The Way of the Cross

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1938

Production year

1937—1938

Premiere

15 April 1938

Runtime

94 min

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Cestou křížovou

Czech title

Cestou křížovou

English title

The Way of the Cross

Protectorate parallel title

Am Kreuzweg

Synopsis

In a small village in Chodsko the people have a day-to-day struggle to make ends meet. Many have resorted to working on a large estate. Only the parish priest Jiří stands up in protest against their undignified lot. But he receives no thanks for this because the steward stirs up the villagers against him. The mechanic Staněk also works on the estate. His son Ondřej wants to go to Prague to study law but is frustrated by his mother's wish that he enter the priesthood. His mother is relying on the priest to talk her son round. But Jiří himself was in the same position once and knows it is hard to carry out a profession one has not entered willingly. What's more, Ondřej is very fond of Hanča Vachudová and would like one day to marry her. But Ondřej believes the evil gossip he hears and renounces her angrily. She discovers she is pregnant but does not tell her father. The priest takes the unfortunate girl in, but this gives the villagers a reason to request his transfer to another parish. At his last sermon all the parishioners gather and Ondřej is swayed by the priest's words, as the whole congregation is, and he vows to marry Hanča, and so he confesses to be the father of Hanča's child.

Cast

Hana Vítová

Hanči Vachudová

František Kreuzmann

pijan Vachuda, Hančin otec

Zdeněk Štěpánek

farář Jiří

Jaroslav Průcha

strojník Staněk

Hermína Vojtová

Staňkova žena

Vladimír Šmeral

Ondřej, syn Staňkových

Jaroslav Marvan

ředitel velkostatku

Eman Fiala

holič Matěj Palma

Ella Nollová

Hančina kmotra

Karel Kolár

starosta

Marie Ptáková

matka faráře Jiřího

Emil Dlesk

vesničan

Marie Pilská

vesničanka

Karel Máj

účetní Kořán

Josef Kotalík

důchodní na panství

Alois Dvorský

kostelník Fiala

Josef Vošalík

pokrývač Nechyba

Vladimír Jedlička

sirotek Toník Barták

Jan W. Speerger

houpačkář

Václav Menger

sedlák Kalista

Arnošt Mirský

spící radní

Crew and creators

Assistant Director

Gustav Straschnitz

Based on

Jindřich Šimon Baar (Cestou křížovou – román)

Director of Photography

Josef Střecha

Production Designer

Jan Zázvorka

Production Manager

Václav Dražil

Cooperation

Jaroslav Menčík (režijní spolupráce), Antonín Frič (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Fiala

Selected Music

Bedřich Smetana (Prodaná nevěsta /Znám jednu dívku a Proč bychom se netěšili/)

Music Performed by

Orchestr F.O.K. (Music Conducted by Jiří Fiala)

Locations

bez exteriérů

Production info

Original Title

Cestou křížovou

Czech Title

Cestou křížovou

English Title

The Way of the Cross

Protectorate Parallel Title

Am Kreuzweg

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1938

Production Year

1937—1938

Production specifications

start of filming 27 December 1937
end of filming 13 January 1938
date of censorship 02/1938 (kulturně-výchovný)
date of censorship 05/1940 (kulturně-výchovný)
date of censorship 4 December 1940 (kulturně-výchovný)
date of censorship 1943 (predikáty „lidově hodnotný film“ a „film pro Den hrdinů“)
withdrawal from distribution 18 May 1945
date of censorship 21 November 1945 (konec povolení k promítání 21. 11. 1946)
withdrawal from distribution 23 May 1947

Premiere

premiere 15 April 1938 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Máj /1 týden/ a Světozor /1 týden/, Praha)
renewed premiere 1 December 1945 /unsuitable for youths/

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Distribution

Monopol (původní 1938), Státní půjčovna filmů (obnovená 1945)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

94 min

Original length in metres

2 685 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

Tobis – Klang

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Odměny ministra průmyslu, obchodu a živností

1939
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Monopol