Title:SAINT STEPHEN'S DAY CELEBRATIONS IN BUDAPEST [Allocated]
Film Number:MGH 6848
Other titles:AMATEUR FILM BY UNIDENTIFIED CAMERAMAN [Alternative]
Summary: Amateur film records Hungarians lining the streets of Budapest to watch the ceremonial procession by military and religious figures of Saint Stephen's Dexter, probably on the 900th anniversary of the death of Hungary's national saint on 20 August 1938, followed by a commemorative event at the 1900 Millennium Memorial in Heroes Square attended by prominent Hungarian politicians and Hungarian Army officers who share the platform with Nazi German officials, probably a subsequent occasion.
Description: In summer weather, policeman directs traffic at busy crossroads in Budapest, cars and horse-drawn carts sharing the road, and a shopsign "Vorsteher" indicating the Austrian/ German influence on the city's history. Well-dressed crowds line the pavements, with the Hungarian tricolour visible on lampposts and buildings, while peasants in colourful Magyar costumes are also present in large numbers in separate groups. Officers of the Hungarian Army, mounted and on foot, pass by. Horse dung dropped by the officers' horses is instantly cleared by a roadsweeping team with broom and shovel. Scene changes to Szent Cyrcy (spelling ?) Utca (possibly on Castle Hill in Buda), where the religious procession starts, with the passage of boy scouts, Hungarian Army officers, Catholic Church dignitaries, two orders of nuns (Sisters of Loreto as guardians of the Dexter), Hungarian Army brass band wearing German-style Stahlhelm helmets, more religious officials including a patriarch of the Orthodox Church, priests bearing the casket containing Saint Stephen's right hand, and highly decorated veteran officers of the Hungarian Army. Brief scene from stands of finish of a horse race on the flat (probably Kincsem Park race course, Budapest). Extended sequence of night foreworks concludes Hungary's day of national celebration.
Commemorative ceremony beside the Millennium Monument on Heroes Square is attended by Hungarian politicians and Hungarian Army officers and several important Germans recognisable by their swastika armbands; backdrop of flags including Union Jack and French tricolour suggest an event of international importance (most likely in 1938-1939, and definitely prior to British declartion of war on Hungary on 12 July 1941). Hungarians and Nazi Germans deliver speeches from podium, while newsreel cameramen record the event, which concludes with parade along street by Hungarian soldiers and Germans bearing swastika flags. Brief interior shot of elegant dining room, and longer shot of Elizabeth (Erzsebet) Bridge spanning River Danube illumminated at night in profile.
Alternative Title:AMATEUR FILM BY UNIDENTIFIED CAMERAMAN [Alternative]