Het Beest (The Beast) is a 1982 Belgian/Dutch film, made by Flemish writer/director Paul Collet and starring Willem Ruis. [1] For Ruis, who was at the height of his career as a showman and presenter on Dutch television, it was his first and last appearance in cinema. [2] The movie was a flop.
The film was written and directed by Paul Collet. It was shot in 1981, and released in April 1982. Willem Ruis, presenter of various quiz shows and a very popular variety program, stars as Harry Melchior. He had just moved from the KRO to the VARA, trading in his Willem Ruis Show for the Willem Ruis Lottoshow. He was paid a salary unheard of at the time (Hfl 300,000 per year, high enough to lead to questions in parliament [3] ) but explained that his career in television was not going to last forever, and his side step to cinema was a career plan for the long-term. [4] Some extra scenes were shot for the Dutch release. [5]
Harry Melchior (Ruis) works for an investment firm and lives a privileged life with his family until he discovers that for one of his deals his mother's house will have to be torn down. Unable to stop the project he occupies the house illegally and is sentenced to prison, losing his job. His mother (the performance by Cara van Wersch was praised by one critic [1] ) is forced to move into a nursing home and dies shortly thereafter, sending Melchior into a rage. Hiding out in the forest "like a Dutch Rambo," [1] he ambushes his former colleagues while they are fox hunting, and shoots them with a machine gun. After a meeting with his former boss's mistress he surrenders to police.
The film was a "legendary flop." [3] Its script was deemed disjointed, and the violence excessive. The response from film was negative, and it was pulled from movie theaters very quickly. [6]
Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages.
Rottumerplaat is one of the three islands that make up Rottum in the West Frisian Islands. The island is located in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. It is situated between the shoal Simonszand and the island Rottumeroog. Rottumerplaat started as a shoal in the 1830. It continued to grow into an island after 1950, when a stuifdijk, a wind-blown dike, was constructed by Rijkswaterstaat, because there were plans to use Rottumerplaat as a work island for the reclamation of the Wadden Sea.
Jeroen Aart Krabbé is a Dutch actor and film director who has appeared in more than 60 films since 1963, including Soldaat van Oranje (1977), The Fourth Man (1983), The Living Daylights (1987), The Prince of Tides (1991), The Fugitive (1993), and Immortal Beloved (1994).
Johnny Jordaan was the pseudonym for Johannes Hendricus van Musscher, a Dutch singer of popular music, in particular the genre known as levenslied, a Dutch variety of the French chanson. He was well known for his songs about the city of Amsterdam, especially the Jordaan district, which he sang in a typical "hiccuping Mokum vibrato", "Mokum" being the Hebrew-derived nickname for the Amsterdam inner city area. In the 1950s, Johnny Jordaan rose almost instantly to the level of national celebrity and became the "uncrowned king of the Jordaanlied", and his hit song "Geef mij maar Amsterdam" is one of the songs Amsterdammers identify with most.
Aart Staartjes was a Dutch actor, director, television presenter and documentary maker from Amsterdam. He was well known for his role on Sesamstraat, the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street. On this show, his character's name was Meneer Aart and in this persona he authored a book called Meneer Aart: Leven en werken van de man die geen kindervriend wil heten.
Harry Kümel is a Belgian film director.
Kinderen voor Kinderen is a Dutch children's choir maintained by public broadcaster BNNVARA.
Arthur Valentijn Japin is a Dutch novelist.
The following is a list of winners of the Golden Calf for best actor/actress at the Nederlands Film Festival. From 2021 onwards the award became a gender-neutral award.
Robert ten Brink is a Dutch presenter.
Willem "Wim" Sonneveld was a Dutch cabaret artist and singer. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Kan, he is considered to be one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret. Sonneveld is generally viewed as a Dutch cultural icon for his work and legacy in theatre, musicals and music.
Elias of het gevecht met de nachtegalen is a 1991 Dutch film directed by Klaas Rusticus.
Marcel Parcival Arthur van Dam is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and journalist.
Klaas Willem Ruis was a Dutch game show presenter. He presented the Willem Ruis Show for the KRO and the Willem Ruis Lottoshow, 5 tegen 5 and the Sterrenshow for the VARA. He died of a cardiac arrest during a vacation in Spain.
Peter Faber is a Dutch stage, television and film actor.
Willem van Eijk was a convicted Dutch serial killer known as "Het Beest van Harkstede". He was convicted twice for a total of five murders.
De Stratemakeropzeeshow was a Dutch children's television programme that ran from 1972 to 1974 and was aired by the VARA broadcasting organization.
Vivienne Linette van den Assem is a Dutch actress and presenter.
Hanneke Kappen is a Dutch singer and radio and TV presenter. Kappen started a musical career by singing in a rock band in the late 1970s during the zenith of the Groningen music scene, but became a radio presenter and from 1981 to 1982 had a weekly show that focused on heavy metal music, only the second such show on Dutch radio. She then moved on to television, presenting programs for a number of public broadcasters. She returned to radio in 1999, while continuing to play and record music.
Hendrik Gerardus Maria Spaan is a Dutch sports journalist, television presenter, author, and columnist. Spaan is best known for a series of Dutch-language TV programs he developed in collaboration with Harry Vermeegen between 1982 and 1996 including Pisa, Verona, Die 2 and Die 2: Nieuwe Koeien.