The Crosspatch

7/6/2022

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