Zoltán Fábri was, before Janscó, the best known Hungarian director in the West following Merry-Go-Round-the breakthrough film at Cannes for him and Hungarian cinema-and Professor Hannibal, which won the grand prize at the Karlovy Vary Festival. A theater director, he was inspired to filmmaking by Citizen Kane, and his experiments with a new "critical realism" challenged orthodoxy and looked forward to the New Wave. His flair for atmosphere is apparent in Merry-Go-Round, a reworking of the Romeo and Juliet story in a populist milieu and without the tragic dimension. Here the Capulets adhere to private property and the Montagues to collectivism, with the kids caught in between asserting their love. The film is famous for its lyrical fairground sequence, and for introducing Mari Töröcsik, age 18, who became a major star.