''Hyppolit, the Butler'' ( hu, Hyppolit, a lakáj) is a 1931 black-and-white

Hungarian film Hungary has had a notable cinema industry since the beginning of the 20th century, including Hungarians who affected the world of motion pictures both within and beyond the country's borders. The former could be characterized by directors Istv� ...

comedy of manners In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy of the Restoration period (1660–1710) that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a gre ...

about an upwardly mobile family hiring a butler who previously worked for aristocratic families. It was the second full

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 ...

produced in Hungary, and at first it generated little interest (due to the flop of the first sound movie ''The Blue Idol'', also in 1931) but later became a favorite and is still a beloved oldie. The film was chosen to be part of the New Budapest Twelve, a list of Hungarian films considered the best in 2000. The film was shot at the

Hunnia Film Studio Hunnia Film Studio was the largest and most significant sound film studio in Hungary until its nationalization in 1948. Its predecessor, Corvin Film Studio, founded by Alexander Korda in 1917, was the most important Hungarian silent film comp ...

s 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 ...

. The screenplay was written by prolific Hungarian screenwriter

Károly Nóti Károly Nóti (1 February 1892 – 28 May 1954) was a Hungarian screenwriter. For his work in Germany and Britain he was credited as Karl Noti. During the 1930s Nóti was one of the leading and most prolific screenwriters in the Hungarian indust ...

AKA Karl Noti, based on a stage play by István Zágon. It was directed by Székely István AKA Steve Sekely, who earlier worked in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and later worked in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. The music was composed by Mihály Eisemann. It was remade in 1999 as ''Hippolyt, a lakáj'' (with the y and the i interchanged).

Plot

Mátyás Schneider (Gyula Kabos) is a typical

parvenu A ''parvenu'' is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb ''parvenir'' (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something). Orig ...

, an ignorant transportation entrepreneur who has become very rich quickly. Despite their humble origins, his wife (Mici Haraszti) strives to live a 'sophisticated' and '

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...

' lifestyle. When she engages a butler, Hyppolit (Gyula Csortos) - who was an educated man, and who has served in the household of a late count for 27 years and traveled around the world with the late Count - their whole life is turned upside down: Schneider has to shave off his mustache, wear a

dinner suit Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

for dinner and eat French food instead of his beloved onions and roasted goose, while his wife is bullied by the butler into engaging in gymnastics and a rather meagre diet. In the meantime, the Schneiders' spirited daughter, Terka (Éva Fenyvessy), falls for their good-looking manager, the former driver István Benedek (Pál Jávor), who keeps secret that he is in fact an engineer with a college diploma. Her mother, however, would prefer the good-natured, but quite stupid Makáts (Gyula Gózon) as a suitor, because Makáts's uncle (Sándor Góth), a city councillor, may help them to get a lucrative contract. Things begin to turn upside down, when Schneider follows Hyppolit's suggestions to start dating Mimi (Mici Erdélyi), a singer and dancer at a sleazy night club. When he fails to show up at a date with her, the girl enters the Schneiders' villa, where a dinner party with important guests - including Makáts's uncle - is taking place, and causes a scandal. Meanwhile, Terka follows her own plans to get the man she wants...

Cast

Gyula Csortos Gyula József Csortos (3 March 1883 – 1 August 1945) was a Hungarian film and stage actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1912 and 1944. He was born in Munkács and died in Budapest. Selected filmography * '' A Vörös Sámson'' (1917) ...

as Hyppolit *

Gyula Kabos Gyula Kabos (19 March 1887, Budapest – 6 October 1941, New York) was a Hungarian actor and comedian, widely known for his comedic movie roles in the late 1930s. Biography Early years Kabos was born on 19 March 1887, in Budapest as Gyul ...

as Mátyás Schneider *

Mici Haraszti Mici Haraszti (Born Mária Hinkelmann; 25 June 1882, in Trencsén, Austria-Hungary (now Trenčín, Slovakia) – 18 February 1964, in Budapest, Hungary) was a Hungarian actress. Selected filmography * ''The Officer's Swordknot'' (1915) * ''Hyppo ...

as Schneider's Wife * Éva Fenyvessy as Terka, Schneider's Daughter *

Gyula Gózon Gyula Gózon (19 April 1885 – 8 October 1972) was a Hungarian actor and comedian. Life Gyula Gózon was born on 19 April 1885, in Érsekújvár, but grew up in Esztergom. With the mentoring of his brother, he could fulfill his dream of lea ...

as Makáts, Terka's suitor * Mici Erdélyi as Mimi, a Night Club Dancer * Pál Jávor as István Benedek * Sándor Góth as City Councillor * Ernõ Szenes as Tóbiás *

Marcsa Simon Marcsa Simon (born Mária Cecília Simon 21 November 1882 – 8 January 1954) was a Hungarian actress. She was born in Tápiószele and died in Budapest. Selected filmography * '' Miska the Magnate'' (1916) * '' St. Peter's Umbrella'' (1917) * ...

as Julcsa * Jenő Herczeg * István Bársony * Lajos Gárdonyi * Ferenc Pázmán * Andor Sárossy * Elvira Horváth as Physical Instructor *

Zoltán Makláry Zoltán Makláry (16 April 1896, Budapest – 12 July 1978, Budapest) was a Hungarian stage and film actor. He was awarded the Kossuth Prize. Selected filmography * '' Stars of Eger'' (1923) * ''Hyppolit, the Butler'' (1931) * ''Spring Showe ...

* László Rehberger as Cook *

Gusztáv Vándory Gusztáv Vándory (6 December 1882 – 16 November 1964) was a Hungarian stage and film actor. He was born and died in Budapest. Selected filmography * ''Lili'' (1918) * '' Yamata'' (1919) * '' Neither at Home or Abroad'' (1919) * '' Veszélyben ...

Subsequent history

The film was shown again in Hungarian cinemas in 1945, 1956 and 1972. It is also shown regularly on the small screen and is still popular with viewers. Almost eighty years after its premiere, in 2008, the original film was digitally restored by the Hungarian National Film Archive. The restored version erroneously awarded director Sekely a writing credit that does not appear in either the original film titles or in any subsequent documentation. It has been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

Notes

External links

* * * {{amg movie, 138460
1933 review
in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

* http://easterneuroepeanfilms.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html 1931 films 1931 comedy films Hungarian black-and-white films 1930s Hungarian-language films Films directed by Steve Sekely Hungarian multilingual films Hungarian comedy films 1931 multilingual films