Tonka of the Gallows [German version]

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1930

Production year

1929—1930

Runtime

82 min

Director

Karel Anton

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Film state

lost film

Original title

Tonka Šibenice [německá verze]

Czech title

Tonka Šibenice [německá verze]

English title

Tonka of the Gallows [German version]

Parallel title

Die Galgentoni

Synopsis

Country girl Tonka, after arriving in Prague, becomes a prostitute in a brothel. But she misses home. When she gets time off she goes back to see her mother. At home she meets her former boyfriend Jan again. He still loves her and wants to marry her. Tonka is content with him but is tormented by memories of her whorehouse past. She does not want to make Jan - who does not suspect she is a harlot - unhappy and so she returns to the bordello in Prague. The police arrive in search of a prostitute who is willing to spend the night with a condemned murderer who is to be executed the following morning. Tonka feels sorry for the doomed man and agrees to sleep with him. But when she goes back to the brothel afterwards, everybody spurns her contemptuously. She is thrown out and starts to walk the streets, sinking ever lower into depravity. One day Tonka sees Jan who has come to Prague to look for her. In her confusion Tonka gets involved in a vicious street fight and is shoved into the path of a hackney carriage. Mortally injured, she dies in Jan's arms.

Note

The film was made as a silent movie. A sound track was added in France after a fire at Kavalírka in the year 1929. Versions of the film were also made in Czech (Tonka Šibenice) and French (Tonischka). Only a French version is stored at the National Film Archive Prague. The film materials are believed lost.

Cast

Ita Rina

prostitutka Antonie Havlová zvaná Tonka Šibenice

Vera Baranovskaja

Tončina matka

Josef Rovenský

odsouzený vrah Ferdinand Prokůpek

Antonie Nedošinská

majitelka nevěstince

Emilie Nitschová

prodavačka kaštanů

Rudolf Štěpán

mistr popravčí

Felix Kühne

hausírník

Karel Jelínek

návštěvník v nevěstinci

Eliška Jílková

služka u majitelky nevěstince

Josef Kytka

první tajný

V. Mecera

druhý tajný

Václav Rabský

vězeňský dozorce

Ada Velický

host v hostinci

Jan Marek

host v hostinci

Crew and creators

Director

Karel Anton

Based on

Egon Erwin Kisch (Nanebevstoupení Tonky Šibenice – povídka)

Director of Photography

Eduard Hoesch

Production Designer

Hanuš Gödert, František Poneš

Film Editor

Karel Anton

Sound Designer

Herrmann S. Heller

Cooperation

Jaroslav Krampera (vrchní osvětlovač), Willy Ströminger (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Erno Košťál

Selected Music

Bedřich Smetana (Má vlast /Vltava/), Antonín Dvořák (Slovanské tance), Richard Wagner (fanfáry)

Music Performed by

francouzští hudebníci z pařížských divadel a symfonických orchestrů (Music Conducted by Erno Košťál)

Songs

Německá píseň

Song Composer Erno Košťál
Singer Ita Rina [dab]

Písička o štěstí

Song Composer Karel Hašler

Pryč a pryč je všecko

Už mou milou do kostela vedou

Išla Marína od Hodonína

Lásko, bože, lásko

Prijdi Jano premileny

Tancuj, tancuj, vykrúcaj

Nešťastný šafářův dvoreček

Zelení hájové

Šup sem, šup tam

Až ráno, až ráno

Production info

Original Title

Tonka Šibenice [německá verze]

Czech Title

Tonka Šibenice [německá verze]

English Title

Tonka of the Gallows [German version]

Parallel Title

Die Galgentoni

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Film state

lost film

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1930

Production Year

1929—1930

Production specifications

date of censorship nepředloženo cenzuře

Premiere

premiere neproběhla
premiere abroad 1931 (Berlín, Německo)

Production

Karel Anton

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

82 min

Original length in metres

2 324 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,19

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

RCA Photophone

Versions

German

Dialogue languages

German

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Intertitles languages

German

Opening/End credits languages

German