1929 Hungarian silent film recovered, remastered, to be screened in Budapest

Prisoner Number Seven, a 1929 silent film believed to have been lost, will be screened in Budapest’s Uránia cinema on December 15 as part of this year’s Season of Classics Films programme supported by an EU cultural scheme, the National Film Institute (NFI) said on Tuesday.

The only, incomplete copy of the film was obtained from a Dutch collector by the National Film Archives of Austria. A remastering based on the only copy began in Budapest and was completed in 2023 after the missing parts emerged, NFI said in a statement.

The eventful thriller-romance is about the adventures of a young woman who is taken off to jail by mistake. Censors at the time banned screening the film in Hungary which was later shown to the public after its success abroad, NFI said.

The film was co-directed by Paul Sugár, who became well-known in Berlin, and Lajos Lázár, who travelled to Budapest from Vienna for the film shoot.

It stars German actress Lissy Arna in the main role as well as Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Charlotte Susa and native Creole actress and revue dancer El’ Dura in the role of an exotic dancer. The film also features Hungarian rising starts Ida Turay and Szidi Rákosi along with renowned Hungarian poet and journalist Lőrinc Szabó.

The Season of Classics Films is a series of free film screenings across Europe aimed at drawing attention to the work of film archives and the significance of film preservation.

The programme is an initiative of the Association des Cinematheques Europeennes (ACE) and is supported by the EU Creative Europe MEDIA scheme.

Interestingly, Uránia wrote the film’s title is not Prisoner Number Seven but Slave Bird (Rabmadár).

Here is what they wrote about the film:

Slave Bird (Rabmadár)
Uránia National Film Theatre, 7 pm , 15 december 2023

Plot

Anna ends up in prison because of her lover, who had persuaded her to steal. The girl longs to visit her lover for the last time so she convinces the good-hearted prison doctor to let her out for a single night. Jenő, the man she adores, is a cynical and womanizing head waiter in a hotel who has long forgotten about his one-time girlfriend. His latest plan is to break into the hotel safe with the help of one of the guests, a beautiful dancer, and then escape. However, Anna takes control of the situation…

This dramatic and fast-paced crime and love story from the late silent era features Hungarian-German actors. The censor first tried to have the film banned in Hungary and only relented when screenings abroad proved to be a hit. The only surviving copy was passed to the Austrian Film Archive by a Dutch private collector, and from there the National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive received it for restoration.

4k digital restoration of the film was realized in the Season of Classic Films programme of the ACE – Association des Cinémathèques Européennes with the support of the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. Screening with live music accompaniment, original German intertitles, Hungarian and English subtitles.

Composers: Milán Hodován – live electronics, keyboard, Patrik Oláh – violin, Péter Friderikusz – cello

Registration HERE

1929, Directors: Pál Sugár, Lajos Lázár, screenwriters: Lajos Lázár, Walter Reisch, cinematographers: József Bécsi and Adolf Otto Weitzenberg, set designer: István Szironthai Lhotka, production studio: Märy Film, producer: Géza Steinhardt.

Starring: Lissy Arna (Anna, prisoner), Hans Adalbert Schlettow (Jenő, hotel waiter), Charlotte Susa (doctor), El Dura (Malaysian dancer), Ida Turay (Madárka), Mariska H. Balla (manageress), Olga Kerékgyártó (new maid), Szidi Rákosi (prison guard).

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