Cinema
Hyppolit, the Butler
Hyppolit, a lakáj
István Székely · 1931
Synopsis
Schneider Mátyás, a haulage contractor, becomes rich overnight. His wife now wants to live as a grande bourgeoise and hires a butler who has served in a count's household. Hyppolit sets about reforming the house, the meals, the dress, the manners; the master, a great lover of onions, has to learn how to behave. Their daughter Terka, whom her mother destines for a suitor from a good family, falls in love with Benedek, an engineer who works incognito in her father's firm.
Context
Shot in the summer of 1931 and released on 27 November, it is the second Hungarian sound film; the failure of the first, A kék bálvány, gave it a lukewarm reception at first. Károly Nóti's screenplay transposes Molière's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Back from Germany, Székely brought together the cinematographer István Eiben, the songwriter Mihály Eisemann and three actors who became legendary: Gyula Csortos, Gyula Kabos, in his first speaking role, and Pál Jávor.
Who it is for
A comedy from the early days of sound film, of about seventy-five minutes; no French release has been located.
Prizes and reception
The first great popular hit of Hungarian cinema in the thirties, it was selected in 2000 among the twelve best Hungarian films; it introduced the first hit song of Hungarian sound cinema.