Gyula Justh

The Lady is a Little Crazy

Az Aranyember (The Man of Gold) was based on a novel by Jokai, at one time Hungary's foremost storyteller. Set in the early 19th century, the story revolves around Timar (Ferenc Kiss), a ferryman on a Danish tugboat. Rescuing the daughter (Marisa Kormos) of a Turkish nobleman from a watery grave, Timar is rewarded with the girl's hand in marriage. Now rich beyond his wildest dreams, our hero finds he is unsatisfied; it seems he has never forgotten his true love, flower girl Noemi (Anna Fuzes). Timar is forced to suffer mightily until he is finally permitted a tender reunion with the girl of his dreams.

Az Uj Foldesur (The New Squire) was based on a novel by popular Hungarian author Maurice Jokal, whose many works had previously been largely ignored. After the wars of 1848, a retired Austrian army officer "returns to the soil" as a gentleman farmer in Hungary in the 1850s. The old campaigner is the father of two daughters: One of the girls comes to a sad end thanks to the malfeasances of a handsome spy, but the other has a happier fate when she falls in love with a Hungarian POW. The underlying theme is brotherhood, as the formerly warring Austrians and Hungarians at last find a common ground. Az Uj Foldesur was nearly twice as expensive as the average Hungarian film -- but at $40,000, its budget was a drop in the bucket compared to a typical Hollywood production.

Villa for Sale

About a man's disappointment in love, and this provides the foundation for the upcoming trial of a much more significant love. The scene of the fatal meeting, the bar, which is a kind of world-model, and its environment: a fort under siege, from where it's almost impossible to escape...

March 15, 1848; the revolution breaks out in the town of Pest. Yet at café Pilvax, in among he revolutionary youth, there is the informer of the imperial court as well. Hearing the news of the attack led by Jellasics, the inhabitants of the villages pour into the national army, and Hajdú Gyurka also escapes from his landlord. Petőfi is there at the camp of the revolutionaries, raising them to enthusiasm with his poetry.

The title character in Maria Nover (Sister Maria) is played by Eva Szorenyi. A convent-bred lass on the verge of taking her final vows, Maria falls in love with a handsome artist, portrayed by popular operatic baritone Sandor Sved. Due to a silly misunderstanding, she walks out on Sved and marries his best friend Paul Javor. The frustrated suitor quits the art world to become a world-famous concert singer. Years later, he returns to reclaim Maria, only to find that she's not only still a wife, but also a mother and a dedicated nurse. Gracefully bowing out of her life, the Pagliacci-like Sved continues his singing career to assuage his broken heart.

Piri Knows Everything

Among the Gruber family, the rumor spreads like wildfire that their wealthy American relative, Menyhért Gruber, is visiting Hungary with his daughter, Mary. Various plans are devised to exploit the rich relative. The boldest of them all is the plan of Bálint Koltay, who directly pursues Mary's hand. However, the young ones fall in love with each other so deeply that Bálint stands by Mary even when the "wealthy" Gruber informs him that he's bankrupt. At this point, the only thing left to arrange is for Bálint, who poses as a landowner, to actually present a noble castle to his future father-in-law.