Hyppolit, the Butler 

Hyppolit, a lakáj / Hyppolit, the Butler 

Székely István, Hungary, 1931, 72’ 

A comedy about a wealthy business owner’s family who hires a new butler – who previously worked for aristocratic families and turns the family’s life upside down.  

Mátyás Schneider is a successful and wealthy transportation entrepreneur whose wife one day hires a butler. As Hyppolit previously served in a noble family, the lady hopes that his presence will make the Schneider mansion in the old Buda more prestigious. As it turns out, the butler imperiously establishes a new order and imposes aristocrat customs on the members of the family.
Hyppolit, the Butler is the second sound film of Hungarian cinema. István Székely wanted to make a story that would be familiar to domestic audiences, so he chose a work that caricatured the habits of the city’s parvenus. Set in the old Buda and depicting the world of masters and servants, the film immediately found its way into the hearts of the public and remains one of the best-known and most frequently screened staples of Hungarian cinema today. 

István Székely (1899–1979) was a Hungarian Jewish film director. Born István Székely, he was known by several names, based on his changing professional and immigration status, including Stefan Szekely and Steve Sekely. He directed films in Hungarian, German, and English. In Hungary he, amongst others, directed one of the most famous classic Hungarian films, Hyppolit, the Butler. Székely left pre-war Hungary, fleeing growing fascism and laws restricting rights and professional opportunities for Jews. He worked in Hollywood for much of his subsequent career, directing mostly B movies and early episodic TV, although he directed his best-known English language film, the cult science fiction thriller The Day of the Triffids (1963) in the UK.  

In cooperation with Liszt Institute, Hungarian Cultural Centre Ljubljana.