The Last Ball at the Pool

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1974

Production year

1974

Premiere

14 February 1975

Runtime

82 min

Director

Ivo Novák

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně

Czech title

Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně

English title

The Last Ball at the Pool

Summary

Karel Štorkán adapted his novel into a screenplay for this war drama, directed in 1974 by Ivo Novák. The story follows the fate of students in the WWII year of 1944 who decide to ignore a ban on organising the annual ball of the teaching institute they attend in a small town. The arranged event at the local swimming pool ends up putting the life of the young protagonists in danger. Local resistance fighters are battling a merciless SS troop unit. Student Lenka does not manage to attend the ball when she is compelled to hide a wounded partisan at her home… The motion picture’s dramatic narration bowed to the contemporary stringencies imposed by Prague’s Barrandov film studios during the “normalisation” period. The film amounts to a simple assignment, but it is greatly boosted by the cast. The dominant roles are taken by Andrea Čunderlíková (brave student Lenka) and Josef Somr (the heroine’s unsuspecting father).

Synopsis

It is the year 1944. Despite the ban imposed by the German occupiers, students at a teacher training institute in a small town decide to hold a secret ball in the clubhouse of the swimming pool. Lenka is one of the students preparing for the ball, even though before his departure on a business trip her father has strictly forbidden her to get involved in any such thing. The initiator of the ball is Lenka's friend, the doctor's son Slávek Olejník. While the students are making preparations for the ball, members of a resistance group meet in the boiler room of the Sokol PE organization. They decide to send Vašek Potužník to warn a gamekeeper that he is in danger of betrayal, but before Vašek manages to get away, the town is surrounded by SS units that have been catching partisans in the surrounding woods. Only three manage to escape, and the others are shot against the wall of the Sokol building. Lenka is hesitating about whether to go to the ball. Her uncertainty ends when a wounded partisan appears in her family's yard. For his sake she goes to the ball in order to get medicines from Slávek. Slávek, however, will not help her, and nor will any of the others to whom Lenka appeals for aid. In the end her schoolmate Božka promises that she will take the partisan to a safe place for the night, but then Lenka's father arrives back unexpectedly early with the German factory director. On her return from the school Lenka finds him just in front of their house inviting the director in. The girl tries to prevent the visit. Hearing German, the hidden partisan tries to escape. In the exchange of fire that follows Lenka's father is killed, and the German director then shoots the partisan. Božka leads Lenka away to a hay barn on a hill, where the partisans are already waiting. Lenka offers to help them.

Cast

Andrea Čunderlíková

Voice by Jana Šulcová
studentka učitelského ústavu Lenka Doubravová

Josef Somr

technik Karel Doubrava, Lenčin otec

Bronislav Križan

partyzán Sergej

Kateřina Macháčková

studentka Božka

Jaromír Hanzlík

Vašek Potužník, Lenčin kamarád

Marie Drahokoupilová

profesorka Karmazínová

Vladimír Menšík

profesor tělocviku Čepelák

Petr Svojtka

student Slávek Olejník

Ilja Prachař

MUDr. Jaromír Olejník, Slávkův otec

Radovan Lukavský

německý ředitel továrny Ing. Bauman

Jaroslav Moučka

hajný Antonín Picka

David Filcík

člen odbojové skupiny Láďa Motl

Václav Kotva

profesor Josef Moutelík

Vladimír Stach

ředitel učitelského ústavu

Josef Langmiler

odbojář Sochor

Stanislav Litera

správce sokolovny

Vladimír Krška

profesor Zítek

Jindřich Narenta

profesor němčiny

Josef Váša

partyzán

Ivan Richter

partyzán

František Němec

major SS Knotke

Věra Budilová

Potužníková, Vaškova matka

Jiřina Třebická

milostpaní Uždilová

Vladislav Beneš

student Adámek

Jana Boušková

studentka s kudrnatými vlasy

Otakar Brousek ml.

student Vejvoda

Lucie Domesová

studentka s tmavými vlasy

Roman Skamene

student Plíva

Václav Vydra

student Hadraba

Lydie Havláková

studentka Jaryna

Jan Kraus

student Bednář

Dagmar Patrasová

studentka Eva

František Skřípek

student Zvěřina

Jana Válková

studentka s plavým copem

Jana Kulendová

studentka Jana

Lenka Kořínková

studentka se světlými vlasy

Petr Hanus

student Homolka

Josef Brozman

Pícha

Václav Bahník

Rosťa

Emilie Ryvolová

Rýdlová

Jan Pohan

velitel hlídky SS

Jan Kuželka

prodavač v domácích potřebách

Ludvík Pozník

scharführer SS

Václav Hladík

popravený partyzán

Zdeněk Mlčoch

popravený partyzán

Vítězslav Jirsák

unterscharführer SS

Hana Houbová

sousedka Richterová

Tomáš Haškovec

Novák

Karel Hábl

důstojník SS

Vladimír Štros

profesor Řeřicha

Libuše Procházková

studentka

Hana Vernerová

studentka

Taťána Radechovská

studentka

Zdeňka Rosolová

sousedka

Miloš Šuster

soused

Miroslav Kubišta

muž v okně

Dubbing

Oldřich Velen

hlas z obecního rozhlasu

Crew and creators

Director

Ivo Novák

Second Unit Director

Miroslav Kubišta

Assistant Director

Jiří Prokeš

Screenstory

Karel Štorkán

Based on

Karel Štorkán (Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně – novela)

Shooting Script

Ivo Novák

Director of Photography

Jan Čuřík

Camera Operator

Oldřich Hubáček

Production Designer

Karel Vacek

Assistent Production Designer

Jan Sedláček

Set Designer

Zdeněk Jeřábek, Rudolf Kinský, Pavel Šťastný

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková

Production Manager

Eliška Nejedlá

Unit Production Manager

Jana Koubová, Ladislav Beneš

Unit Production Manager

Hanuš Bečvár

Cooperation

Marcela Žížalová (klapka), Vladimír Souček (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Zdeněk Liška

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Svítá

Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek
Writer of Lyrics Jan WerichJiří Voskovec
Singer sbor

Modravé dálky

Song Composer Jiří Srnka

Don Juan waltz

Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek

Production info

Original Title

Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně

Czech Title

Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně

English Title

The Last Ball at the Pool

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1974

Production Year

1974

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 2 January 1974
start of filming 9 January 1974
technical Screenplay approved 22 February 1974
end of filming 9 August 1974
projection approval 21 August 1974
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1989

Premiere

gala premiere 23 January 1975 (kino Světozor, Praha)
festival premiere 24 January 1975 (26. filmový festival pracujících – zima ´75)
premiere 13 February 1975 /suitable for youths/ (kino Jalta, Praha)
premiere 14 February 1975 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Vladimíra Kaliny, Vladimír Kalina (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

82 min

Original length in metres

2 339 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 13. filmový festival mladých Trutnov

1975
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia
Andrea Čunderlíková

Vítěz

Event: Literární soutěž k 25. výročí Února

1974
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Ivo Novák

Vítěz

Event: Literární soutěž k 25. výročí Února

1974
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Karel Štorkán