Corvin Film Studio


The Corvin Film Studio established in 1916, was the largest film production company in Hungary, as well as 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.

Background

, 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 a 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.

Production in Kolozsvár

, 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.

Production in Budapest

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. In addition to the success in Hungary, Corvin's films were also successful on the international market. In parallel to his role as manager, Korda also directed at the studio. He directed one of the first Hungarian films to be shown abroad, White Nights.

Decline and takeover

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 influx of American films, Hungarian films were increasingly overshadowed, with fewer and fewer films being filmed 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 metres and a floor area of 4×20 metres. 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 Hunnia Film Studio, a major sound film studio in Hungary.

Filmography

Corvin's films by date
  1. The Yellow Foal
  2. Méltóságos rabasszony
  3. A dolovai nábob leánya
  4. Ártatlan vagyok!
  5. A hattestparancsnok
  6. Ciklámen
  7. Struggling Hearts
  8. A nagymama
  9. Soha többé... mindörökké!
  10. Szibéria
  11. Tales of the Typewriter
  12. Miska the Magnate
  13. The One Million Pound Note
  14. A gyónás szentsége
  15. A peleskei nótárius
  16. Petőfi dalciklus
  17. A kétszívű férfi
  18. A szobalány
  19. White Nights
  20. A feleség
  21. A csikós
  22. The Stork Caliph
  23. Magic
  24. St. Peter's Umbrella
  25. Harrison and Barrison
  26. A riporterkirály
  27. A piros bugyelláris
  28. A haza oltára
  29. Csaplárné a betyárt szerette
  30. Károly bakák
  31. A kis lord
  32. Faun
  33. A testőr
  34. A kétlelkű asszony
  35. Harrison és Barrison II.
  36. Man of Gold
  37. A gyáva
  38. Ica babája
  39. Tréfaházasság
  40. Tutyut felszarvazzák
  41. Tutyu kirúg a hámból
  42. Mary Ann
  43. Fehér rózsa
  44. Number 111
  45. A tékozló fiú
  46. Ave Caesar!
  47. Oliver Twist
  48. Yamata
  49. A legnagyobb bűn / Mária nővér / Odille Mária
  50. Fekete tulipán
  51. Az igazság útja
  52. Neither at Home or Abroad
  53. Lélekidomár
  54. Tutyu ismeretséget köt
  55. Tutyu lakást keres
  56. Cow-boy, mint anyós
  57. A sárga árnyék
  58. Névtelen vár
  59. Little Fox
  60. Júdás fiai
  61. A végszó
  62. Keresztes vitézek
  63. Farsangi mámor
  64. Hétszáz éves szerelem
  65. New-York express kábel
  66. Az áruház gyöngye
  67. Országos Apponyi ünnep
  68. Majális a vérmezőn
  69. Motorcsónak verseny
  70. Lapterjesztők boxversenye
  71. Budapest ifjúsága üdvözli Harding elnököt hivatalbalépése alkalmából
  72. Olavi
  73. Willy Drill
  74. Freddy
  75. Árvák imája
  76. Múlt és jövő
  77. One Dollar
  78. Egy fiúnak a fele
  79. Az őrszem
  80. Magyar cserkészélet
  81. Terike