The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach

The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach 1905

5.20

'Zandvoort in an uproar! On Saturday morning at roughly 10 o’clock, with beautiful weather and calm seas, a Frenchman sat in a beach chair to gaze upon the magnificent view that the sea always affords, until he slowly began to fall asleep’ So begins a report in the ‘Zandvoortsche Courant’ of July 25, 1905. The article explains how the man was faced with the oncoming tide, and – to the amazement of the audience – took off his trousers to prevent them from being ruined by the saltwater. While trying to escape from the policeman who had rushed to the scene, he jumps into a passing car, and hides out in a small changing cabin. Eventually he's nabbed by the police. Accompanied by a band and a large crowd, he is escorted to the police station. The article ends by saying that ‘Messrs. Alberts Frères’ had staged the whole incident for a film in which two of the most popular genres of that period - the locally-shot film and the chase film – would be combined.

1905

The Life of the Bees

The Life of the Bees 1917

1

A popular-scientific film about beekeeping. The beekeeper Jan Luberti gives a tour of his Bijenlust bee farm near The Hague, Netherlands, and shows the many aspects of keeping bees, and how they make honey.

1917

Fruit Harvest in the Netherlands

Fruit Harvest in the Netherlands 1917

1

The harvest of gooseberries, apples, pears, and cherries. The film includes shots of the fruit-picking – by men, women and children – as well as the transport and the auction. The images of the harvest are interspersed with idyllic pictures of flowers, grazing cows, and young women eating cherries.

1917