Before the Curtain Goes Up

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1957

Production year

1957

Premiere

25 April 1958

Runtime

31 min

Category

film

Genre

étude

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionstudent filmmedium

Original title

Než se rozhrne opona

Czech title

Než se rozhrne opona

English title

Before the Curtain Goes Up

Synopsis

Country girl Hanka waits every day for the return of her friend David who went off to take his entrance exams at stage school. David is unsuccessful, however. He throws his theatre plays in the river and stops attending the amateur dramatics circle. Hanka regrets his decision. They are rehearsing Gabriela Preissová's play The Farmer's Woman and she is playing the main role of Eva. Mánek is played by Míra who is not half as talented as David. The members of the amateur group avidly learn their lines and meet up in the evenings to rehearse. Only Aninka, the mother of several children, has problems because her husband Václav is an alcoholic and cannot stand her fondness of the theatre. In the end, David finds his way back to the amateur players and Míra is relieved that he can hand over his demanding role to him. Hanka is happy, the theatre is successful and David declares his love for her.

Cast

Michaela Bendová

Hanka Rožnovská

členové ochotnického kroužku Chuchelna

Crew and creators

Screenstory

Věra Plívová

Screenplay

Věra Plívová

Director of Photography

Jan Špáta

Film Editor

František Mudra

Production Manager

Anton Ivančo, Miroslava Jasná

Pedagogical management

Bořivoj Zeman (režie), Vladimír Novotný (kamera), Jan Kučera (střihová skladba)

Music

Music Composed by

Jan Malý

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Pod tím naším okénečkem

Singer sbor

Těžko je mi, těžko

Singer Michaela Bendová

Production info

Original Title

Než se rozhrne opona

Czech Title

Než se rozhrne opona

English Title

Before the Curtain Goes Up

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionstudent film

Genre

étude

Student film

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1957

Production Year

1957

Production specifications

projection approval 1957

Premiere

premiere 25 April 1958 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Moskva /2 týdny/, Praha)

Distribution slogan

no caption

Production

Studio FAMU

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

31 min

Original length in metres

887 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