Prague at Zero Hour

Country

Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic

Copyright

1962

Production year

1962

Premiere

7 June 1963

Runtime

76 min

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Praha nultá hodina

Czech title

Praha nultá hodina

English title

Prague at Zero Hour

Parallel title

Koffer mit Dynamit

Working title

Mříž / Kufr s dynamitem

Synopsis

In the 1930s, when Hitler assumes power in Germany, many Germans who Anti-Nazis finds political asylum in the democratic Czechoslovakia. After the Munich agreement of September 1938, however, Czechoslovakia is forced to surrender its border regions to Germany. On the 14th of March 1939 the Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha goes to Berlin and it is clear that Czechoslovakia is going to be occupied. At the Foreign Ministry, the officials are burning important documents to avoid turning them over to the Germans. The passports of the German emigrants are among these documents, but the boiler attendant Brázda hides them away. The Nazis prepare lists of people in Prague to be sent to prison. Their commander Franz Kluge has been promised a higher rank in the SS if the operation succeeds. The emigrants are gathering in the Libeň studio of the sculptor Landa. They are aware that they will all have to go into hiding. In the meantime, Brázda gives the suitcase with their passports to the old professor Adler. The professor, already frail and at the end of his physical and mental tether, hides the suitcase with his student, Honza Král. Honza lives with a German student, Toni. That dramatic night when German Nazi party militiamen shamelessly wreak havoc in Prague, it is Honza who, although wounded by the Nazis, takes the passports to safety with the help of the Czech and German anti-fascist resistance. It is the morning of the 15th of March 1939, and the German army is marching into Prague.

Cast

Ivo Palec

student Honza Král

Jutta Hoffmann

německá studentka Toni Halbeová

Lubor Tokoš

MUDr. Jiří Zeman

Vlastimil Hašek

komunista Josef Hrbek zvaný Lojza

Stefan Lisewski

německý komunista Otto Thüringer

Ernst Kahler

německý komunista Hermann Schneide

Vladimír Hlavatý

topič Brázda

Horst Preusker

gruppenführer Balthazar

Josef Bek

hochštapler Kilián

Hans Finohr

německý profesor Siegfried Adler

Vladimír Brabec

MUDr. Fahoun

Hans-Dieter Schlegel

nacista Franz Kluge, původně zubař

Raoul Schránil

policejní komisař

Magda Maděrová

zdravotní sestra

Josef Bartůněk

strážník

Soběslav Sejk

strážník

Jiří Schulz

muž v davu

Ladislav Gzela

muž v davu

Karel Peyr

dr. Hák

Arnošt Faltýnek

muž s deštníkem

Vítězslav Černý

vrátný v nočním podniku

Paul Berndt

Jonas

Klaus D. Schwarz

Friedrich

Ferdinand Krůta

zřízenec na ministerstvu

Fred Delmare

sochař Landa

Werner Pfeifer

Sitte

Gisela Graupner

Sitteová

Jaroslav Melichar

ordner

Hannelore Telloke

zdravotní sestra

Albert Zahn

Furth

Helmut Schreiber

generálporučík SS Seidel

Richard Hilgert

Linert

Walter E. Fuss

emigrant

Carmen Melicharová

emigrantka

Albert Hahn

děda s kýlou

Friedrich Teitge

Králův soused

Ernst Kusch

opilec

Josef Beyvl

párkař

Walter Wigmann

nacista

Michael Hanisch

nacista

Günter Weyer

nacista

Manfred Pelz

nacista

Karl-Richard Schmidt

nacista

Bodo Weber

nacista

Günter Goetsch

nacista

Ursula Goin

sekretářka

Flori Graf

sekretářka

Heidelore Radtke

sekretářka

Jiří Benš

manekýn

Jiří Havel

německý student

Karel Hábl

německý student

Milan Kindl

strážník

Tino Muff

strážník

Jindřich Poledňa

kamelot

Josef Svátek

seriozní muž

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Jaroslav Pour

Assistant Director

Eva Kolářová

Based on

Jan Koplowitz (Herzstation – povídka)

Screenplay

Miloš Makovec

Shooting Script

Miloš Makovec

Director of Photography

Rudolf Stahl ml.

Second Unit Photography

Eduard Kadeřábek

Camera Operator

Bohumil Vodička

Assistent Production Designer

Marta Kaplerová

Set Designer

Jaroslav Lehman, Václav Šebek, František Zajíček

Film Editor

Zdeněk Stehlík

Assistant Film Editor

Marie Tillerová

Sound Designer

Christfried Sobczyk

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Jiří Bečka, Hans-Joachim Funk

Unit Production Manager

Irena Ikker, Josef Vorel, Josef Hudlička

Consultant

Konrad Schwalbe

Cooperation

Jana Střechová

Music

Music Composed by

Milivoj Uzelac

Music Performed by

Smíšený kvartet (Music Conducted by Milivoj Uzelac)

Songs

Začíná bitva o Itálii

Singer Vladimír Hlavatý

Production info

Original Title

Praha nultá hodina

Czech Title

Praha nultá hodina

English Title

Prague at Zero Hour

Parallel Title

Koffer mit Dynamit

Working Title

Mříž / Kufr s dynamitem

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic

Copyright

1962

Production Year

1962

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 7 May 1962
technical Screenplay approved 3 July 1962
start of filming 24 July 1962
end of filming 25 November 1962
projection approval 28 December 1962

Premiere

premiere 7 June 1963 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 5 July 1963 /suitable for youths/ (kino Paříž /1 týden/, Praha)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Feix – Brož, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Karel Feix (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

76 min

Original length in metres

2 156 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German

Subtitles languages

Czech

Opening/End credits languages

Czech