I’ll Wait Until You Kill

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1973

Production year

1972

Premiere

11 May 1973

Runtime

84 min

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Počkám, až zabiješ

Czech title

Počkám, až zabiješ

English title

I’ll Wait Until You Kill

Working title

Útěk před psem

Summary

Having spent many years working as an assistant director, at the advanced age of 48 Stanislav Černý was ready to make his directorial debut with the dramatic feature film Klíč (The Key, 1971). It didn’t happen and he was instead entrusted with the film Černý vlk (The Black Wolf, 1972), a story about an arduous mission carried out by socialist border guards and their faithful four-legged sidekicks. Počkám, až zabiješ (I’ll Wait Until You Kill, 1973), also based on an adventure story by Karel Fabián, was to be Černý’s second and last film as director. The story is set during World War II at the Nordfelsen training facility, where dogs designated for guard duty are being trained using concentration camp inmates. International Brigade member Mareš (Adolf Filip) refuses this atrocious assignment, and while on the run, he is driven by fate to accompany a Norwegian boy. But the destiny of the escapees fortunately also depends on the faithful she-dog Rita.

Synopsis

The Second World War. Dogs are being trained for guard duty in the Nordfelsen training centre. Concentration camp prisoners are used as targets for attack, and are forced to provoke the dogs and get them to feel hatred for the striped prison uniform. One of the prisoners is Mareš, a former member of the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. He has been allocated the Alsatian bitch Rita, and is secretly training her in a different way. He just pretends to beat her and at night, he goes and feeds her leftover scraps of food. Mareš is planning an escape with his fellow prisoner Benda. The camp commander Dörner organizes a demonstration of the effects of the training for the SS major who has come for the dogs. He promises freedom to three new prisoners - a woman, an older man and a small Norwegian boy - if they manage to escape from the pack of dogs. The woman and man perish, but Rita lets the boy escape. Because Benda has backed out, Mareš escapes by himself. In the wood, he meets the little Norwegian and they carry on together but unfortunately, Rita faithfully follows Mareš at a short distance and alerts the pursuers to their trail. Benda under torture reveals to Dörner where Mareš is heading - his own old wood cabin. Dörner catches up with Mareš, but the prisoner overcomes him in the ensuing struggle, ties him up and even takes his uniform to continue his escape. The young Norwegian manages to join up with a travelling circus as a musical clown. Dörner is waiting for Mareš at his destination, the cabin, but Rita tears out the Nazi's throat, dying herself in the act. The prisoner continues his flight in a freight train.

Cast

Adolf Filip

Voice by Jiří Holý
vězeň Jan Mareš

Karel Hlušička

velitel tábora hauptsturmführer Dörner

Vladimír Dlouhý

norský chlapec Jule Norge

Miloš Vavruška

gestapák Bönke

Ilja Prachař

gestapák Pfeil

František Suchomel

Benda, Marešův spoluvězeň

Eva Jiroušková

vesničanka Hilde

Gustav Heverle

vesničan Sepp

František Hanus

ředitel cirkusu

Zdeněk Procházka (2)

rotný SS

Luďa Marešová

dozorkyně Elsa

Jan Kanyza

polní četník

Bohuslav Ličman

polní četník

Stanislav Jareš

správce pily

Ludvík Pozník

poručík wehrmachtu

Karel Chromík

strážný Pissig

Vít Pešina

svobodník SS

Pavel Jiras

gestapák

Jitka Horáčková

vězeňkyně

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Josef Sandr

Assistant Director

Miroslav Balajka

Based on

Eduard Kirchberger (Psí komando – povídka)

Screenplay

Ivo Toman

Shooting Script

Stanislav Černý

Director of Photography

Jiří Tarantík

Second Unit Photography

Jan Kváča

Camera Operator

František Kučera

Production Designer

Bohumil Pokorný

Assistent Production Designer

Vladimír Labský

Set Designer

Ivo Černý, Miloš Osvald, Jiří Rulík

Costume Designer

Lída Novotná

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Vilemína Binterová

Sound Designer

Dobroslav Šrámek

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Ivo Pitrák, Hana Beattie

Unit Production Manager

Václav Eisenhamer

Consultant

kpt. Jaroslav Kuchař

Cooperation

Zlatava Rumlová (klapka), Miloš Schmiedberger (fotograf), jednotka Pohraniční s. Libějovice

Music

Music Composed by

Miloš Vacek

Selected Music

František Drdla (Capriccio pro housle a klavír)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Choreographer

Jiřina Kottová

Production info

Original Title

Počkám, až zabiješ

Czech Title

Počkám, až zabiješ

English Title

I’ll Wait Until You Kill

Working Title

Útěk před psem

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1973

Production Year

1972

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 19 April 1971
start of filming 28 March 1972
technical Screenplay approved 16 June 1972
end of filming 14 December 1972
projection approval 5 January 1973

Premiere

premiere 3 May 1973 /suitable for youths/ (kino Sevastopol, Praha)
premiere 11 May 1973 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Karla Copa, Karel Cop (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

84 min

Original length in metres

2 390 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech