The Blizzard

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production year

1961—1962

Premiere

9 November 1962

Runtime

81 min

Director

Čeněk Duba

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Vánice

Czech title

Vánice

English title

The Blizzard

Synopsis

Eva talks her boyfriend Tonda into a skiing trip in the Giant Mountains, but her constant attempts at ruling Tonda's future result in a quarrel between the two. Eva joins some other skiers and leaves Tonda, who cannot ski at all, on a mountain ridge. The whole town of Špindlerův Mlýn is preparing for a big carnival, including the members of the mountain rescue service. One of them, Jarda Materna, is just about to leave the team and move to Liberec. Materna loves the mountains but cannot overcome the phobia he has suffered from for two years, since the day he got buried in an avalanche. He is a postman by profession and today is the day of his last shift. The weather changes abruptly and, in the sudden tempest and blizzard, the mountain rescue service announces a public curfew. A group of students nevertheless decides to attend the carnival and loses its way in the mist. There are still other people missing, and a rescue team sets off into the blizzard. Eva is already safe but realizes her mistake and goes with Materna to find Tonda. They discover him, exhausted, wounded in his leg and almost buried under snow. Eventually, the devoted members of the team succeed to rescue all the missing. Materna, who managed to overcome his phobia in the dangerous action, decides to stay in the mountains.

Cast

Ivo Palec

řidič Tonda Košař

Zuzana Fišárková

ošetřovatelka Eva, Tondova dívka

Josef Mixa

listonoš Jarda Materna

Michaela Bendová

Maternova žena

Vladimír Menšík

lékárník Evžen, člen Horské služby

Slávka Budínová

lékárnice Lálinka, Evženova žena

Josef Hlinomaz

Tonda Hrachovec, chatař Na Pláni

Věra Kalendová

Hrachovcova žena

Rudolf Jelínek

číšník, člen Horské služby

Miloš Preininger

Outrata, chatař V Zátiší

Karel Hlušička

tajemník MNV, člen Horské služby

Gustav Nezval

Kódl, chatař na Výrovce

Jarmila Švabíková

Kódlova žena

Ferdinand Krůta

chatař na Klínovce

Božena Obrová

chatařova žena

Miloš Vavruška

Béda Šubrt, člen Horské služby

Miroslav Rous

radista Horské služby

Miroslav Bílek

poštmistr

Ladislav Vaněk

Dlouhý

Jana Vaňková

studentka Jana

Jitka Zelenohorská

studentka Nina

Milan Janda

student Slávek

Alena Procházková

studentka Olina

Jiří Mikeš

Voice by Petr Kostka
student Pešina

Petr Patera

student Honza

Petr Novák

student Hanousek

Martin Vačkář

student Jůla

Bohuslav Sýkora

Čermák, náčelník Horské služby

Jindřich Hartmann

Voice by Jiří Bruder
Melan, vousatý člen Horské služby

Světla Svozilová

úřednice na poště

Jana Werichová

úřednice na poště

Eva Mrázová

Lili Horáková

Karel Hábl

mladý inženýr Olda, Liliin milenec

Pavla Maršálková

průvodčí autobusu

Ivo Gübel

dýchavičný muž

Jaroslav Hovorka (2)

Krakonoš

Bohuš Hrádek

řidič autobusu

Emil Rohan

meteorolog

Jaroslav Lejčko

lanovkář

Dagmar Felixová

Pařízková

Miroslav Samek

Pařízek

Crew and creators

Director

Čeněk Duba

Second Unit Director

Petr Freistadt, Věra Plívová-Šimková

Assistant Director

Viktor Karásek, Jana Riegelová

Shooting Script

Čeněk Duba, Jiří Mucha

Director of Photography

Jaromír Holpuch

Second Unit Photography

Kamil Kadeřábek

Camera Operator

Václav Till

Production Designer

Karel Černý

Assistent Production Designer

Jiří Kotlář

Set Designer

Jan Petrů, Jan Štrébl

Costume Designer

Libuše Hozová

Film Editor

Jan Chaloupek

Assistant Film Editor

Jana Kulhánková

Sound Designer

Adolf Böhm, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Miloslav Procházka

Unit Production Manager

Zdeňka Černá, Vlastimil Maršálek

Unit Production Manager

Ladislav Dražan

Consultant

Otakar Štětka

Cooperation

Vilma Hovorková (klapka), Karel Šebík (fotograf), Horská služba Krkonoše

Music

Music Composed by

Miloš Vacek

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Orchestr Karla Vlacha (Music Conducted by Karel Vlach)

Songs

Potkal potkan potkana /parafráze Dvacet stupňů pod nulou/

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Waldemar Matuškasbor

Kdo jsi se narodil

Singer Vladimír Menšík

Production info

Original Title

Vánice

Czech Title

Vánice

English Title

The Blizzard

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production Year

1961—1962

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 17 May 1961
technical Screenplay approved 26 October 1961
start of filming 27 November 1961
end of filming 13 May 1962
projection approval 11 September 1962

Premiere

preview 26 October 1962 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 2 November 1962 /suitable for youths/ (kina Paříž /3 týdny/, Arbes /1 týden/, Flora /1 týden/, Morava /1 týden/, Oko /1 týden/, Radost /1 týden/, Dukla /1 týden od 9. 11./, Mír /1 týden od 16. 11./ a Bystrica /1 týden od 30. 11./, Praha)
premiere 9 November 1962 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šebor – Bor, Vladimír Bor (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

81 min

Original length in metres

2 300 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech