I am not entirely sure what to think about it, as I haven't read the books this film was based on, nor have I seen any other Dutch films from its era.
Central in this film is a story about a poor, elderly couple, whom our protagonist, a boy called Dik Trom, tries to help in a number of ways. First he brings them food, then he gets them money and a barrel organ, upon which bad guys get introduced who take the money and damage the organ, upon which an epic slapstick sequence awaits - you get the picture: it's basically a formula children's movie. There is, however, an odd, short story arc in which the elderly woman was accused of being a witch, which didn't fit in with the overall story at all - what on earth was the director thinking?
The dialogue is terrible, with unnatural lines and fake accents. Given that the way people speak has changed a lot in the Netherlands since 1947, though, it might have been less bad back then than it seems now. Besides, Dialogue in Dutch cinema has always remained bad, so it would be unfair to attack just this film on its dialogue.
The protagonist lacks character development. He is basically the "Good Guy", as well as the leader of most other young boys in the movie, who have even less character development. He also keeps carrier pigeons, apparently. Perhaps it is expected of the audience that they already know him from the books?
Overall, I would say this movie is bad. It should be considered, however, that it is Dutch (that is, the cinematic standards are low), that it's from 1947 (just after the war, so low-budget) and that it's for children, who are less likely to cringe over the dialogue. And I did like the "Home Alone"-ish slapstick sequence near the end.
Central in this film is a story about a poor, elderly couple, whom our protagonist, a boy called Dik Trom, tries to help in a number of ways. First he brings them food, then he gets them money and a barrel organ, upon which bad guys get introduced who take the money and damage the organ, upon which an epic slapstick sequence awaits - you get the picture: it's basically a formula children's movie. There is, however, an odd, short story arc in which the elderly woman was accused of being a witch, which didn't fit in with the overall story at all - what on earth was the director thinking?
The dialogue is terrible, with unnatural lines and fake accents. Given that the way people speak has changed a lot in the Netherlands since 1947, though, it might have been less bad back then than it seems now. Besides, Dialogue in Dutch cinema has always remained bad, so it would be unfair to attack just this film on its dialogue.
The protagonist lacks character development. He is basically the "Good Guy", as well as the leader of most other young boys in the movie, who have even less character development. He also keeps carrier pigeons, apparently. Perhaps it is expected of the audience that they already know him from the books?
Overall, I would say this movie is bad. It should be considered, however, that it is Dutch (that is, the cinematic standards are low), that it's from 1947 (just after the war, so low-budget) and that it's for children, who are less likely to cringe over the dialogue. And I did like the "Home Alone"-ish slapstick sequence near the end.
