Steve Sekely

Steve Sekely
Born
István Székely

(1899-02-25)February 25, 1899
Budapest, Austria-Hungary
DiedMarch 9, 1979(1979-03-09) (aged 80)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.[1]
Other nameStefan Szekely
OccupationFilm director
Years active1930–1973
Notable workThe Day of the Triffids
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1933; died 1950)​
[2]

Steve Sekely (February 25, 1899 – March 9, 1979) was a Hungarian Jewish film director. Born István Székely, he was known by several names, based on his changing professional and immigration status, including Stefan Szekely. He directed films in Hungarian, German, and English.

Biography

He worked as a newspaper journalist in Germany, before returning to Hungary in the early 1930s. He directed one of the most famous classic Hungarian films, the frequently revived comedy Hyppolit, a lakáj (1931). That film was remade in 2000 and the original was later digitally restored and released on DVD.

Sekely left pre-war Hungary, fleeing growing fascism and laws restricting rights and professional opportunities for Jews.

He worked in Hollywood for much of his subsequent career, directing mostly B movies and early episodic TV. In March 1940 Sekely became what Movie and Radio Guide called "the first film director to invade the field of television" when he was signed by Los Angeles experimental station W6XAO to direct two one-hour plays, described as the most ambitious effort yet attempted by West Coast television.[3]

Only one of these productions was made by Sekely, The Ides of March by Wilfred Pettit, was broadcast on March 28, 1940, at 8 p.m. from W6XAO and promoted as the first full-length play televised on the West Coast.[4] Los Angeles Times critic Philip K. Scheuer attended the station's 2,572nd program and described "Theater Visionair Presents 'Ides of March'" as an eight-scene drama concerning John Wilkes Booth, starring Shirley Thomas and John Barkley, performed on a makeshift southern-mansion set with actors in panchromatic make-up, and directed by Sekely using two cameras for medium shots and close-ups.[5] Hedda Hopper, also writing in the Los Angeles Times, described the play as a "psychological study of John Wilkes Booth during the period just previous to the fatal night he put a bullet in the back of Abraham Lincoln," noted that Sekely was "the first movie director to enter the television field," and reported that the production used three cameras and no film, with Thomas and Barkley playing Booth and his wife.[6] A later trade note described the play as staged at Universal Studios, running 60 minutes and reported as the longest television play yet produced at the station.[7] Sekely later compared the live production to "early Vitaphone."[5]

Although he directed his best-known English language film, the cult science fiction thriller The Day of the Triffids in the UK[8] and returned to Hungary to direct his final film, The Girl Who Liked Purple Flowers, which was released in 1973.[9]

Partial filmography

Notes

  1. ^ "Székely István". FilmKatalogus.hu. Retrieved Jun 18, 2019.
  2. ^ "Színészkönyvtár arcképcsarnok – Ágai Irén – American-Hungarian Lifestyle Magazine". Retrieved Jun 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "Hollywood". Movie and Radio Guide. Vol. 9, no. 24. Chicago: Cecelia Company. 23–29 March 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 2 May 2026. The first film director to invade the field of television, Steve Sekely, has been signed by the Don Lee experimental television station, W6XAO, to direct two one-hour plays, the most ambitious effort yet attempted by West Coast television. The first play, "The Ides of March," has a cast of fourteen actors, headed by Shirley Thomas and John Barkley.
  4. ^ "Rambling Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. 28 March 1940. p. 2. For the first time on the coast, a full length play, "The Ides of March" will be telecast tonight (8:00 o'clock) from Mutual Don Lee's W6XAO. It's directed by Steve Sekely, European pic megger, and will have six changes of scenery over a period of 70 minutes.
  5. ^ a b Scheuer, Philip K. (7 April 1940). "Town Called Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. p. C3. This column somehow found itself in on the 2572nd program broadcast of Station W6XAO which is television for KHJ—the occasion being the first full length play to be sent out over the air in the West... Then—"Theater Visionair Presents 'Ides of March,' by Wilfrid Pettitt." The stars... were Shirley Thomas and John Barkley... There were eight scenes in all... something about John Wilkes Booth... Steve Sekely, of Hungary and Hollywood, was directing. There were two "cameras," or transmitters—one for the medium shots and the other for the close-ups. The set, that "southern mansion," was a makeshift two-by-four—but it served. The players wore panchromatic make-up—No. 29.
  6. ^ Hopper, Hedda (14 April 1940). "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. p. C3. Directing the proceedings was tall, distinguished, Hungarian Steve Sekely, the first movie director to enter the television field... It was "The Ides of March," written by Wilfred Pettit... which was a psychological study of John Wilkes Booth during the period just previous to the fatal night he put a bullet in the back of Abraham Lincoln... Shirley Thomas and John Barkley played the leading roles of Booth and his wife... Focused on the set were three cameras operated by union cameramen. They were recording action without any film—it's all done by electrical impulses.
  7. ^ "Television". International Photographer. Vol. 12, no. 5. Hollywood: International Photographers of the Motion Picture Industries. May 1940. p. 153. Retrieved 2 May 2026. A few weeks ago we televised "The Ides of March," a Civil war play directed by Steve Sekely, from the Universal Studios. It lasted 60 minutes, the longest television play yet produced at W6XAO.
  8. ^ Vagg, Stephen (20 July 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation, 1962". Filmink. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  9. ^ "The Girl Who Liked Purple Flowers". Retrieved Jun 18, 2019 – via www.imdb.com.


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