1931 Balkán, Hungary
Ferenc Madar
1931
Balkán, Hungary
Interviewed on 1/28/19
by Samuel Essig
What is the first movie you remember seeing? (Remember is the key word.)
The first movie I ever saw was called Kölcsönadott élet, which means, “A Loaned Life” in Hungarian. It was a story about bad kids robbing neighborhoods and how they were arrested and put in jail.
How old were you (approximately)? Where did you see it?
I saw it in Balkán, Hungary when I saw eight years old. [Note: My grandfather was born in 1931 and this movie was released in 1943, so he was actually 12 years old. However, he “remembers” seeing it as an eight-year-old].
What was the experience like? What were people wearing? Who was around you?
It was a special night. We lived in a very small farming village. Even though we didn’t have money, we put on our nicest clothes to see the film. The other people in the theater were from the village. People rode horses and buggies down muddy roads to get to the theater. One man had a car, but he was very wealthy.
What do you remember about the movie?
I remember the plots of many Hungarian movies, but this one is foggy. I remember it was a drama. I prefer silly comedies. Back then, they would show two movies per week at the theater, once on Saturday and once on Sunday. This one was very popular. I went back to Hungary recently and saw that they were still playing Kölcsönadott élet in theaters. The movie was an hour and a half long, was black and white, and had Hungarian speaking because it was a Hungarian movie.
What did you think of the character(s), actor(s), story?
The story was very good, but the actors were better. Back then, the movies would only hire the most attractive actors and actresses, so everyone was very good-looking. The actors and actresses were very famous throughout the whole country. They were “classic” actors. Not like we have today. A lot of emotional things happened in the older movies that don’t happen today. They were depicting real emotions, not fake ones like today’s actors. [Note: My grandfather began crying when he spoke about this. Talking about this sparked a lot of memories and a deep sense of nostalgia; he gets very emotional about the past and is particularly fond of his older movies. In fact, he still has a bookshelf filled with VCR tapes of classic Hungarian movies in his house. Among his collection is a copy of Kölcsönadott élet.]
Who was with you?
It was just a few friends and me. I knew them because they lived nearby. The town was so small that we knew everyone.
How did you get to the theater/venue?
I walked from my house to the theater.
Was there a concession? Did you have a favorite candy?
There was a concession stand. My favorite snacks were sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and if I had money, something called “black candy.” Farmers would sell the sunflower seeds that they produced on their farms in exchange for candy from the concession stand.
Do you remember the name of the theater? Were there ushers?
The theater didn’t have a name. It was called, “Movie House.” There were ushers. The seating was arranged by ticket price. The fancier seats were in the back. If you sat in the front, there were wooden benches without backs. If the wood benches ran out, you had to sit on the floor. There was a fireplace to keep the building warm in the winter. We didn’t have a lot of money, so we had a choice: go see a movie or buy sugar to cook with. The movie theater was very expensive for us.
What town and year was this?
It was is Balkán, Hungary in 1943.
