Ernst Winar

Little-known Dutch actor Ernst Winar (1894-1978) appeared in 34 films between 1916 and 1955, in The Netherlands and Germany. He was also a film director and made 14 films between 1922 and 1955. Later he was the editor of the first, short films of Paul Verhoeven.


German postcard, no. 988/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Kiesel, Berlin.


German postcard by Verl. Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7307.


German postcard by Verl. Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 3490.

Jack of all trades

Ernst Winar was born Joseph Wilhelm Carl von Eichhof-Winar from a German family in Leiden, The Netherlands, in 1894.

After finishing school he began a study engineering in Germany, but World War I forced him to break off his studies. Temporarily exempted from military service, he was employed by the Filmfabriek Hollandia (Film Factory Hollandia) in Haarlem as a real Jack of all trades. At Hollandia, he started as an actor in a small role in the silent film Majoor Frans/Major Francis (Maurits Binger, 1916) with Dutch diva Annie Bos in the lead.

Other silent Dutch films in which he appeared were La renzoni (Maurits Binger, 1916) again starring Annie Bos - the only star of the Dutch silent cinema, the opera film Gloria Transita (Johan Gildemeijer, 1917), Ulbo Garvema (Maurits Binger, 1917), De kroon der schande/The Crown of Shame (Maurits Binger, 1917) with Annie Bos and Adelqui Migliar, Toen 't licht verdween/Blind (Maurits Binger, 1918), and Pro domo (Theo Frenkel Sr., 1918) starring the legendary Dutch stage actor Louis Bouwmeester.

In these films, Winar usually appeared in a supporting role or even as an extra. After the war, he tried to gain a foothold as an actor. He played on stage under the name of W. Eikhof at the Casino Ensemble in The Hague. He also translated plays by Ferenc Molnar into Dutch, and he continued to appear in films. Een Carmen van het Noorden/A Carmen of the North (Maurits Binger, 1919) based on the novel by Prosper Mérimée, was a highlight among the films of the Filmfabriek Hollandia. This film featured again the stars Annie Bos and Adelqui Migliar and was a moderate international success.

Other films in which Winar appeared were De duivel in Amsterdam/The Devil in Amsterdam (Theo Frenkel Sr., 1919) based on Winar's translation of a Molnar play and starring Eduard Verkade as the devil and Louis Bouwmeester as a banker, and Verborgen levens/Fate's Plaything (Maurits Binger, B.E. Doxat-Pratt, 1920).


Publicity still for Een Carmen van het Noorden/A Carmen of the North (Maurits Binger, 1919) with Annie Bos and Adelqui Migliar. Source: Immagine. Nuova Serie N. 16, 1990-1991.


Dutch postcard. Photo: Coret, Den Haag. Picture of Eduard Verkade as the Devil in the stage play 'De duivel' (Az Ördög/The Devil) by Ferenc Molnár.


German postcard by Verl. Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 6972. Photo: Terra-Film. Ernst Winar in Aschermittwoch/Ash Wednesday (Otto Rippert, 1921).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, bo. 51/2. Photo: Koop-Film, Berlin. Ernst Winar as French Captain René Clavignac and Maria Zelenka as Maria Krenz, daughter of the castle owner August Krenz, in Die Wacht am Rhein. Aus des Rheinlands Schicksalstagen (Helene Lackner, 1925-1926).

Sought-after actor

In the 1920s Ernst Winar ventured into Germany as an actor but he also took the opportunity to direct several films. As an actor, he got his first major role in Die Benefizvorstellung der Vier Teufel/The benefit performance of the four devils (1920) by Danish director Anders Wilhelm Sandberg. The film was a success and numerous films followed.

The now sought-after actor appeared in such films as Der Liebling der Frauen/The Favorite of the Women (Carl Wilhelm, 1921) with the then largely unknown Maly Delschaft in the lead role, Der unsichtbare Gast/The invisible guest (Friedrich Zelnik, 1921), and Wettlauf ums Glück/Race to happiness (Bruno Ziener, 1923). In this love story located in Tibet, Winar starred alongside his future wife and frequent film partner, British actress Colette Brettel.

From 1921 on, Winar was also active as a director. First, he was responsible for three episodes of the Terra series Flappy with Adolphe Engers in the lead role. In 1922, he directed his first feature film, the crime film Der Mann im Hintergrund/The Man in the Background, but the film was released only after several changes in October 1924.

In the following four years, Winar mainly worked as an actor. He played supporting roles in the comedy Komödie des Herzens/The Comedy of the Heart (Rochus Gliese, 1924) with Lil Dagover, in Die Millionenkompagnie/The Millions Company (Fred Sauer, 1925) with Olga Tschechova, and the successful comedy Die Kleine vom Bummel/The little girl from Bummel (Richard Eichberg, 1925) starring Lilian Harvey. In 1923, he also taught directing at the Terra film school in Berlin.

His later German films as a director included Wochenend wider Willen/Weekend Against Sake (1927) starring Ossi Oswalda, Das Haus am Krögel/The House on Krögel (1927), Der Neffe aus Amerika/The Cousin From America (1927), Wochendbraut/Weekend Bride (1928) starring Anny Ondra, and Der Hafenbaron/The Port Baron (1928). Most of these films featured Colette Brettel. With his film § 182 minderjährig/Paragraph 182 – Minor of Age (1927) he got three times in conflict with the censors. With the advent of the sound film era his acting period in Germany ended. In 1930, he appeared for the last time in a German production, the Luis Trenker film Die heiligen drei Brunnen/The three holy wells (Mario Bonnard, 1930).


Belgian postcard by S.A. Cacao et Chocolat Kivou, Vilvoorde / N.V. Cacao en Chocolade Kivou, Vilvoorde. Photo: Artistes Associés (United Artists). Colette Brettel's name is misspelt on this card.


Adolphe Engers. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3186/1, 1928-1929.


Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / Nationaal Film. Louis Davids, Rik and Adolphe Engers in Op stap/On the Move (Ernst Winar, 1935).

On the road

In 1932 Ernst Winar returned to the Netherlands. He made the short sound film Hollandsch Hollywood/Dutch Hollywood (1934) for which revue star Fien de la Mar sang the title song, announcing a new Dutch film industry. In 1935 Winar and Fien de la Mar worked together again on the musical Op Stap/On the Road (Ernst Winar, 1935) which also featured revue stars Louis and Heintje Davids and Adolphe Engers, who was also back from Berlin.

For the Cinetone studios, Winar co-directed the film De Kribbebijter/The Double-Patch (1935) with German émigré director Hermann Kosterlitz aka Henry Koster as his co-director. This successful comedy starred Cor Ruys and Frits van Dongen, who later became a well-known film actor in Berlin and Hollywood under the name of Philip Dorn. Winar was one of the few Dutch directors who had mastered the trade of film directing and he would have a major impact in the 1940s and 1950s when the appearance of a Dutch feature film was rare.

During the war he presented De laatste dagen van een eiland/The Last days of an island (Ernst Winar, 1942) with Max Croiset, based on a story of Klaas Norel. The film was already recorded in 1938 and privately screened later that year, but only in 1942 publicly, probably because only a few films were approved by the German occupiers. It was the second film produced by the Dutch Christian Film Centre, but during the war, this organization was already shut down.

After the Second World War, Winar’s interest shifted to children's films, such as Dik Trom en zijn dorpsgenoten/Dik Trom and his fellow villagers (Ernst Winar, 1947) with his former director Theo Frenkel Sr. in one of the supporting roles, and Vier jongens en een jeep/Four guys and a jeep (Ernst Winar, 1955) with Sylvain Poons. The latter film was his last feature as a director and he also made his final film appearance in it.

During the 1960s, Winar escorted the young filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as the editor of the short films Een Hagedis teveel/A Lizard Too Much (Paul Verhoeven, 1960), De Lifters/The Hitchhikers (Paul Verhoeven, 1962), Feest!/Party! (Paul Verhoeven, 1963) and Het Korps Mariniers/The Royal Dutch Marine Corps (Paul Verhoeven, 1965). He also worked for the Foundation Film en Wetenschap (Film and Science) in Utrecht. In 1976 he finally appeared one more time in a small role in the TV film Volk en vaderliefde/People and Father Love (Wim T. Schippers, 1976) based on the story by Herodotus. Ernst Winar died in 1978 in Leiden, aged 83.


Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / Nationaal Film. Publicity still for Op stap/On the Move (Ernst Winar, 1935) with Frits van Dongen and Fien de la Mar.


Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / Nationaal Film. Publicity still of Fien(tje) de la Mar in Op stap/On the Move (Ernst Winar, 1935).


The final scene from Op Stap/On the Road (Ernst Winar, 1935) with Fien de la Mar and a dozen pianos. Source: Captainvontrapp (YouTube).

Sources: Fred van Doorn/Peter van Bueren (Filmbijlage VN 1975), Deutsches Filminstitut (German), Wikipedia and IMDb.