female leads at Anglo-Hollandia went more and more to British actresses such as Mary Odette, e.g. in De vrouw van den minister/John Herriott’s Wife (Maurits Binger, B.E. Doxatt-Pratt, 1920). She was internationally named Anna Bosilova.

When Anglo-Hollandia reorganised at the end of 1920, the studio bosses decided Bos had to leave because they thought her too old. Meanwhile, Bos appeared in the US to be a popular actress because of A Carmen of the North, so an American version was planned and Bos was offered a contract which guaranteed her to star in the remake. She moved to New York in April 1921 but once arrived, she discovered the studio didn’t exist anymore. Bos did several auditions with other film studios but to no avail. She only had a small role alongside American actress Pearl White in the Fox production Without Fear (Kenneth S. Webb, 1922) and was named in the credits as Anna Boas.


Dutch postcard by E & B. Photo by HAP Film / Bens Film, Den Haag. Jan van Dommelen in the film Schakels (Maurits Binger, 1920), based on a play by Herman Heijermans.


Mary Odette. British postcard in the Pictures Portrait Gallery, no. 49, by Pictures Ltd., London. Photo: Claude Harris.

When the light disappeared

Unable to get any more film parts in the US, Annie Bos returned to Europe for health reasons in November 1922. Film lights had damaged her eyes. After a successful eye operation in Berlin, she tried to find her luck in Germany but this failed as well. In 1924 she eventually returned to the Netherlands.

There, Hollandia had gone bankrupt in 1922 and only two shaky Dutch film studios remained. Alex Benno, a director whom she knew from her days at Hollandia, insisted she would do the title role in Mooi Juultje van Volendam/Beautiful July of Volendam (Alex Benno, 1924), a folklorist film.

Although her comeback was accompanied by media attention, the film flopped and was removed from cinemas after just one week. In November 1924 Bos returned to the stage and was featured in the hit play 'Madame Dubarry'. However, in 1925 she decided to quit acting for good. In 1926, she married notary Cornelis Loeff and became a housewife, soon forgotten by the public.

Her death at Leiden, on 3 August 1975, was mentioned in only one newspaper, Het Vrije Volk. Shortly before her death, she told her life story to Dutch film historian Geoffrey Donaldson, who made an extensive article, published in 1978 in the film magazine Skrien. In 1997 Donaldson dedicated his book Of Joy and Sorrow: A Filmography of Dutch Silent Fiction to her. In 2006, film actress Willeke van Ammelrooy brought Bos under the footlight in a stage monologue called Toen ‘t licht verdween (When the Light Disappeared), entitled after one of Bos’s films.

Several films with Annie Bos have shown up either in Dutch or foreign archives, such as De levende ladder, Twee Zeeuwse meisjes in Zandvoort/Two Zealand Girls in Zandvoort (Louis Chrispijn, 1913), De wraak van het vissersmeisje/The Fishergirl’s Vengeance (Jan van Dommelen 1913), Majoor Frans, Het geheim van Delft/The Secret of Delft, Zonnetje/Joy, John Herriot’s Wife, and, most recently, in 2011, De Bertha/The “Bertha’ (Louis Chrispijn, 1914). From her other titles only fragments remain, while most of her films are still lost.


Trailer for the film program dedicated to Annie Bos. The program ran in the Filmmuseum in the winter of 2006. Source: Filmmuseum Amsterdam (YouTube).


Twee Zeeuwse meisjes in Zandvoort/Two Zealand Girls in Zandvoort (Louis Chrispijn, 1913). Source: Eye (YouTube).

Sources: Geoffrey Donaldson (Of Joy and Sorrow: A Filmography of Dutch Silent Fiction, 1997), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.