Solser en Hesse (lost Dutch short comedy films; 1900/1906)
Solser en Hesse were two short silent Dutch comedy films released in 1900 and 1906 respectively and starred drag comedy duo Lion Solser and Piet Hesse. While the duo had been previously popular in stage and starred in the first Dutch film Gestoorde Hengelaar, they never made another film after this grant and no moving images of these performers exist.
The first film was released in April 1900 as a one-act scene, but no details on the activity survive. It was released by the ‘Edison’s Ideaal’ company. Directing all three pictures (Solser en Hesse and Hengelaar) were M.H. Ladde and J.W. Merkelbach. [1]
The second film came on July 1, 1906 at a trade show as a sequel, as commissioned by ‘The Royal Bioscope’. [2]
Lion (Abraham) Solser was born February 6, 1877 in Rottingham to Johannes Solser (van der Vank) and Engelina Florina Hartlooper. He married stage actress Adrienne Willemsens (born 25 March 1872 in Schaerbeek, Belgium) on 10 August 1899. After a long career and local mortality with his drag characters, he committed suicide on 3 August 1915 in Rotterdam at the age of 38 years.[3]