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Ferenc Molnár

 

(born Jan. 12, 1878, Budapest, Hung. — died April 1, 1952, New York City, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian writer. He published his first stories at age 19 and achieved his first success with the play The Devil (1907). Among his other plays, some adapted as films, are Liliom (1909), which was also adapted as the musical Carousel; The Swan (1920); and The Red Mill (1923). Some of his stories, especially those in Music (1908), are masterpieces that reveal the problems of the poor. Of his many novels, only The Paul Street Boys (1907) was a success.

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American Theater Guide: Ferenc Molnar
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Molnar, Ferenc (1878–1952), playwright. The versatile Hungarian dramatist, as skilled at romantic fantasy as at high comedy, came to American playgoers' attention when his early play, The Devil (1908), opened at two Broadway theatres on the same night. (The production with George Arliss was by far the more successful.) Unlike many foreign dramatists, Molnar was exceptionally fortunate in the excellent translations and mountings given his plays in America. Leo Ditrichstein starred in Belasco's version of The Phantom Lover (1914), Eva Le Gallienne and Joseph Schildkraut headed the Theatre Guild's Liliom (1921), Le Gallienne also took the central role in The Swan (1923), the Guild staged The Guardsman (1924) with the Lunts as stars, while Holbrook Blinn headed a fine cast in The Play's the Thing (1926). Many other of his plays were also well received, and several of his best have had major revivals, notably The Play's the Thing, which saw reputable New York productions in 1948, 1973, 1978, and 1995. Molnar's works have also lent themselves to musical versions, The Phantom Lover becoming The Love Letter (1921) and Liliom being made into Carousel (1945).

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Ferenc Molnár
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Molnár, Ferenc ('rĕnts môl'när), 1878-1952, Hungarian dramatist and novelist. He studied law in Budapest and Geneva and was for some time a journalist in Budapest. He was a prolific author of plays, novels, stories, sketches, dialogues, and war reports. His best-known works are the plays Liliom (1909, tr. 1921), which was made into the musical comedy Carousel; The Guardsman (1910, tr. 1924); and The Swan (1920, tr. 1922). His plays exhibit masterful technique, sophisticated dialogue, and a satirical edge that is tempered by genuine sentiment. Although technically of high caliber, his plays rely upon superficial theatrical special effects. Molnár emigrated to the United States during the Nazi regime; he wrote film scripts and was famed as a wit.

Bibliography

See his autobiography (1950).

Dictionary: Mol·nár
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(mōl'när', môl'-) pronunciation, Ferenc 1878-1952.

Hungarian writer known particularly for his comedies, including The Devil (1907) and Liliom (1909).


WordNet: Ferenc Molnar
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: Hungarian playwright (1878-1952)
  Synonym: Molnar


 
 
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Carousel, musical (Classical Work)
Hungarian literature (literature, Hungary)
One, Two, Three (1961 Comedy Film)

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more