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Treasures from the Archives

Magyar Nemzeti Filmarchívum - Hungarian National Film Archive: The Rescue of 'Hyppolit, the Butler'

Shot and premiered in 1931, 'Hyppolit, the Butler', an immortal piece of Hungarian film history, reaping success in Hungary and abroad over decades, has been restored and saved for posterity with the support of the Hungarian Development Bank.
Directed by István Székely, 'Hyppolit, the Butler' is an evergreen of Hungarian film history. After almost a decade of its making in July 1945 it was played again in the cinemas.
It was re-released for the 25th anniversary of Hungarian sound film in October 1956.
The next return was on 8 June 1972: In that year more than one million people saw it.
Each time it was revived, the success was the same. According to the 1980 statistic data of Mokép, 'Hyppolit' had attracted more than three and a half million viewers since its revival in 1956. In the 77 years since its making the film lost nothing of its appeal, and has remained an unfading favourite of the Hungarian public. Its significance in Hungarian film culture is equivalent to the place of Mihály Kertész’s film 'Casablanca' in global film culture.
Recorded on flammable nitro raw material, the sound and picture negative has luckily survived in the collection of the Hungarian National Film Archive. But in the almost eighty years since the shooting it has shrunk badly and became unsuitable for any copying by the traditional contact technology.
The Hungarian National Film Archive has now restored the film with the support of the Hungarian Development Bank. The Hungarian Film Laboratory performed the digitsation and restoration of the motion picture material, while the Hungarian Film Archive carried out the digital cleaning of the sound. The restored picture and sound negative as well as a copy were generated in the Hungarian Film Laboratory.

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Hungarian National Film Archive