Max Tak

Max Tak

Birth : 1891-08-09, Amsterdam

Death : 1967-08-08

History

Marcus 'Max' Tak (1891-1967) was a Dutch composer, conductor and writer. In the first decades of the 20th century he was considered the leading musician in the Dutch entertainment world. After fleeing to New York City during the Second World War, he became a correspondent for several Dutch radio networks and newspapers.

Profile

Max Tak

Movies

Somewhere in the Netherlands
Original Music Composer
Mobilization on the brink of the Second World War divides a husband and wife. When lawyer Frans van Loon is called up to join the mine clearance service he doesn't want to worry his wife and keeps it from her. His secretiveness leads her to believe he doesn't love her anymore. She subsequently falls for the charms of an actor. When Frans finds out, a violent quarrel ensues.
The Ghost Train
Music
A group of travelers find themselves stranded for the night at a deserted train station, which according to the old stationmaster, has been haunted for the last 20 years.
Tomorrow It Will Be Better
Music
Still coming to terms with the death of her mother, Willy Verhulst loses her father as well -- just as she is about to sit her final exams. She manages to pass, and as she is trying to find a job she remembers a young man she met in the hospital. The boy, Herder, works for a radio station and gives her a job as a secretary.
Daddy Long Legs
Music
Judy Aalders grows up in an orphanage. Albert Woudenberg happens to be present when Judy confronts the trustees of the orphanage and is expelled. He decides to send her to university and Judy, who has only ever seen his shadowy long legs, refers to him as 'Daddy-Long-Legs' from that day. Not knowing he is in fact her benefactor, Judy's relationship with Albert gradually turns into love.
Forty Years
Music
This government commissioned film -- made on the occasion of the forty year anniversary of queen Wilhelmina's reign -- chronicles the lives of two Dutch families from 1898 to 1938 against the backdrop of the social and political events of the times. It shows the emergence of trade unions, the troubled years of the First World War, the development of aviation and Schiphol airport, the Dutch East Indies and the lives of the Dutch royal family.
Pygmalion
Music
Prof. Henry Higgens takes a wager on turning a low class flower seller named Liesje Doeluttel into a presentably lady. Adaptation of Bernard Shaw's play.
The Trouble with Money
Original Music Composer
Respected banker Karel Brand is seen as a marketable emblem of probity. When he loses 350,000 guilders, his reputation is tarnished – without the respect attached to it, he loses his job. Brand becomes unemployable, and his creditors suddenly start calling in their debts. His young daughter Willy suffers the same fate.
Oranje Hein
Music
Mientje comes from an ordinary working class family. Her father's alcoholism threatens to put an end to her engagement to Herman, her well to do fiancée. When her parents divorce, Mientje comes into conflict with her future mother-in-law. A grim but ultimately hopeful look at marital problems, poverty, lost love and alcoholism in a working class neighbourhood in Amsterdam.
Merijntje Gijzen's Boyhood
Music
Merijntje Gijzen is a small boy growing up in Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. One day, out on one of his walks, he meets infamous poacher 'De Kruik,' and the two become friends. De Kruik is in love with Janekee but she is more interested in the new village policeman.
Rubber
Music
John Van Laer is the overseer of a vast rubber plantation in the Dutch East Indies. His new wife Renee joins him at the plantation, but the monotony of her existence and unbearable heat soon drive her to distraction. One of Van Laer's workmen takes advantage of the boss' absence to seduce Renee.
Het Leven is Niet Zoo Kwaad
Music
When shaving cream seller Lou Helm is spotted by Anita Mara of the Odeon Revue, who thinks he was born to be a music hall star, he eagerly signs a contract and leaves his girlfriend Annie. His star career, however, does not turn out the way he planned...
The Cross-Patch
Music
Willy, the son of baron Van Hergershuizen, finds himself disinherited after he marries an untitled girl. His wife decides to take action and applies for the job of the baron's housekeeper.
De Big van het Regiment
Music
Diary fragments tell of the arrival of Belgian refugees across the Dutch border in winter 1915. Reserve lieutenant Berkhage returns from the Belgian border with a refugee child. Named "Big" by the company the kid soon becomes the regimental darling.
Sugar Lady
Music
Dirk van der Kooy returns to the Dutch East Indies for a five year stint as the administrator of a sugar factory. His second wife Betje, however, unexpectedly decides to join him. Once there, she finds out that Dirk has a daughter from an earlier marriage, leading to misunderstandings galore...
On the Move
Music
Janus Fortuin is a goodhearted piano tuner married to a greedy landlady. Their daughter Polly is engaged to young songwriter George van Reen. When rich uncle Barend from Batavia makes a surprise visit — pretending to be a lodger called 'Van Santen' — the Fortuin family finds their lives turned upside down.
Uilenspiegel Still Lives
Music
A local brass band rehearses for a music competition in Bruges. They are confident that a new march by a young music teacher will get them the first prize. Their chance of winning seems to get an awful lot smaller when a a fight breaks out between the chairman and the music teacher -- urging the latter to sell the march to another band.
The Girl in the Blue Hat
Music
When grocers's son Daantje Pieters is drafted, he falls for a girl in a blue hat he spots aboard the train to the garrison. At the barracks in The Hague, crafty conman Toontje takes Daantje under his wing. Toontje decides to help him look for his dream girl, but draws the line at them planning an engagement — for such things are not for soldiers.
Malle Gevallen
Music
Three students decide to share a flat, each courting a young woman. While they pass the time teasing their rival Piet Janssen (de Klit) and nosy neighbour Mr. Smallebroek, rumours and arguments threaten to drive the boys and their crushes apart.