The Corvin Film Studio (in its original official name: Corvin Filmgyár és Filmkereskedelmi Rt.) established in 1916, was the largest film production company in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, while the third-largest film company in

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in the era of

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

. Their films were characterized by a high standard of literature and excellent artistic preparation.

Road to foundation

In 1916, 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 Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

( ''Cluj'' in

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; '' Klausenburg'' in

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) the so-called capital of

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. 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 (Sárga csikó) in co-production with the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian ''Pathé Film Studio''. The film became a blockbuster with noisy success on all five continents. I n 1914, he formed a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with Projectograph, Hungary 's leading filmmaker, under the name ''Proja'' (). He had been working there among others with Michael Curtiz (Kertész Mihály) the future

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

director, the famous ''The Exile (A tolonc)'' silent film was made by them.

Foundation in Kolozsvár, 1916

In 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

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Hungarian

King Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

. Janovics's production program concentrated largely on adaptations of popular and classic

Hungarian literature Hungarian literature is the body of written works primarily produced in Hungarian,

. The young Alexander Korda (Korda Sándor) was discovered for Corvin by Janovics who brought him to his new film studio from

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

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 Victor Varconi (born Mihály Várkonyi; March 31, 1891 – June 6, 1976) was a Hungarian actor who initially found success in his native country, as well as in Germany and Austria, in silent films, before relocating to the United States, where ...

. 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held in ...

Way to talkies

In 1919 Korda became a member of the Communist Directorate of

Soviet Republic A soviet republic (from ), also called council republic, is a republic in which the government is formed of soviets (workers' councils) and politics are based on soviet democracy. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, various revolutionary ...

as the director of film productions, so after defeating the

red terror The Red Terror () was a campaign of political repression and Mass killing, executions in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia which was carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police ...

, he had to flee Hungary. Subsequently, due to the dumping of

American films This is a list of films produced by the American film industry from the earliest films of the 1890s to the present. 1890s * List of American films of the 1890s 1900s * List of American films of 1900 * List of American films of 1901 * List ...

, 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

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, 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 the future world-famous Hungarian talkies under the name Hunnia Filmgyár.

Filmography

Corvin's films by date # Méltóságos rabasszony (1916) # A dolovai nábob leánya (1916) # Ártatlan vagyok! (1916) # A hattestparancsnok (1916) # Ciklámen (1916) # A nagymama (1916) # Soha többé... mindörökké! (1916) # Szibéria (1916) # Mesék az írógépről (1916) # Mágnás Miska --- '' Miska the Magnate'' (1916) # Az egymillió fontos bankó --- '' The One Million Pound Note'' (1916) # A gyónás szentsége (1916) # A peleskei nótárius (1916) # Petőfi dalciklus (1916) # A kétszívű férfi (1916) # A szobalány (1916) # Fehér éjszakák --- ''

'' (1916) # A feleség (1916) # A csikós (1917) # A gólyakalifa (1917) # Mágia (1917) # Szent Péter esernyője --- '' St. Peter's Umbrella'' (1917) # Harrison és Barrison (1917) # A riporterkirály (1917) # A piros bugyelláris (1917) # A haza oltára (1917, rövid) # Csaplárné a betyárt szerette (1917, rövid) # Károly bakák (1918) # A kis lord (1918) # A faun (1918) # A testőr (1918) # A kétlelkű asszony (1918) # Harrison és Barrison II. (1918) # Az aranyember (1918) # A gyáva (1918, rövid) # Ica babája (1918, rövid) # Tréfaházasság (1918, rövid) # Tutyut felszarvazzák (1918, rövid) # Tutyu kirúg a hámból (1918, rövid) # Mary Ann --- '' Mary Ann'' (1918) # Fehér rózsa (1919) # A 111-es --- '' Number 111'' (1919–1920) # A tékozló fiú (1919) # Ave Caesar! (1919) # Twist Olivér --- ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' (1919) # Yamata (1919) # A legnagyobb bűn/Mária nővér /Odille Mária (1919) # Fekete tulipán (1919) # Az igazság útja utató Sámuel(1919) # Se ki, se be! (1919) # Lélekidomár (1919) # Tutyu ismeretséget köt (1919, rövid) # Tutyu lakást keres (1919, rövid) # Cow-boy, mint anyós (1919, rövid) # A sárga árnyék (1920) # Névtelen vár (1920) # Little Fox (1920) # Júdás fiai (1920) # A végszó (1920) # Keresztes vitézek (1921) # Farsangi mámor (1921) # Hétszáz éves szerelem (1921) # New-York express kábel (1921) # Az áruház gyöngye (1921, rövid) # Országos Apponyi ünnep (1921, riport) # Majális a vérmezőn (1921, riport) # Motorcsónak verseny (1921, riport) # Lapterjesztők boxversenye (1921, riport) # Budapest ifjúsága üdvözli Harding elnököt hivatalbalépése alkalmából (1921, riport) # Olavi (1922) # Willy Drill (1922) # Freddy (1922, rövid) # Árvák imája (1922, rövid) # Múlt és jövő (1922, riport) # Egy dollár (1923) # Egy fiúnak a fele (1924) # Az őrszem (1924) # Magyar cserkészélet (1924, riport) # Terike (1927)

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* Lajta Andor. ''Filmművészeti Évkönyv az 1920. évre.'' Bp. 1920. * Dr. Janovics Jenő. ''A magyar film gyermekévei Erdélyben.'' Bp. Filmkultura. 1936. * Nemeskürty István. ''A mozgóképtől a filmművészetig. A magyar filmesztétika története. (1907 – 1930.)'' Bp. Magvető Kiadó, 1961. * Nemeskürty István. ''A magyar film története. (1912 – 1963.)'' Bp. Gondolat Kiadó, 1965. * Kulik, Karol. ''Alexander Korda: The Man Who Could Work Miracles''. Virgin Books, 1990. * Kőháti Zsolt. ''Tovamozduló ember tovamozduló világban – a magyar némafilm 1896–1931 között.'' Bp. Magyar Filmintézet, 1996. * Cunningham, John. ''Hungarian Cinema: From Coffee House to Multiplex''. London. Wallflower Press, 2004. Hungarian film studios Film production companies of Hungary Hungarian brands Entertainment companies established in 1914 Companies based in Cluj-Napoca