Karel Lamač, one of the most prominent filmmakers of the early days of Czechoslovak cinema, had a great success with his melodrama White Paradise. The story and the craftsmanship of the film show inspiration from American cinema. The main character, Nina is an orphan, whose life is interfered with by an escaped prisoner who wants to visit her dying mother one last time. Made with a modest budget of 90,000 crowns, the film received positive feedback from Czech and foreign audiences. The financing for its production was provided by the company Kalosfilm (Karel–Anny–Lamač–Ondra–spol), founded by film enthusiast Alfréd Baštýř. In addition to Karel Lamač, two other very important individuals of Czech cinema – Gustav Machatý and Martin Frič – contributed to the film.
Jakub Rezek and his ward Nina work at a traveller's inn. Rezek finds out about an escaped prisoner, Ivan Holar, against whom he had testified in court and he now fears Holar's revenge. Holar wishes to visit his dying mother and brings her some medicine. He is, however, pursued by the police and hides in the cellar of the inn. There he meets Nina and asks her to take the medicine to his mother. He follows her at his mother's where the police catch up with him. All are moved by the sight of the sick mother and her son. The distraught mother dies without knowing that Ivan has again been captured. Nina returns to the evil Rezek and, from the wandering puppeteer Tomáš, she finds out that her parents used to own the inn. The documents proving that Nina is the heiress are found as well as the papers declaring Ivan's innocence and he is released from prison. He is invited to a reopening of the inn where he meets the desperate Nina who has seen him in the company of Yvetta the niece of the prison's director and thus she does not believe in his love. Finally everything is explained and even old Tomáš is witness to the happy reunion.
In 2016 the film was reconstructed by National Film Archive.
Ivan Holar
hostinský Jakub Rezek
sirotek Nina Mirelová
loutkář zvaný tatík Tomáš
Ivanova matka Holarová
četník
četník
ředitel věznice
ředitelova neteř Yvetta Karenová
vězeňský dozorce
soudní úředník
lékař
dáma z dobročinného spolku
snoubenec Yvetty, člen dobročinného spolku
sousedka paní Holarové
host v zájezdní hospodě
Jaroslav Balzar (fotograf)
Bílý ráj
Bílý ráj
White Paradise
film
featuretheatrical distribution
melodrama
Czechoslovakia
1924
1924
premiere 1 August 1924 /suitable for youths/ (kina Lucerna a Beseda, Praha)
feature film
67 min
1 900 meters
35mm
1:1,33
tinting, black & white
silent
Czech
without dialogue
without subtitles
Czech
Czech