The Magic Ball

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1948

Production year

1947—1948

Premiere

09/1949

Runtime

36 min

Director

Karel Baroch

Category

film

Genre

children

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Kouzelný míč

Czech title

Kouzelný míč

English title

The Magic Ball

Synopsis

The boys from the Prague district of Vysočany are practising their football since their team S. K. Útok are preparing for a tournament. Their ball is destroyed by an angry gardener after it breaks the glass on his greenhouse. A collection among the boys produces about 43 crowns which they take to a second-hand dealer in the Old Town. The eccentric Chekuchabi sells them an older ball, to be paid for in instalments. He claims that this ball is magic. He tells the young footballers that they must not eat any ice-cream, otherwise the ball will lose its powers, and the money they save has to be handed over to him all the time. The boys train hard and win all their matches. The decisive match, however, goes badly for them. During the interval Mirek confesses that he probably broke the oath because during the night he dreamed that he had stuffed himself with ice-cream. The boys laugh and tell him that the oath doesn't count in dreams. Their team wins the tournament. The gardener, an enthusiastic football fan, gives them money for a new ball. The boys want to pay back their debt with the second-hand dealer but instead they witness his arrest. Chekuchabi was a receiver in stolen goods. The boys still decide to visit him in prison. The kind guard explains to them that they won their tournament because they trained hard. The boys then eagerly run off to the cake shop where they finally indulge in their long-denied ice-cream.

Note

The film was mistakenly presented by its makers as the first Czechoslovak film for young people. The introductory titles were narrated by sports journalists Josef Laufer, Štefan Mašlonka and Otakar Procházka.

Cast

Stanislav Neumann

vetešník Ananas Chekuchabi

Emil Bolek

zahradník Košťál

Vlastimil Brodský

zmrzlinář Vendelín Vanilka

Bohumil Machník

dozorce ve vězení

Josef Laufer

sportovní reportér

Štefan Mašlonka

sportovní reportér

Otakar Procházka

sportovní reportér

Vratislav Kubálek

Tonda

Radim Nikodém

kluk

Bohumil Vild

kluk

žáci Bohemians

malí fotbalisté

žáci AC Sparty

malí fotbalisté

členové Dismanova rozhlasového sboru

děti

Crew and creators

Director

Karel Baroch

Assistant Director

Oldřich Kříž

Continuity

Eva Jerieová

Based on

Norbert Frýd (O míči, který šel do nepřátelské branky – pohádka)

Screenplay

Karel Baroch

Director of Photography

Petr Rovný

Camera Operator

Vratislav Matina

Production Designer

Miroslav Pelc

Set Designer

Oldřich Novotný

Make-Up Artist

Karel Suchánek

Production Manager

Miloš Schmiedberger

Unit Production Manager

Ctibor Novotný, Jiří Mikeťuk

Music

Music Composed by

Miloš Smatek

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Milivoj Uzelac)

Production info

Original Title

Kouzelný míč

Czech Title

Kouzelný míč

English Title

The Magic Ball

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1948

Production Year

1947—1948

Production specifications

projection approval 9 March 1949 (konec povolení k promítání 9. 3. 1954)

Premiere

premiere 09/1949 /suitable for youths/

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Studio

Barrandov

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

36 min

Original length in metres

1 037 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