Directing
Pál Fejős (1897-1963) was a Hungarian-born director of feature films and documentaries who worked in a number of countries including the United States. He also studied medicine in his youth and became a prominent anthropologist later in life.
At first, the demolition of a biography. Shortly before his death, Fejos tells his life story. His voice, the melody of his Hungarian-accented English, his humour and his ability to tell stories lead us through the short documentation. Then it becomes an ethno-drama. The film travels from Sweden to Siam and poetically and powerfully shows how much work it is for a young couple to produce a handful of rice.
The Marquise de Langrune invites her friends at her castle in Beaulieu. Among them is Lord Beltham who also came to bring her a significant sum of money. The mysterious Fantômas kills the Marquise during the night. Inspector Juve is sent on his trail.
A middle-aged magician is in love with his beautiful young assistant. She, on the other hand, is in love with the magician's young protege, who turns out to be a bum and a thief.
Two lonely people in the big city meet and enjoy the thrills of an amusement park, only to lose each other in the crowd after spending a great day together. Will they ever see each other again?
A naive young dancer in a Broadway show innocently gets involved in backstage bootlegging and murder.
It tells the story of Marie, an austerely beautiful young peasant girl played by the French star, Annabella. She is seduced beneath a flowering tree by the admirer of one of the daughters of the prosperous family for whom she works, becomes pregnant and is cast out.
Hans, living in Vienna during the Great Depression, intends to drown himself in the river after losing his livelihood. While there he meets a girl named Anna after pulling her from the river.
The celebrated operetta prima donna Elsa Bruun is famous nationwide for her amazing smile. One day she is approached by a shabby man who pushes a script on her. Without wanting to, Elsa becomes deeply involved in the story, which becomes her path to a renewed understanding of life, which must be lived out even if it may cost her trademark: the golden smile.
The prologue shows a Swedish home, where a family discusses what "a handful of rice" can mean. The action then moves to Thailand and shows the life of a Thai couple, Pó Chai and Mé Ying, and their lives of joy and hardship in the jungle growing rice.