Outside of Belgium, little is known about the history of the Flemish cinema. The first Flemish sound film, De Witte/Whitey (1934) was an enormous success. The film's director, Jan Vanderheyden, and his wife, German scriptwriter Edith Kiel, made a series of popular folk comedies during the 1930s and early 1940s. The young star of De Witte, Jef Bruyninckx, grew up in their films. Lately, we found a series of rare postcards of the 1940s with some of the stars of the Jan Vanderheyden films.
Belgian postcard by Esclamator. Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film. Jef Bruyninckx in De Witte/Whitey (Jan Vanderheyden, 1934), based on the eponymous novel by Ernest Claes. In 1980 a new adaptation by Robbe De Hert would follow.
Jef Bruyninckx (1919-1995) was an important and popular Flemish actor and film and television director. He was one of the founders of both Flemish film production and Flemish television, in which he continued to play an important role later. Bruyninckx was also an editor and taught editing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Nini de Boël (1898-1982) was a Flemish actress and soprano who was known as the 'Antwerp Nightingale'. She starred in many revues and operettas in the first half of the 20th century, and also appeared in several Flemish films, including the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
René Bertal (1898-1962) was a Belgian actor who acted in Flemish folk films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Bertal played the title role in the comedy Antoon, de flierefluiter/Anton, the Village Casanova (Jan Vanderheyden, 1942) with Nand Buyl. After this feature, he appeared in two shorts, the escapist musical short film Muziek is schoon/Music is beautiful (Jan Vanderheyden, 1943), and Een zondags uitstapje/A Trip on Sunday (Jan Vanderheyden, 1943).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Belgian actress Martha Dua is known for three Vanderheyden films: the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) with Charles Janssens, the sequel Janssens en Peeters dikke vrienden/Janssens and Peeters are close friends (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940) and the soccer comedy Wit is troef/White is Trump (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940).
Jan Vanderheyden (1890-1961) was both a film producer and director. He was married to the German filmmaker Edith Kiel, who wrote the scripts for his films.
Their first film, De Witte/Whitey (1934), was also the first Flemish film production with sound. It was also very successful. Weeks after the première in Antwerp's Cinema Colosseum the public kept coming to the picture.
The story describes the boyishnesses of Louis Verheyden (Jef Bruyninckx), a white-haired rascal, nicknamed 'De Witte' (the white one) in Zichem, a village in the countryside. In the film, everything happens from the child's perspective. Edith Kiel added a love story to the original storyline made by Ernest Claes, something the original author did not like. Another adaptation with which the Church instead had difficulties was the minimalised role of the village priest.
In the following years, Vanderheyden and Kiel made such films as Alleen voor U/Only for you (Jan Vanderheyden, 1935), Uilenspiegel leeft nog/Uilenspiegel Still Lives (Jan Vanderheyden, 1935), De wonderdokter/The miracle doctor (Jan Vanderheyden, 1936), Havenmuziek/Music in the Harbour (Jan Vanderheyden, 1937), and Drie flinke kerels/Three good guys (Jan Vanderheyden, 1938). In most of these films, the boys Jef Bruyninckx and Nand Buyl played leading roles.
A huge success was the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) starring Charles Janssens, Louisa Lausanne and Jef Bruyninckx. The following year, the sequel Janssens en Peeters dikke vrienden/Janssens and Peeters as good friends (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940) was released.
During the German occupation of Belgium between 1940 and 1944, Vanderheuyden produced four of the six films made by Belgian companies in a market that was otherwise flooded by imported German films. His films included Veel geluk, Monika/Good Luck, Monique! (Jan Vanderheyden, 1941) featuring Louisa Colpeyn, and Antoon, de flierefluiter/Anton, the Village Casanova (Jan Vanderheyden, 1942) with René Bertal.
Vanderheyden hoped to benefit from the Flamenpolitik instituted by the Germans, as Belgian cinema had traditionally been dominated by English and French language films. Vanderheyden made his last film in 1942, after which Belgian feature film production was suspended due to an increasing shortage of film stock.
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Flemish actor Antoon Janssens (1866–1958) is better known as Toontje Janssens. He was one of Belgium's most popular comedians. Since 1929, he appeared in several Belgian films including the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) in which he played Granddad Peeters, the soccer comedy Wit is troef/White is Trump (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940) with soccer player Raymond Braine, and the sequel Janssens en Peeters dikke vrienden/Janssens and Peeters as good friends (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Louisa Colpeyn (1918-2015) was a Belgian actress, who worked both in the theatre and in the film. In 1942, she moved to Paris. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1939 to 1983, including Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) and Veel geluk, Monika/Good luck Monique! (Jan Vanderheyden, 1941) in which she played the title role. Her son is the acclaimed author Patrick Modiano.
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Fred Engelen (1912-1967) was a celebrated Belgian stage actor and director in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. He also acted in Flemish films such as Met den helm geboren/Born with the helmet (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939), starring Jef Bruyninckx and Nand Buyl, the comedies Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Willem Benoy, Jan Vanderheyden, 1939), Een engel van een man/A man like an angel (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939), and Antoon, de flierefluiter/Anton, the Village Casanova (Jan Vanderheyden, 1942).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Jef Bruyninckx (1919-1995) was an important and popular Flemish actor and film and television director. He gained fame through his leading role as De Witte van Zichem in the eponymous Flemish success film De Witte/Whitey by Jan Vanderheyden (1934). In the following series of folk films by Vanderheyden, he also always played one of the main roles. He was one of the founders of both Flemish film production and Flemish television, in which he continued to play an important role later. Bruyninckx was also an editor and taught editing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Belgian postcard by Esclamator. Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film. Jef Bruyninckx in De Witte/Whitey (Jan Vanderheyden, 1934), based on the eponymous novel by Ernest Claes. In 1980 a new adaptation by Robbe De Hert would follow.
Jef Bruyninckx (1919-1995) was an important and popular Flemish actor and film and television director. He was one of the founders of both Flemish film production and Flemish television, in which he continued to play an important role later. Bruyninckx was also an editor and taught editing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Nini de Boël (1898-1982) was a Flemish actress and soprano who was known as the 'Antwerp Nightingale'. She starred in many revues and operettas in the first half of the 20th century, and also appeared in several Flemish films, including the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
René Bertal (1898-1962) was a Belgian actor who acted in Flemish folk films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Bertal played the title role in the comedy Antoon, de flierefluiter/Anton, the Village Casanova (Jan Vanderheyden, 1942) with Nand Buyl. After this feature, he appeared in two shorts, the escapist musical short film Muziek is schoon/Music is beautiful (Jan Vanderheyden, 1943), and Een zondags uitstapje/A Trip on Sunday (Jan Vanderheyden, 1943).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Belgian actress Martha Dua is known for three Vanderheyden films: the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) with Charles Janssens, the sequel Janssens en Peeters dikke vrienden/Janssens and Peeters are close friends (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940) and the soccer comedy Wit is troef/White is Trump (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940).
Jan Vanderheyden
Jan Vanderheyden (1890-1961) was both a film producer and director. He was married to the German filmmaker Edith Kiel, who wrote the scripts for his films.
Their first film, De Witte/Whitey (1934), was also the first Flemish film production with sound. It was also very successful. Weeks after the première in Antwerp's Cinema Colosseum the public kept coming to the picture.
The story describes the boyishnesses of Louis Verheyden (Jef Bruyninckx), a white-haired rascal, nicknamed 'De Witte' (the white one) in Zichem, a village in the countryside. In the film, everything happens from the child's perspective. Edith Kiel added a love story to the original storyline made by Ernest Claes, something the original author did not like. Another adaptation with which the Church instead had difficulties was the minimalised role of the village priest.
In the following years, Vanderheyden and Kiel made such films as Alleen voor U/Only for you (Jan Vanderheyden, 1935), Uilenspiegel leeft nog/Uilenspiegel Still Lives (Jan Vanderheyden, 1935), De wonderdokter/The miracle doctor (Jan Vanderheyden, 1936), Havenmuziek/Music in the Harbour (Jan Vanderheyden, 1937), and Drie flinke kerels/Three good guys (Jan Vanderheyden, 1938). In most of these films, the boys Jef Bruyninckx and Nand Buyl played leading roles.
A huge success was the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) starring Charles Janssens, Louisa Lausanne and Jef Bruyninckx. The following year, the sequel Janssens en Peeters dikke vrienden/Janssens and Peeters as good friends (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940) was released.
During the German occupation of Belgium between 1940 and 1944, Vanderheuyden produced four of the six films made by Belgian companies in a market that was otherwise flooded by imported German films. His films included Veel geluk, Monika/Good Luck, Monique! (Jan Vanderheyden, 1941) featuring Louisa Colpeyn, and Antoon, de flierefluiter/Anton, the Village Casanova (Jan Vanderheyden, 1942) with René Bertal.
Vanderheyden hoped to benefit from the Flamenpolitik instituted by the Germans, as Belgian cinema had traditionally been dominated by English and French language films. Vanderheyden made his last film in 1942, after which Belgian feature film production was suspended due to an increasing shortage of film stock.
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Flemish actor Antoon Janssens (1866–1958) is better known as Toontje Janssens. He was one of Belgium's most popular comedians. Since 1929, he appeared in several Belgian films including the comedy Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) in which he played Granddad Peeters, the soccer comedy Wit is troef/White is Trump (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940) with soccer player Raymond Braine, and the sequel Janssens en Peeters dikke vrienden/Janssens and Peeters as good friends (Jan Vanderheyden, 1940).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Louisa Colpeyn (1918-2015) was a Belgian actress, who worked both in the theatre and in the film. In 1942, she moved to Paris. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1939 to 1983, including Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939) and Veel geluk, Monika/Good luck Monique! (Jan Vanderheyden, 1941) in which she played the title role. Her son is the acclaimed author Patrick Modiano.
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Fred Engelen (1912-1967) was a celebrated Belgian stage actor and director in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. He also acted in Flemish films such as Met den helm geboren/Born with the helmet (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939), starring Jef Bruyninckx and Nand Buyl, the comedies Janssens tegen Peeters/Janssens against Peeters (Willem Benoy, Jan Vanderheyden, 1939), Een engel van een man/A man like an angel (Jan Vanderheyden, 1939), and Antoon, de flierefluiter/Anton, the Village Casanova (Jan Vanderheyden, 1942).
Belgian postcard by Huis Ern. Thill, Brussel (Brussels). Photo: Jan Vanderheyden-Film.
Jef Bruyninckx (1919-1995) was an important and popular Flemish actor and film and television director. He gained fame through his leading role as De Witte van Zichem in the eponymous Flemish success film De Witte/Whitey by Jan Vanderheyden (1934). In the following series of folk films by Vanderheyden, he also always played one of the main roles. He was one of the founders of both Flemish film production and Flemish television, in which he continued to play an important role later. Bruyninckx was also an editor and taught editing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
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