Acting

Piri Peéry

Born — Died

1904-05-12 — 1962-12-31

Known for

Acting

Credits

18 titles

Known for

Merry-Go-Round poster
7.5

In a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives humble but promising young farmer girl Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to his older business partner. 'Land marries land', he says, a phrase which seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the younger lover is ready to confront any challenge to keep Mari's love.

Merry-Go-Round

1956

The New Landlord poster
9.0

Az Uj Foldesur (The New Squire) was based on a novel by popular Hungarian author Maurice Jokal, whose many works had previously been largely ignored. After the wars of 1848, a retired Austrian army officer "returns to the soil" as a gentleman farmer in Hungary in the 1850s. The old campaigner is the father of two daughters: One of the girls comes to a sad end thanks to the malfeasances of a handsome spy, but the other has a happier fate when she falls in love with a Hungarian POW. The underlying theme is brotherhood, as the formerly warring Austrians and Hungarians at last find a common ground. Az Uj Foldesur was nearly twice as expensive as the average Hungarian film -- but at $40,000, its budget was a drop in the bucket compared to a typical Hollywood production.

The New Landlord

1935

Kata, the Shrew poster
9.0

Kata Juhász is the shrew in this updating of Shakespeare's play. Kata's wedding is scheduled but her groom deserts her over her whims. In order to prevent the guests from being disappointed, she hires a tramp from the banks of the Danube to play the role of the groom. The tramp, Chief Engineer Péter Szabó, doesn't bend to her caprices. This leads to confusion and resolution in the Shakespearian fashion.

Kata, the Shrew

1943

John, the Hero poster
9.0

1938 screen adaptation of the 1904 musical version of the classic Hungarian fairy tale poem by Sándor Petőfi about the romantic adventures of Kukorica Jancsi and his beloved Iluska.

John, the Hero

1939

Dani poster
7.0

Dani, the few-month-old little boy born outside marriage is left by Eszter in the lap of her companion on the train. The widowed Aranka takes him willingly to her. The child is already ten years old and has a good life with Aranka. Then Géza enters their life and he does not welcome the child of someone else.

Dani

1957

Grandmother poster
7.0

Ernő, under a pseudonym, takes up a position as a music teacher at a girls' school under the patronage of his grandmother, Countess Szerémy, to meet one of the pretty students, Martha, who later turns out to be the child of her grandmother's disowned son. The Countess agrees to the young couple's marriage, but Márta falls in love with Colonel Örkényi's nephew Kálmán. In the meantime, Ernő's feelings change, and he meets Kálmán's sister Piroska, whom he would prefer to marry. The Colonel, whose planned marriage to Countess Serémy was prevented by her mother when he was young, refuses to hear of it.

Grandmother

1935

Film credits

1950s · 8 titles

Merry-Go-Round poster
7.5

In a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives humble but promising young farmer girl Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to his older business partner. 'Land marries land', he says, a phrase which seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the younger lover is ready to confront any challenge to keep Mari's love.

Merry-Go-Round

1956

Dani poster
7.0

Dani, the few-month-old little boy born outside marriage is left by Eszter in the lap of her companion on the train. The widowed Aranka takes him willingly to her. The child is already ten years old and has a good life with Aranka. Then Géza enters their life and he does not welcome the child of someone else.

Dani

1957

Iron Flower poster
6.6

During the worldwide Depression of the 1930s, a young shopgirl is in love with a man of her own financial class, but succumbs to the seductive machinations of her wealthy boss.

Iron Flower

1958

The Storm poster
9.0

Vörös Hajnal (Red Dawn), a co-operative is the venue of skylarking, while the storm destroys the wheat which is to be harvested soon. Árendás, a middle-peasant, voices severe accusations against members of the co-operative: out of negligence, they failed to keep the ditches clean. It is always the soft option they seem to favour, while the necessity of properly taking care of the farmlands is long-forgotten. Members of the co-operative and the village people are deeply divided.

The Storm

1952

St. Peter's Umbrella poster
6.3

A comedy about a lost inheritance, love and a red umbrella, which, according to a local legend, belonged to St. Peter himself.

St. Peter's Umbrella

1958

Sleepless Years poster
9.0

The "sleepless years" in this propaganda piece by director Felix Marlassy occur on Csepel Island, an island south of Budapest that is home to an armaments factory. The factory workers are shown being exploited by imperialists, capitalists gone berserk, and fascists, more or less in that exact chronological sequence. The heavy-handed approach does much to undercut the belief that when socialism finally takes over, the lives of the workers are brought up to a human level. In this instance, audiences might prefer a more nuanced and subtle statement, no matter what the message.

Sleepless Years

1959

Battle in Peace poster
9.0

András Beke, a tractor driver, enlists as a conscript, but he does not want to accept the army's rules and regulations, he wants to show that he is an individual here too. During the marching drill, he goes on an exploratory expedition, drinks from the forbidden water and commits other offences. But the educational punishments make him realise that in the army, instead of being a hero, you have to learn, work hard, stand up for yourself and show solidarity. His re-education is aided by his commanders and peers, but love also plays an important role...

Battle in Peace

1952

Springtime in Budapest poster
7.5

At Christmas Eve in 1944 the runaway Pintér and Gozsó get through the Soviet blockade around Budapest. Pintér intends to hide in a flat abandoned by his own relatives, but he finds his relatives called the Turnovszkys, who are hiding the Jewish Jutka as well. Love unfolds between Zoltán and Jutka.

Springtime in Budapest

1955

1930s · 5 titles

The New Landlord poster
9.0

Az Uj Foldesur (The New Squire) was based on a novel by popular Hungarian author Maurice Jokal, whose many works had previously been largely ignored. After the wars of 1848, a retired Austrian army officer "returns to the soil" as a gentleman farmer in Hungary in the 1850s. The old campaigner is the father of two daughters: One of the girls comes to a sad end thanks to the malfeasances of a handsome spy, but the other has a happier fate when she falls in love with a Hungarian POW. The underlying theme is brotherhood, as the formerly warring Austrians and Hungarians at last find a common ground. Az Uj Foldesur was nearly twice as expensive as the average Hungarian film -- but at $40,000, its budget was a drop in the bucket compared to a typical Hollywood production.

The New Landlord

1935

John, the Hero poster
9.0

1938 screen adaptation of the 1904 musical version of the classic Hungarian fairy tale poem by Sándor Petőfi about the romantic adventures of Kukorica Jancsi and his beloved Iluska.

John, the Hero

1939

Grandmother poster
7.0

Ernő, under a pseudonym, takes up a position as a music teacher at a girls' school under the patronage of his grandmother, Countess Szerémy, to meet one of the pretty students, Martha, who later turns out to be the child of her grandmother's disowned son. The Countess agrees to the young couple's marriage, but Márta falls in love with Colonel Örkényi's nephew Kálmán. In the meantime, Ernő's feelings change, and he meets Kálmán's sister Piroska, whom he would prefer to marry. The Colonel, whose planned marriage to Countess Serémy was prevented by her mother when he was young, refuses to hear of it.

Grandmother

1935

The Five-Forty poster
7.0

Set in Paris (which looks more like Budapest), the story concerns a murder investigation conducted by one Judge Henri Tessier. The audience is led to believe that Robert Petrovich, estranged husband of Tessier's sweetheart Marion, is responsible for the murder.

The Five-Forty

1939

St. Peter's Umbrella poster
9.0

Veronika, the niece of the parish priest of Glogova, came to the priesthood because of the death of her mother. While the priest was praying for a blessing in front of the cross in the field, a grey old man put an umbrella over the little girl. It is still believed in the village that St. Peter himself came to protect the little orphan from the rain. Years go by and Veronika grows up to be a beautiful girl, who falls in love with a law student from Pest, Gyuri Wibra. Interestingly enough, Gyuri - known to be the illegitimate son of the rich Gregorics - inherits only an umbrella from his father...

St. Peter's Umbrella

1935

Behind the camera