Bors István 1939

Directed by Viktor Bánky

Istvan Bors was adapted from the popular Hungarian stage play by Sandor Hunyady, with a few songs added to the mixture. The title character, played by Antal Pager, is an impoverished farmhand whose lot in life is radically altered when he inherits a fortune. Istvan Bors' benefactor was a fabulously wealthy business executive who happened to be our hero's real father. Baron Tulgody (Bela Mihalyffy), the decedent's nephew, is understandably put out when Istvan is declared the sole heir, but he fulfills the conditions of the will and permits the scruffy farmhand to move into the family's ancestral estate. Gradually, Istvan ingratiates himself with the rest of the household, even winning over the Baron after a last-act plot convolution. The whimsically inconclusive ending of the original play was altered a bit, but the results were so satisfying that no one had any cause for complaint.