The Flames of Life
Category
filmGenre
dramaTypology
featuretheatrical distributionOriginal title
Plameny životaCzech title
Plameny životaEnglish title
The Flames of LifeParallel title
Ráj a peklo bohémyEnglish parallel title
Heaven and Hell of the BohemeSynopsis
The unsuccessful actor Julius Mařan tries to drown himself in his despair. He meets the mysterious doctor Ambicius who promises him glory, so he decides to carry on living his life. In an artists' club he meets the beautiful Tereza Melanová and falls in love with her. One of the artists takes him to the cemetery Tereza frequents. The artist shoots himself before Mařan's very eyes. With the help of Ambicius, Mařan is given an engagement in the theatre and he is finally rewarded with success. After a performance of Faust, Tereza comes backstage and they leave together and go to her flat. During their next engagement at the club, Tereza turns her attentions to the tenor Hajský and Mařan becomes jealous. He follows Tereza to the studio of artist Gahura where Hajský arrives to collect her. Gahura tries to prevent Tereza from leaving and he is run over by a carriage. Mařan tries once more to gain the flighty Tereza for himself but he is rejected. He tries to beat his anger out on Ambicius by attempting to strangle him but he falls dead to the ground himself.
Note
The film was reconstructed by Jan S. Kolár. Working shots are included in the film How films were made in our country (compiled by Bohumil Veselý, 1954).
Photos
Cast
Suzanne Marwille
Tereza Melanová alias Sláva
V. Ch. Vladimírov
herec Julius Mařan
Jiří Sedláček
malíř Janko Gahura
Jan Fifka
skladatel Žatkovský
Karel Noll
básník Vladan
Evžen Georgij Jevgeněv
operní pěvec Rudolf Hajský
Vladimír Merhaut
záhadný doktor Ambicius alias Ctižádost
Jiří Nedošinský
divadelní ředitel
Jan W. Speerger
sekretář klubu umělců
Jaroslava Vacková
Roxana ve hře Cyrano z Bergeracu
Rudolf Tomek
Kristian ve hře Cyrano z Bergeracu
Vojtěch Záhořík
Jago v tragédii Othello
Karel Fiala
žurnalista
František Čekanský
žurnalista
Josef Javorčák
žurnalista
František Smolík
žurnalista
Rudolf Myzet
žurnalista
Karel Votruba
hostinský
Václav Zatíranda
herec
Václav Menger
herec
John Gollwell
herec
Karel Švarc
herec
Jindřich Edl
Faust
Crew and creators
Director
Screenstory
Screenplay
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Production Designer
Cooperation
Louis Vácha (fotograf)
Production info
Original Title
Plameny života
Czech Title
Plameny života
English Title
The Flames of Life
Parallel Title
Ráj a peklo bohémy
English Parallel Title
Heaven and Hell of the Boheme
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
drama
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1920
Production Year
1920
Premiere
premiere 29 July 1921 (kina U Vejvodů a Světozor, Praha)
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Technical info
Distribution carrier
35mm
Aspect ratio
1:1,33
Colour
black & white
Sound
silent
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
without dialogue
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Intertitles languages
Czech
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
