Boys Will Be Boys

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1975

Production year

1975

Premiere

19 March 1976

Runtime

90 min

Category

film

Genre

children, comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Páni kluci

Czech title

Páni kluci

English title

Boys Will Be Boys

Summary

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1876) has been adapted for the big screen on a wealth of occasions. Among the motion pictures which the famous novel has inspired is this successful 1975 retro-comedy by director Věra Plívová-Šimková. The screenplay is credited to the actor and ambitious director Vít Olmer, but in fact he was simply covering for Jan Procházka who by then was subject to a banning order. The experienced screenwriter sets the story in the idyllic town of Levín in 1900. It serves as the backdrop for the adventures of three friends – Tomáš, Jožka and Hubert. Orphaned Tomáš is being raised by his vigorous Aunt Apolena who runs the entire household and, through her husband Václav, even the local railway station. To win the love of his classmate Blanka, the enterprising Tomáš aims to scoop the prize for best pupil in an exercise involving the illustrated Ancient Bohemian Legends. When the boy is caught cheating, he runs away from home with his friends. The boys make camp in the ruins of an ancient castle where they get mixed up with some robbers who have just blown up a savings bank with dynamite and made off with the money. After the little fugitives help to nab the robbers, they are allowed to return home. They are redeemed following their mischiefs… This timeless comedy for children successfully transposed contemporary themes of American life to a Czech setting. In the 1970s, director Plívová-Šimková was in fact behind a whole run of unforgettable features for children: Lišáci – Myšáci a Šibeničák (Foxes, Mice and Gallows Hill, 1970), Přijela k nám pouť (The Funfair Has Arrived, 1973), Jak se točí Rozmarýny (Ring a Ring o’Roses, 1977). However, Páni kluci (Boys Will Be Boys) goes down as one of her best ever features. Thanks to the costume comedy genre, the casting was somewhat different from the director’s films set in the present. Child actors with minimal, or even no, acting experience were accompanied by popular adult actors. Aunt Apolena is portrayed by Iva Janžurová, while Karel Augusta plays the part of Uncle Václav. Vít Olmer is cast in the minor role of a constable.

Synopsis

Three friends – Tomáš, Hubert and Jožka – are boys growing up in a little town. Tomáš lives with his aunt Apolena and uncle Václav, who holds every job title at the little railway station, although in fact both the station and the household are run by energetic aunt Apolena. Tomáš is a boy with lots of ideas that often end up getting him into trouble not only with his teachers and aunt, but with the other inhabitants of the town as well. He has a crush on his schoolmate Blanka and for her sake he decides to try and get the prize for the best pupil in the school - an illustrated copy of Old Bohemian Legends. Unfortunately, his many and various misdemeanours mean that he doesn't have the slightest chance of getting the little pieces of paper that are to be counted up to decide who wins, so all three friends climb up into the principal's office and steal the necessary number of papers. At the ceremony, however, the fraud comes out and the boys run away from home to escape a beating. They throw some of their clothes onto a half-sunk boat and then camp in the ruins of a castle. In the night Tomáš hears the sound of a detonation coming from the town. He has no inkling that the chemist Ležatka, the grinder Petr and Pajdák are robbing the Citizen's Savings Bank with the help of dynamite and that by the time he wakes in the morning they will have hidden their booty in the castle. The boys find the money and go back with it to the town just in time to witness their own funerals, for after the discovery of the boat everyone thinks that the boys have drowned. They are greeted with joy, and the police arrest Pajdák, who has in the meantime murdered Petr. Nor does Ležatka escape justice.

Note

In the introductory titles of the film, Vít Olmer let his name be used instead of the screenplay writer Jan Procházka, who could not be credited as the author at the time for political reasons.

Cast

Jitka Chalupníková

Andula Vojtová

David Vlček

Štěpán, Tomášův bratranec

Bohumil Luxík

Štrůdl

Iva Janžurová

teta Apolena, Štěpánova matka

Karel Augusta

přednosta stanice Václav, Apolenin muž

Josef Somr

učitel Lopata

Petr Nárožný

řídící Pajprle

Zdena Hadrbolcová

Vágnerová, Jožkova matka

Jiří Lábus

brusič nožů zvaný Blikavej Petr

Karel Dellapina

materialista Antonín Ležatka

Viktor Maurer

muž s licousy

Vít Olmer

strážmistr, Blančin otec

Karla Chadimová

strážmistrova žena

Petr Skarke

policejní znalec

Josef Laufer

Voice by Jiří Wohanka
strojvedoucí Pakrčka

Jan Vostrčil

Voice by Mirko Musil
zemský školní inspektor Šibral

D. Kodytková

inspektorova žena

Jana Rabová

Voice by Eva Svobodová
hospodyně u pana profesora

I. Špatenka

starosta

H. Zvěřinová

starostová

M. Jaroměřský

řidič Laurinky

Commentary

Dubbing

Mirko Musil

hlas pana profesora/hlas muže na kolejích

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Drahomíra Králová

Assistant Director

Zdeněk Zelenka

Based on

Mark Twain (Dobrodružství Toma Sawyera – román)

Screenplay

Jan Procházka (pod jménem Víta Olmera)

Director of Photography

Emil Sirotek

Second Unit Photography

Kamil Kadeřábek

Camera Operator

Milan Kopecký

Production Designer

Boris Moravec

Assistent Production Designer

Vladimír Labský

Set Designer

Ivo Černý, Miroslav Matuška, Miloš Osvald, Jiří Rulík

Costume Designer

Theodor Pištěk ml.

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Eva Bobková, Magda Hájková

Sound Designer

Dobroslav Šrámek

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Zlatava Rumlová, Ivo Pitrák

Unit Production Manager

Juraj Zach

Cooperation

Lidmila Eybergerová (klapka), Alena Červená (fotografka)

Music

Music Composed by

Petr Hapka

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Choreographer

Alena Skálová

Songs

Nestůj a pojď

Song Composer Petr Hapka
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Rytíř
Singer Michal DymekPetr VoříšekPetr StarýVáclav Neckář

Ať naše vlajka vlaje dál

Song Composer Petr Hapka
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Rytíř
Singer Michal DymekPetr VoříšekPetr Starý

Production info

Original Title

Páni kluci

Czech Title

Páni kluci

English Title

Boys Will Be Boys

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children, comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1975

Production Year

1975

Production specifications

withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1995

Premiere

premiere 19 March 1976 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
gala premiere 19 March 1976 (kino Jitřenka, Semily)
premiere 1 April 1976 /suitable for youths/ (kino Paříž, Praha)

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina pro děti a mládež, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

90 min

Original length in metres

2 560 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 36. dětský filmový a televizní festival Oty Hofmanna Ostrov

2004
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czech Republic

Vítěz

Festival: 15. mezinárodní festival filmů pro děti a mládež Gijón

1977
Gijón / Spain

Vítěz

Festival: 16. festival filmů pro děti Gottwaldov

1976
Zlín / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Event: Mezinárodní setkání evropského filmu Neapol

1976
Neapol / Italy

Vítěz

Exhibition: 8. přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří

1976
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia