Prisoner Number Seven

Rabmadár, Hungarian crime movie, black-and-white, 1929, by Pál Sugár, Intertitles: German, Subtitles: Hungarian, 79'

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SCREENINGS

09.06. 14:00
French Institute

Introduction: Nikolaus Wostry; Live music: Ferenc Darvas

Directed by Pál Sugár
Written by Walter Reisch
Screenplay by Lajos Lázár, Walter Reisch
Director of Photography: József Bécsi, Oskar Weitzenberg
Piano accompaniment by Ferenc Darvas
Cast: Lissy Arna, Charlotte Susa, Hans Adalbert von Schlettow, El Dura, Ida Turay, Mariska H. Balla, Olga Kerékgyártó, Szidi Rákosi
Production: Mary-Film

The focal point of this crime story is a female inmate who persuades the prison doctor to let her out for one night. She looks for her lover who is the head waiter at a hotel. At that very moment, the man is planning to flee with his new lover, a Malaysian dancer, having robbed the safe beforehand. The girl calls the police to stop the crime but by the time they arrive, the Malaysian dancer is dead. While escaping, she fell with the lift that was being repaired. The film was produced by famous comic Géza Steinhardt. He called on Pál Sugár, former director of Star Film Factory, to return to Hungary from where he was living in Germany, and he also contracted top German actors for the main roles. The Hungarian censor banned screening of the film, most probably because of the erotic scenes, but it finally first received an export licensed after these were cut, and then in the wake of its success in Germany it was also authorized for screening in Hungary.