Drie weken huisknecht (1944)

Interesting facts

Drie Weken Huisknecht is a Dutch film directed by Walter Smith. It was filmed in 1942 and released in 1944. It is based on the play Adel in Livrei by Henk Bakker. It was the only large Dutch feature film produced during the Second World War.

Production

The film is based on the play Adel in Livrei (lit. 'Nobility in Livery') by Henk Bakker, which premiered before the Second World War.

In early 1942, the film companies Filmfabriek Polygoon and Profilti together acquired the rights to the play. The working title for the film was Kasteel te koop (transl. Castle for sale). The production of the film was primarily intended to keep the actors and technicians occupied.

During the occupation of the Netherlands, Dutch film companies were only allowed to produce small films that would be shown as a pre-film before a long German film. The Germans wanted to prevent manifestations of national character in longer Dutch movies. In May 1942, the companies inquired whether the leader of the film guild Kultuurkamer and leader of the Rijksfilmkeuring (State Film Censorship), Jan Teunissen, would approve the movie.

The companies were ready to film in July 1942 and starting filming that summer. The exterior filming took place at Castle Vorden and the interior filming took place at Profitli's studios in The Hague.

In December 1942, the movie was ready for review. The authorities demanded amongst others that the sentence 'Moed houden maar, altijd maar moed houden' (transl. 'keep courage, always keep courage') had to be changed into 'Volhouden maar, altijd maar volhouden' (transl. 'keep persevering, always keep persevering'), but otherwise approved the film.

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