Julius Kabos Movies
- 1938
Papaucshos is Hungarian slang for Henpecked Husband, a perfect description for the film's protagonist. Having been prevented from committing suicide when Nelly (Mizzi Erdelyi) accepted his marriage proposal, Kovacs (Julius Kabos) has cause to regret his decision during the next two decades. Nagged relentlessly by Nelly and treated with contempt by his children, Kovacs finds an occasional respite from his misery by playing cards with his janitor buddy Kubala (Tivadar Billicay). Hoping to hide this minor diversion from his wife, Kovacs passed Kubala off as an aristocratic millionaire. The fun really begins when Nelly serves a fancy dinner in Kubala's honor. The film is wrapped up with a cute closing gag straight out of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julius Kabos, Mici Erdelyi, (more)
- 1938
The title of this Hungarian comedy translates as I've Made a Love Match. Lily (Mitzi Erdelyi) and Peter (Imre Raday) are married outside of their own country, and thus are required to return home to validate the union. Alas, the marriage is almost over before it begins due to the well-meaning interference of Peter's business partner Barna (Julius Kobos), who in trying to secure a huge dowry for his friend succeeds only in driving a wedge between Peter and Lily's father (Julius Csortos). Only the birth of the couple's baby brings them back together for a happy ending. Less than one month after its Hungarian premiere, Szerelembol Nosultem opened in New York under the title I Married For Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mici Erdelyi, Imre Raday, (more)
- 1938
Clara Adam plays the title role in the Hungarian Sutyi a Szerencsegyerek (Sutyi, the Lucky Child). Little Sutyi brings sudden wealth to her impoverished family when it is revealed that she holds a winning sweepstakes ticket. Alas, the family isn't prepared for their windfall and are woefully unprepared for the snooty scrutiny of High Society. The moral, as if there was any doubt, is that money isn't everything (though it's sure way ahead of whatever's in first place). Juvenile star Clara Adam had already developed a strong and fervent fan following by the time the cameras began turning on this 1937 vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
It was hard to find a Hungarian film in the late 1930s that didn't star matinee idol Antal Pager. In Beszallasolas (Billeting), Pager is cast as Hussar lieutenant Tibor, who in civilian life had been a lawyer. When a love note bearing Tibor's letterhead is discovered in the pocket of a coat, the lieutenant is suspected of carrying on an affair with a dress-shop salesgirl (Manya Kiss). Actually, the billet-doux was written by Tibor's law clerk (Julius Kabos), but try telling that to our hero's fuming colonel (Gabriel Rajnay). By the time the truth comes out, Tibor has fallen in love with Margitka, the colonel's daughter, which somehow leads to a happy ending for everyone in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antal Pager, Zita Szeleczky, (more)
- 1938
Also known as The Crucial Moment, A Donto Pillanat was one of three 1937 films helmed by prolific Hungarian director Laszlo Vajda. Klari Tolnay and Antal Pager star as Eva and Gabor (!), the leading players of a second-rate touring theatrical troupe. Forever on the fringes of the big time, the couple continues to aspire to stardom on the Budapest stage. Gabor is given the opportunity to replace the leading man in a long-running stage hit, but a series of unexpected complications nearly scotch his big break before it happens. At long last, our hero proves to be a huge success with the cosmopolitan theatergoers, whereupon Eva willingly gives up her own acting career to devote herself full-time to her husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Klari Tolnay, Antal Pager, (more)
- 1937
Viki was adapted for the screen from the stage play by Adorjan Bonyi. Taking over from the stage version's Marika Roekk as the title character is Rozsi Barsony, an immensely popular Hungarian screen personality of the period. A headstrong, hoydenish young woman, Viki prefers to dress and act like a man. When she gets into an argument with the equally contentious Feri (Paul Javor), he fails to see through her disguise and challenges her to a duel, "man to man." Amazingly, the two antagonists go through with the duel -- whereupon Feri discovers Viki's true gender and instantly falls in love with her. Given Rozsi Barsony's voluptuous figure and omnipresent femininity, one can only assume that hero Feri is extraordinarily nearsighted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie Barsony, Gyula Csortos, (more)
- 1937
The "szenzacio," or "sensation," of the title refers to the editorial policy of a Budapest newspaper. Hoping to increase circulation, the editor insists that his reporters concentrate on three sensational stories. One of these concerns a mine cave-in; the second involves a runaway husband who joins a circus knife-throwing act; and the third centers on a small-town festival honoring the birthday of Franz Liszt (who makes a surprise appearance, in flashback form). As the reporters go about their business, the causes and consequences of the three news items are explored in dramatic and sometimes comic detail. Stefen Szekely and Ladislau Vajda, two of Hungary's foremost directors, combined their talents for Szenzacio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Agai
- 1937
Margit Dayka stars as Rozsi, an orphan girl who discovers upon reaching adulthood that she may be of Jewish parentage. The laws being what they were in Hungary in the 1930s, Rozsi's boyfriend Andris (Paul Javor) is worried that he won't be permitted to marry her. Deserted by Adnris, Rozsi resigns herself to her fate, befriending a kindly innkeeper who arranges for her adoption into a wealthy Jewish family. Finally, Andris determines that he's going to marry the girl, no matter what her religion -- but is saved from ostracism when he finds out that Rozsi isn't Jewish after all. The chances of this picture ever being revived are slim to none; even though the plotline promotes tolerance rather than racial divisiveness, it still intimates that there's something a bit wrong about not being 100 percent Christian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margit Dayka, Paul Javor, (more)
- 1937
A young and handsome painter falls in love with a younger and prettier art student. He wishes to accompany her to her boarding school, but the headmistress has a strict "no male visitors" policy. This compels our hero to pose as the girl's uncle, so that he may visit her once a week (hence the film's title, which translates loosely as I May See Her Once A Week). Surprise!! The real uncle shows up, and there's a lot of explaining and backtracking to do. It's up to reliable character comedian Julius Kabos to rescue this formula film, as he did so often in the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Piroska [Piri] Vaszary
- 1937
Billed as "A Budapest Fairy Tale," Pesti Mese is the story of an ugly-duckling gamine named Pigtail (Ida Turay) and her best friend, errand boy Kubik (Antal Pager). An apprentice at the millinery shop of Mme. Annie (Annie Dobos), Pigtails is victimized by Annie's no-good brother Feri (Istvan Bekassy), who in addition to his other character flaws is robbing his sister blind. When Pigtail inherits $500,000, Feri schemes to marry the girl and steal her legacy. Figuring out that something's amiss, Kubik gallantly steps in and stops the wedding, claiming Pigtail for himself even though he knows nothing about her financial windfall. As always, Hungarian character comedian Julius Kabos effortlessly steals the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ida Turay, Annie Dobos, (more)
- 1937
Fizessen Nagysad (Pay Up, Madam!) was originally advertised as "the first Hungarian musical farce." This seems odd, in that most Hungarian films of the 1930s were musicals, and many of these were farcical in nature. Whatever the case, the story concerns a wealthy mill owner who can't keep his factory managers away from his attractive daughter. Finally he hires a young man who promises that he'll never, ever, succumb to the daughter's charms. Guest how long that lasts! Paul Javor, sometimes billed as the Hungarian Clark Gable, plays the hero, while the equally popular Lily Murati is the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lili Murati, Paul Javor, (more)
- 1937
Returning from South America to Hungary, nouveau-riche millionaire Menyheart Gruber (Julius Kobos) finds himself besieged by greedy relatives, compelling him to pretend to be broke. Meanwhile, impoverished gentleman farmer Gabor Koltay (Gabor Rajnay) rents a huge chateau, pretending to be wealthy. Koltay's son Balint (Imre Raday) falls in love with Gruber's daughter Mary (Klari Tolnay), while their respective fathers persist in continuing their silly charades. The laughs come in abundance when both Gruber and Koltay are forced to "come clean." Kolcsonkert Kastely (Borrowed Chateau) is based on a stage play by Julius Pekar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabor Rajnay, Imre Raday, (more)
- 1936
Harom Sarkany (Three Dragons) is based on the play of the same name by Sandor Hunyady. Gabriel Rejnay repeats his stage role as a roguish old rake who chafes under the dominance of his three prudish sisters. Escaping his siblings, he heads off to the Big City and begins throwing his money around like a sailor. On a more serious note, he tries to rescue his son from the clutches of an adventuress (Maria Lazar), but drama melts into comedy when Rejnay falls for the woman himself. It turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him, for the femme fatale is actually a level-headed woman who puts her husband on a strict allowance and straightens out the financial travails of his whole family! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Lazar, Gabor Rajnay, (more)
- 1936
Released in English-speaking regions as Affair of Honor, this Hungarian comedy details the tribulations of elderly bookkeeper Julius Kabos. Getting involved in an argument with the boss's nephew, Kabos ends up getting his face slapped. Asserting himself for the first time in his life, he demands satisfaction by challenging the nephew to a duel -- only to realize he's too old and too broke for such a drastic measure. Things straighten themselves out when the nephew, actually a likeable chap, apologizes to Kabos within earshot of the other employees, including the old man's erstwhile sweetheart, plump secretary Ella Gombaszogi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ella Gombaszogi, Imre Raday, (more)
- 1936
The tenor of this Hungarian comedy is summed up by its English-language title, Half-Price Honeymoon. The story centers around four employees of a Budapest toy factory. Two of the employees, male and female, try to take advantage of a half-price Italian honeymoon. The fact that the hero and heroine aren't actually married to one another is merely a technicality. Adding to confusion is the fact that the other two employees, likewise a man and a woman, are forced by circumstance to pretend that they're not married. Much of the film was stunningly lensed on location in Naples, Florence and Sorrento. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Agai, Mici Erdelyi, (more)
- 1936
Ak Okos Mama (Wise Mamma) was adapted from a Hungarian stage play by Bela Szenes. Emmy Kosary plays the title character, a former actress who has retired to raise a family. She "returns" to acting to solve the matrimonial travails of her two daughters, adopting a series of guises and disguises to set things right. As a bonus, she manages to land a husband for her youngest, unmarried daughter. Critics in 1934 felt that Emmy Kosary wasn't quite as effective as the stage version's Sari Fedak. This sounds a bit like a "claque" at work, though it's hard to tell from the vantage point of six decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Komar, Mici Erdelyi, (more)
- 1935
Hallo Budapest was the first solo directorial effort of former editor-cameraman Lazslo Vajda. Essentially, this is "filmed radio," since the emphasis is on a collection of Budapest's top radio stars. There really isn't any plot, just a parade of specialty turns by such major Hungarian entertainers as Marie Nemeth and Anne Roselle. Since the Hungarian government controlled both the radio and the film industry, it wasn't hard to secure full cooperation from the major broadcast centers in the production of this film. Variety summed up the film's chances for worldwide distribution with a simple "Restricted to Hungarian trade" -- as if this actually needed to be said! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie Barsony
- 1935
Ez a Villa Elado (Villa For Sale) was another feather in the cap of talented Hungarian screenwriter Laszlo Vadnai, who'd previously scored a major success with Fairy Tale Auto. This time around, hero and heroine nearly come to blows when both wish to purchase the same villa. The protagonists work out an amusing arrangement, which of course eventually blossoms into romance. The film was supposed to have been a vehicle for popular comic actor Julius Gozon, who is surprisingly humorous here. Though drubbed by the critics, Ez a Villa Elado was a hit with Hungarian movie fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julius Kabos, Ernst Verebes, (more)
- 1935
A Csunya Lany translates as A Plain Girl, which hardly describes the pretty heroine Eva (Lili Murati). Wrongly accused by lawyer Halmi (Paul Javor) of breaking up a marriage, Eva gets even by disguising herself as a drab drudge and landing a job as Halmi's secretary. It is her intention to make the lawyer fall in love with her, then to maneuver him into a compromising situation. The plot fails when Eva falls in love with Halmi for real. A Csunya Lany was more or less remade by Marion Davies as Ever Since Eve in 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gyula Kabos, Lili Murati, (more)
- 1935
Set in pre-war Hungary, Igloi Diakok (Students of Iglo) is a lightweight musical of the "Student Prince" school. The scene is the tiny college town of Iglo, where three young male students are madly in love with Eve (Mariette Gervay), daughter of the professor with whom they are boarding. Neglecting their studies, our three heroes spend their waking hours wooing and serenading the heroine. One of the three is finally expelled, whereupon he leaves Iglo, vowing never to return. Several years pass: As a result of the treaty of Versailles, Iglo is annexed to Czechoslovakia. The expelled student, now a Czech war hero, triumphantly marches back into town, where Eve is still waiting for him after all this time. An enormous box-office hit, Igloi Diakok was intended to launch the film career of 17-year-old Mariette Gervay, who immediately after completing this film was signed by MGM and whisked off to Hollywood -- and utter obscurity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Javor
