JacobMeijer

The series of 8 TV movies with Ioan Gruffudd in the late 90's/ early 2000 are very famous. They show us the Hornblower from midshipman to his first command. All diamonds for those who love the works of Cecil Scott Forrester. (Among the enthusiasts was also Sir Winston Churchill). In this 1951 movie Gergory Peck is Hornblower. He plays the roll very well, as described in the trilogy "Captain Horatio Hornblower", the 3 books that are the most well known Hornblower books: "Happy return" /aka "Beat to quarters"; "Ship of the line" and "Flying Colours". Of course to tell the 3 stories in about 116 minutes is difficult, but they did a good job.... at least for the Hornblower fan's. I am so lucky to have the movie myself, what is, in fact, a rare and lucky occasion, as the movie is hardly to get. But I enjoy it as a great movie. I even, when younger, called my sailing vessel after one of the ships: the "wich of Endor", translated in my own language. What fan's don't do, eh?

A 5 parts Dutch TV series, made into a 98 minutes TV movie. Although the actors were all amateurs, what can be remarked by the way they speak and the fact that some wait for their turn to speak, it still is a nice movie, giving a good impression of the isle of Schiermonnikoog in the Dutch Waddensea as well as the life there. The movie is exciting enough to be watched, although I must remark that ,my personal interests in 1984, when I videoed the transmission (it still is a good copy though) were that one of the actors, Wieb-Jan Groendijk (playing the bartender in the hotel) is a friend from college. Anyway: interesting enough, even after more then 20 years, to be watched by youngsters or by the not so young who are interested in movies like this.

As one of the first sound movies in The Netherlands not a bad movie. Gives a nice idea of our capitol Amsterdam in the 1930's and it is a nice plot. I think it has been a stageplay at first, adapted for a movie. Like in those days in the German movies there are songs in them, but they are actually functional and not really disturbing. It is, as a matter of fact, a nice timeframe from an age gone by, the pre-war period in Amsterdam and as such very nice to watch. The sound is awful if you listen to it like it was a rather new movie. I mean.. not the fact that it is not in Dolby ot DTS, but I guess in those days the movie was performed on screen with records being played for the sound. Not sure, but it most certainly sounds like it. We use to say: "sound recorded by the open fireplace" as you hear a similar sound.....! Anyway: for the dutch movie history a very famous movie! I remember the movie being played in cinema's and on party's into the 1970's. And that is not really bad for a movie that old!