The Crosspatch

"There are many Dutch films, but there is only one „KRIBBEBIJTER" !"

1935 1h 26m NL

🤯

9.0

MASTERPIECE

★9.0TMDB · 4

ComedyRomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Willy, the son of baron Van Hergershuizen, finds himself disinherited after he marries an untitled girl. His wife decides to take action and applies for the job of the baron's housekeeper.

“There are many Dutch films, but there is only one „KRIBBEBIJTER" !”

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Cast

Cor Ruys
Baron Coenraad van Hergershuizen
Louis de Bree
Uncle Moeki
Philip Dorn
Willy van Hergershuizen
Dolly Mollinger
Loes
Mary Dresselhuys
Mary van Hergershuizen
Louis Borel
Hans van Maren
Chris Baay
Schimmelman
August Kiehl
Frans

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry Koster
Writers: Alexander Alexander, Jane Bess
Languages: Dutch
Countries: Netherlands

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

91 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry Koster, shot by Henk Alsem. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Editor Oscar van Leer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Cor Ruys and Louis de Bree and Philip Dorn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There are many Dutch films, but there is only one „KRIBBEBIJTER" !".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0026584 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Koster directs. Henk Alsem behind the camera. Oscar van Leer cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Netherlands. Dialogue in Dutch.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
291 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Henry Koster, shot by Henk Alsem. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Oscar van Leer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Cor Ruys and Louis de Bree and Philip Dorn carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "There are many Dutch films, but there is only one „KRIBBEBIJTER" !".
8IMDB entry: tt0026584 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 4 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "netherlands", "palace", "father-in-law", "romcom".

The technical file

Cinematography: Henk Alsem
Editing: Oscar van Leer
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Status: Released
Original language: NL
IMDB: The Crosspatch (1935)

Also by

Henry Koster

Community reviews

What people are saying

Goran.Mont2022-07-06
★ 9/10
To say Dutch audiences in the 30s loved De Kribbebijter would be an understatement: the movie stayed in theaters from july 1935 to december 1942, packing full houses until the very end of its run. International critics seemed not to understand what exactly made this Dutch comedy so special, but when one takes a closer look at the cinematic climate in the Netherlands in those days, they will find that the Kribbebijter-madness made perfect sense. In the mid-thirties, the most popular movie genre in the Netherlands was that of the so-called 'Jordaan-film'; jolly musicals with a simple, predictable plot and catchy songs, always set in the Amsterdam 'Jordaan' area and often starring Dutch variety icons like Louis Davids, Fien de la Mar and Sylvain Poons. But even though films like De Jantjes, Bleeke Bet and Het Leven is Niet Zoo Kwaad were enjoyable and full of talented performers, the Jordaan-films were also very much seen as a crowd-pleasing, often clumsily made cinematic equivalent of junkfood. Hollywood movies on the other hand were often too melodramatic and self-important to please the phlegmatic Dutch (Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg...). By 1935, Jordaan-film-fatigue was setting in — the last true Jordaan film, Oranje Hein, would be released in 1936 — and Dutch audiences were longing for something closer to the coherent plot structures of Hollywood, but with that unmistakably Dutch combination of abstemious downplaying and theatrical folly. What they got was De Kribbebijter. Needless to say, they were pleased. While retaining the romantic entanglements of the Jordaan-films, the storyline of De Kribbebijter has an un-Dutch sense of coherence; it does not derive its jolly fun from intermezzo's or random jokes, but rather from cleverly written setpieces and inspired comedic performances by theatre powerhouses Cor Ruys, Louis de Bree and Louis Borel especially. The acting is — apart from an astoundingly hammy Mary Dresselhuys — not as wacky as the Jordaan-films, and not nearly as melodramatic and overly sentimental as most 30s Hollywood productions. Visually and technically the directing is so-so, but unlike most Dutch movies at the time, the camera was dynamic enough not to make it feel like filmed theatre. In short: De Kribbebijter is a unique picture; unique in being very Dutch in its approach, but also very non-Dutch in its execution. It's a movie I enjoyed immensely, and I hope a subtitled version will be released soon so foreign cinephiles can enjoy it as well!

Production companies