The Gingerbread House

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1933

Production year

1933

Premiere

22 December 1933

Runtime

64 min

Category

film

Genre

fairytale

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Perníková chaloupka

Czech title

Perníková chaloupka

English title

The Gingerbread House

Protectorate parallel title

Hänsel und Gretl

Synopsis

Even children from a civilisation conquered by technology need fairy stories and Mrs Fairytale invites them into her world. A woodcutter goes into the forest with his children, Jeníček and Mařenka. While their father is working the children pick strawberries. However, they wander so deep into the forest that they lose their way back. After a sinister night the children find themselves in front of a cottage made of honey gingerbread. An old hag catches them picking bits of gingerbread off her house. She locks the thin Jeníček in a cage to feed him up and she makes the chubby Mařenka work for her in the kitchen. The children are visited by benign angels in their sleep, however, who give them hope that they will be saved. When the old hag decides to bake them in the oven, Mařenka and Jeníček push her in there instead. The oven explodes and the ugly little old crones who had been dancing attendance on the witch, are transformed into children. Mařenka gives them back their little hearts, enchanted in the gingerbread by the old hag. All are dancing for joy in the field in front of the gingerbread house when, suddenly, Jeníček and Mařenka's grief-stricken parents appear from the forest, overjoyed at having found them at last.

Note

The gingerbread used for the house was supplied by Pulchart, Prague-Libeň. This theme had already been treated in a Czech film under the same title (1927; directed by Josef Kokeisl).

Cast

Růžena Píšová

královna noci

Ria Astrová

královna víl

Blanka Novotná

Pohádka

Emil Fassl

vodník/Smrt

Baletní soubor Národního divadla

hvězdy/víly/andělé/žabáci/čarodějnice

Crew and creators

Screenstory

Oldřich Kmínek

Director of Photography

Josef Bulánek

Production Designer

Štěpán Kopecký

Sound Designer

Josef Zora

Production Manager

Zdeněk Reimann

Cooperation

Antonín Frič (fotograf), František Rubáš (fotograf)

Production info

Original Title

Perníková chaloupka

Czech Title

Perníková chaloupka

English Title

The Gingerbread House

Protectorate Parallel Title

Hänsel und Gretl

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

fairytale

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1933

Production Year

1933

Production specifications

start of filming 30 June 1933 (ateliéry)
date of censorship 11/1933
date of censorship 09/1939

Premiere

premiere 22 December 1933 /suitable for youths/ (kina Beránek /2 týdny/, Radio /2 týdny/, Roxy /2 týdny/ a Světozor /2 týdny/, Praha /odpolední představení/)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Distribution

Chicago-Film

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

64 min

Original length in metres

1 900 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,19

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

Tobis – Klang

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech