Hunnia Film Studio was the largest and most significant

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

studio in Hungary until its

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. Its predecessor, Corvin Film Studio, founded by

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Hungarian

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

company, while its successor,

Mafilm Mafilm was established in 1948. It has been the largest and most significant film studio in Hungary and a strategic base for the Hungarian film industry. Mafilm's history has lived days of glory, just as it has survived severe deaths. The roots ...

, became the largest Hungarian film company, still operating today.

Foundation

Corvin Film Studio was purchased at an auction by the state-founded Filmipari Alap (Film Industry Fund). On December 19, 1928, Hunnia Film Factory was founded in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Prime Minister,

István Bethlen Count István Bethlen de Bethlen (8 October 1874, Gernyeszeg – 5 October 1946, Moscow) was a Hungarian aristocrat and statesman and served as prime minister from 1921 to 1931. Early life The scion of an old Bethlen de Bethlen noble fam ...

, was determined to consolidate the Hungarian film industry and restore its old prestige. Therefore, the film factory was equipped with the most modern,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

technology. The rebuilt studio was handed over on April 28, 1931. The next day ''Kék Bálvány'', the first Hungarian sound film, was shot.

Golden age

By the early 1940s, Hungary had become the third largest film production country in Europe as well as Hungary's largest film factory, with seven studios and 1,300 workers. From its foundation, some 20 million meters of film had been shot, and the average budget was 400,000 pengő.

War

In the closing months of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Hungary's ruling

Arrow Cross A cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbée" in the traditional terminology of heraldry. In Christian use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears. This alludes to the Ichth ...

regime planned to dismantle the studio and move it westwards, but this plan was wrecked when the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

captured

. In the end, the Second World War did not spare Hunnia, all of whose studios were bombed.

Resurrection

The war was not over, but Budapest's leadership with Mayor János Csorba at the forefront had begun rebuilding the main studio, which returned to the top of European film production. On October 2, 1945, film production resumed in Hunnia's Korda Studio for the first time after the Second World War. The first film was of Sándor Bródy's play ''

A tanítónő ''A Tanítónő'' is a 1945 Hungarian drama film directed by Márton Keleti. It was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Éva Szörényi - Tóth Flóra, a tanítónõ * Pál Jávor - ifj. Nagy István * Kálmán Rózsahegyi - F� ...

''. After that, however, very few films were made until

. Of these, ''

Valahol Európában ''Somewhere in Europe'' ( hu, Valahol Európában) is a 1948 Hungarian drama film directed by Géza von Radványi. It depicts the aftermath of World War II and specifically the lives of a gang of orphaned children in a postwar setting. The gang of ...

'' (1947) directed by Géza Radványi was a notable success.

Nationalization

On August 18, 1948, Hunnia was nationalized. Since then, it has continued to function as Mafilm.

Note

Hunnia Film Studio as above should not be confused with the earlier

Hunnia Studio The Hunnia Studio was the first Hungarian purpose-built film studio. Located in the capital Budapest it was built between September 1911 and February 1912. Its founder was the theatre director Miklós Faludi of the Comedy Theatre of Budapest, wh ...

that operated for two years from 1911. Later, Hunnia studios were formed several times within Mafilm.

Filmography

''Hunnia's films in chronological order''

Hunnia's self-produced films

# A kék bálvány (1931, Schiffer Miksával) # A vén gazember (1932, magyar-német, UFA-val) # Pardon, tévedtem! (1933, magyar-amerikai-német, Deutsche Universal Filmmel) # Rád bízom a feleségem (1937, Objectiv Filmmel) # Cifra nyomorúság (1938, Budapest Filmmel) # 13 kislány mosolyog az égre (1938, Hajdu Filmmel) # A varieté csillagai (1938, magyar-német, Pictura Film Kft.-vel és Pictura Film Gmbh-val) # 5 óra 40 (1939, Takács Filmmel) # Két lány az utcán (1939, Photophon Filmmel) # Áll a bál (1939, Hajdú Filmmel) # Hat hét boldogság (1939, Takács Filmmel) # A nőnek mindig sikerül (1939, Mester Filmmel) # Sarajevo (1940, Takács Filmmel) # Dankó Pista (1940, Mester Filmmel) # Ismeretlen ellenfél (1940, Vörösmarty Filmmel) # Igen vagy nem? (1940, Hajdú Filmmel) # Lángok (1940, Takács Filmmel) # Muzsikáló május (1941, rövid) # Bob herceg (1941, Hausz Filmmel) # Egy éjszaka Erdélyben (1941, Takács Filmmel) # Emberek a havason (1942, Modern Filmmel) # Házasság (1942) # Negyedíziglen (1942) # Pista tekintetes úr (1942, Hajdú Filmmel) # Tilos a szerelem (1943) # Éjjeli zene (1943) # És a vakok látnak... (1943, Hosszú Filmmel) # Rákóczi nótája (1943, Hajdú Filmmel) # Sári bíró (1943) # Nászinduló (1943, Bajusz Péterrel) # Madách - Egy ember tragédiája (1944, Fáklya Filmmel) # Két vonat között (1944, rövid, Riomfalvy Pállal és Simon Józseffel) # A két Bajthay (1944) # A tanítónő (1945)

Films made but not produced by Hunnia

# A kék bálvány (1931) # Hyppolit, a lakáj (1931) # Piri mindent tud (1932) # Tokaji rapszódia (1938) # Egy lány elindul (1938) # Marika (1938) # Az elcserélt ember (1938) # Az ember néha téved (1938) # A falu rossza (1938) # Örök titok (1938) # Pillanatnyi pénzzavar (1938) # Magdát kicsapják (1938) # Döntő pillanat (1938) # Úri világ (1938) # Megvédtem egy asszonyt(1938) # Péntek Rézi (1938) # Uz Bence (1938) # Beszállásolás (1938) # Szegény gazdagok (1938) # Nincsenek véletlenek (1938) # A piros bugyelláris (1938) # Azurexpress (1938) # A hölgy egy kissé bogaras(1938) # Gyimesi vadvirág (1938) # Tiszavirág (1938) # Vadrózsa (1938) # 13 kislány mosolyog az égre (1938) # Rozmaring (1938) # Süt a nap (1938) # A varieté csillagai (1938) # Jöjjön elsején! (1940) # Akit elkap az ár (1941) # Annamária (1942) # Mesék a bécsi erdőből (1943, rövid) # Afrikai vőlegény (1944) # Éji látogatás ilmterv(1944) # Valahol Európában (1947) # Ének a búzamezőről (1947) # Könnyű múzsa (1947) # Mezei próféta (1947) # Beszterce ostroma (1948)

References

Bibliography

* Nemeskürty István. ''A magyar film története. (1912 – 1963.)'' Bp. Gondolat Kiadó, 1965. * Langer István. ''Fejezetek a filmgyár történetéből. I. kötet. 1917–1944.'' Kézirat. Bp. 1979. * Nemeskürty István. ''A képpé varázsolt idő. A magyar film története és helye az egyetemes kultúrában, párhuzamos áttekintéssel a világ filmművészetére.'' Bp. Magvető Könyvkiadó, 1984 * Kulik, Karol. ''Alexander Korda: The Man Who Could Work Miracles''. Virgin Books, 1990. * Burns, Bryan. ''World Cinema: Hungary''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996. * Cunningham, John. ''Hungarian Cinema: From Coffee House to Multiplex''. London. Wallflower Press, 2004. {{coord missing, Hungary Hungarian film studios Hungarian brands Buildings and structures in Budapest Film production companies of Hungary