ABSTRACT
Perhaps even more remarkable than the impact of Hungarian literature was the impact that Hungarian émigrés themselves had on Britain. A large number of Hungarian intellectuals, notably writers and journalists, moved to London during the 1930s. Some were part of the emigration from Hungary that had taken place in 1919. Many found their way to England after having fled first to Austria and Germany. Lajos Bíró worked in Vienna and Berlin film studios between 1928 and 1932 before emigrating to Britain when Hitler attained power and working with Sándor (Alexander) Korda to set up his London Film Productions studio in 1932. Bíró wrote the screenplay for The Private Life of Henry VIII, the huge success with which Korda made his name the following year. A stage play, School for Slavery, was also well received by the critics (it opened at the Westminster Theatre on 17 March 1942). Korda, the director-pro ducer who was largely responsible for setting up a domestic British film industry, was himself a 1919 émigré and moved to England (via Austria, Germany, Hollywood and France) only in 1931, thus dividing his productions between Denham Studio and Hollywood. Of the films that he directed The Private Life of Henry VIII was epochal: it single-handedly won international respect for the British film industry, demonstrating that British productions could hold their own with Hollywood. His reputation was consolidated with subsequent films that he produced or directed, including The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1934, based on the popular novel (first published in 1895) by Baroness Emese (Emma) Orczy, herself a Hungarian who had settled in London after studying painting there as a young woman, and Rembrandt in 1936. It was at Korda’s invitation that Imre (Emeric) Pressburger came to England in 1935. He directed The Challenge (1938) and other films before going on to form with Michael Powell what
became one of the best director-screenwriter partnerships in film history, creating, among other films, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and The Red Shoes (1948).
