The Return Home
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1948Production year
1948Premiere
28 January 1949Runtime
88 minDirector
Martin FričCategory
filmGenre
dramaTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Návrat domůCzech title
Návrat domůEnglish title
The Return HomeWorking title
Zabloudil v Praze / Sám / Návrat / Zabloudil v Praze a sámSummary
Seasoned director Martin Frič in 1948 carved another notch in his filmography by making a motion picture that answered the period’s demand for “political engagement”. The lead character in the narrative set just after the end of World War Two is First Lieutenant Kliment Mareš (Karel Höger). Upon his return to Prague he is painfully confronted by the open sores left in his life by the years of the Nazi occupation of his homeland. Kliment’s fiancée is now married, his friends have disappeared and both his mother and sister have been killed by the Nazis. Luckily, there is still Sergeant Stáňa (Běla Jurdová) who never wavers in her devout love for her brother in arms. The film’s finale sees the couple heading towards a new life in the Sudetenland, now a borderland region desperate for people to replace the displaced German population... Návrat domů (The Return Home) premiered in January 1949, and in April of the same year Frič released his parody Pytlákova schovanka aneb Šlechetný milionář (The Poacher's Foster Daughter), seen as so much closer to his natural style.
Synopsis
Lieutenant Mareš and his unit are returning to Prague just after the end of the War, in May 1945. He is looking forward to seeing his family, his fiancée and friends. His colleague Sergeant Stáňa loves him and is afraid that she will lose him in this new environment. Mareš visits old Mrs Stachová but does not have the courage to tell her that her son died in battle. He later finds out that his fiancée is now married to someone else, that his mother and sister were arrested and shot dead and his former friends are now dead or went missing during the War. He finds only the old professor who had not left his cellar flat for five years in order not to have to confront the Germans. Stáňa is disappointed that Mareš has forgotten their friendship and that he left her on her own on his first day back in Prague. In the evening they meet in the hotel where they are staying. They are told that they must leave for the border. They become aware of their mutual relationship and understand the value of their friendship. Reconciled, they leave for their new destination.
Note
On January 7, 1949, the film was shown in thirty provincial cinemas before its Prague première.
Photos
Cast
Karel Höger
nadporučík Kliment Mareš
Běla Jurdová
četařka Stáňa
Josef Pehr
desátník Janík
František Smolík
profesor Blažej
Terezie Brzková
Stachová
Pavla Suchá
Tonča, vnučka Stachové
Zdenka Procházková
Marta, bývalá Marešova snoubenka
Zdeněk Štěpánek
major
Milada Smolíková
pokojská v hotelu
Libuše Zemková
Jarmila
Ladislav Kulhánek
Karel Fiala
Ella Nollová
Fialová
Ota Motyčka
Souček, Martin otec
Marie Blažková
Součková, Martina matka
Alois Dvorský
Martin strýc Alois
Miloš Kopecký
mladík u Součků v bytě
Bohuš Hradil
Sedláček, majitel koloniálu
Jaroslav Mareš
Sedláčkův syn Zdeněk
Blažena Slavíčková
Sedláčkova dcera Jitka
Vladimír Řepa
řidič džípu
Bedřich Bozděch
recepční
Jindra Hermanová
prodavačka klobouků
Josef Kemr
muž radící sovětskému vojákovi
Michaela Lišková
Martina dcerka
Hermína Vojtová
Martina teta Boža
Emil Bolek
voják ve skladu oděvů
Zdeněk Řehoř
mladý gardista v Mánesu
Milka Balek-Brodská
domovnice se žehličkou
Marta Májová
domovnice vytírající schody
Karel Houska
poručík
Zdeněk Flendr
malý chlapec
Otylie Beníšková
Marešova matka
Ervín Zolar
sovětský voják
Jan W. Speerger
posel z velitelství
Ilja Racek
mladík v Mánesu
Leo Spáčil
muž se sirkou v ústech
Josef Hořánek
Kovář, vrchní v Mánesu
Josef Steigl
Kadeřábek, majitel klobouku
Ferdinand Jarkovský
soused s mlékem
Jindřich Doležal
Franta Skoupa, host v Mánesu
Josef Oliak
chodec na ulici
Crew and creators
Director
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
V. Vacín
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
František Urbánek, Václav Hladký
Cooperation
Mirek Pitner (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Songs
Poljuško, pole
Song Composer Lev Knipper
Partyzán
Singer sbor
Škoda lásky
Song Composer Jaromír Vejvoda
Lví silou, vzletem sokolím
Song Composer František Josef Pelz
Production info
Original Title
Návrat domů
Czech Title
Návrat domů
English Title
The Return Home
Working Title
Zabloudil v Praze / Sám / Návrat / Zabloudil v Praze a sám
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
drama
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1948
Production Year
1948
Production specifications
start of filming 1 February 1948
projection approval 24 November 1948 (konec povolení k promítání 24. 11. 1953)
Premiere
preview 7 January 1949 (mimopražská kina)
premiere 28 January 1949 /suitable for youths/ (kino Alfa /3 týdny/ a Dukla /1 týden od 11. 2./, Praha)
renewed premiere 3 May 1968 /suitable for youths/
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Distribution
Rozdělovna filmů Československého státního filmu (původní 1949), Ústřední půjčovna filmů (obnovená 1968)
Creative Group
III. výrobní skupina Frič – Reimann, Martin Frič (umělecký šéf III. výrobní skupiny), Zdeněk Reimann (produkční šéf III. výrobní skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
88 min
Original length in metres
2 508 meters
Distribution carrier
16mm, 35mm
Aspect ratio
1:1,37
Colour
black & white
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
mono
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
Awards
Vítěz
Event: Soutěž Ústřední filmové dramaturgie na filmový námět
1946
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Leopold Lahola
