Corvin Film


The Corvin Film Studio established in 1916, was the largest film production company in Hungary, while the third largest film company in Europe in the era of silent film. Their films were characterized by a high standard of literature and excellent artistic preparation.

Road to foundation

, the Corvin Film Studio was founded by Dr. Jenő Janovics, an influential Hungarian media entrepreneur; director of the Hungarian National Theater of Kolozsvár. The place of incorporation was in the city of Kolozsvár the so called capital of Transylvania.
By this time, Janovics –who was rightly called the creator of Hollywood in Transylvania– already had serious film experiences. In 1913, he made the first Transylvanian film, The Yellow Foal in co-production with the Parisian Pathé Film Studio. The film became blockbuster with noisy success on all five continents.
In 1914, he formed a joint venture with Projectograph, Hungary 's leading filmmaker, under the name Proja. He had been working there among others with Michael Curtiz the future Academy Awards director, the famous The Exile silent film was made by them.

Foundation in Kolozsvár, 1916

, Janovics became independent of Projectograph setting up his new Corvin Film Studio in Kolozsvár. The company's name was a reference to the great 15th Century Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus. Janovics's production program concentrated largely on adaptations of popular and classic Hungarian literature.
The young Alexander Korda was discovered for Corvin by Janovics who brought him to his new film studio from Budapest in 1916.

Foundation in Budapest, 1917

An increasingly dominant presence at the company was the young film director Korda who joined Corvin as a leading director. Korda directed there White Nights, one of the first Hungarian films to be shown outside the country.
Next year Janovics sold the company to Korda and Miklós Pásztory. They exclusively contracted several stars of the age, including Arthur Somlay, Oszkár Beregi and Mihály Várkonyi. Korda's wife, actress María Corda starred in several Corvin productions too.
Korda and Pásztory expanded into the Hungarian capital in the same year. On October 16, 1917, with a registered capital of one million korona, the Corvin Film Factory and Film Trade Co. was established even in Budapest. For more than 100 years, this film studio became the emblematic site of Hungarian film productions. It still works at the same place.
The boom caused by World War I had a positive impact on Corvin Film. The film import ban boosted domestic demand for Hungarian films. Corvin's registered capital was increased to two and a half million korona in 1918 and then to eight million korona in 1919.

Way to talkies

In 1919 Korda became a member of the Communist Directorate of Soviet Republic as the director of film productions, so after defeating the red terror, he had to flee Hungary. Subsequently, due to the dumping of American films, Hungarian films were increasingly overshadowed, with fewer and fewer films turning in the Corvin studio, and then, in 1922, the Corvin Film temporarily ceased production of films.
In 1923, the factory was modernized and reorganized to become the third largest studio in Central Europe, with a height of 18 meters and a floor area of 4x20 meters. However, as the economic conditions worsened, the factory went bankrupt in 1926.
It was acquired by the Filmipari Alap in 1927 and later became one of the trustees of the future world-famous Hungarian talkies under the name Hunnia Filmgyár.

Filmography

Corvin's films by date
  1. Méltóságos rabasszony
  2. A dolovai nábob leánya
  3. Ártatlan vagyok!
  4. A hattestparancsnok
  5. Ciklámen
  6. A nagymama
  7. Soha többé… mindörökké!
  8. Szibéria
  9. Mesék az írógépről
  10. Mágnás Miska --- Miska the Magnate
  11. Az egymillió fontos bankó --- The One Million Pound Note
  12. A gyónás szentsége
  13. A peleskei nótárius
  14. Petőfi dalciklus
  15. A kétszívű férfi
  16. A szobalány
  17. Fehér éjszakák --- White Nights
  18. A feleség
  19. A csikós
  20. A gólyakalifa
  21. Mágia
  22. Szent Péter esernyője --- St. Peter's Umbrella
  23. Harrison és Barrison
  24. A riporterkirály
  25. A piros bugyelláris
  26. A haza oltára
  27. Csaplárné a betyárt szerette
  28. Károly bakák
  29. A kis lord
  30. A faun
  31. A testőr
  32. A kétlelkű asszony
  33. Harrison és Barrison II.
  34. Az aranyember
  35. A gyáva
  36. Ica babája
  37. Tréfaházasság
  38. Tutyut felszarvazzák
  39. Tutyu kirúg a hámból
  40. Mary Ann --- Mary Ann
  41. Fehér rózsa
  42. A 111-es --- Number 111
  43. A tékozló fiú
  44. Ave Caesar!
  45. Twist Olivér --- Oliver Twist
  46. Yamata
  47. A legnagyobb bűn/Mária nővér /Odille Mária
  48. Fekete tulipán
  49. Az igazság útja
  50. Se ki, se be!
  51. Lélekidomár
  52. Tutyu ismeretséget köt
  53. Tutyu lakást keres
  54. Cow-boy, mint anyós
  55. A sárga árnyék
  56. Névtelen vár
  57. Little Fox
  58. Júdás fiai
  59. A végszó
  60. Keresztes vitézek
  61. Farsangi mámor
  62. Hétszáz éves szerelem
  63. New-York express kábel
  64. Az áruház gyöngye
  65. Országos Apponyi ünnep
  66. Majális a vérmezőn
  67. Motorcsónak verseny
  68. Lapterjesztők boxversenye
  69. Budapest ifjúsága üdvözli Harding elnököt hivatalbalépése alkalmából
  70. Olavi
  71. Willy Drill
  72. Freddy
  73. Árvák imája
  74. Múlt és jövő
  75. Egy dollár
  76. Egy fiúnak a fele
  77. Az őrszem
  78. Magyar cserkészélet
  79. Terike