Irene Agai Movies
- 1937
"Segitseg Orokoltem" ("Help, I'm an heir!") is the collective cry of a middle-class Budapest family. Suddenly inheriting a huge fortune, the family is required by the edicts of the will to move into the palatial home of their late benefactor. Unaccustomed to such luxury, the heirs waste no time in making fools of themselves -- nor do the inevitable fortune-hunters waste any time descending on the household. To fend off suitors who want to marry her only for her money, the family's daughter poses as a maid, whereupon she is hired by a wastrelly baron. The girl falls in love with her new master but refuses to marry him until he amounts to something -- which, eventually, he does. Segitseg Orokoltem was the 25th film directed by Steve Szekely, who went on to an equally prolific (if less illustrious) Hollywood career during WWII. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Agai, Piroska [Piri] Vaszary, (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
- 1936
The all-purpose Hungarian title A Lila Akac (literally Purple Accacias, but usually translated as Purple Flowers) was trotted out for this musical romance. Much of the action takes place at the Casino de Paris, the gathering place for young lovers and ageing philanderers. All sorts of characters indulge in all manner of romantic escapes, with the dramatis personae ranging from a young coquette, to a jaded film producer. Director Mihaly Ravan evidently chose to allow the audience to guess as to what was going on, since even those conversant in Hungarian were confused by the mazelike storyline. A heavy reliance on trick photography proved a major selling angle for this frothy confection. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Agai
- 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)
- 1934
Ida Regenye was one of four feature films completed in 1933 by Hungarian director Istvan Szekely (aka Steve Sekely). Based on a popular novel by Geza Gardonyi, the story concerns the romantic travails of turn-of-the-century coquette Ida, played by Irene Agay. Though the tone of the film is frivolous, Agay and her co-stars comport themselves in a surprisingly unhumorous fashion. As a result, what should have been a frothy bedroom farce in the Lubitsch manner comes across as slow and stately. In typically chauvinistic fashion, American reviewers were less concerned with the film's shortcoming than with the fact that leading lady Irene Agay (the wife of director Szekely) was not glamorous in the accepted "Hollywood" manner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Agai, Paul Javor, (more)
