The Return Home

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1948

Production year

1948

Premiere

28 January 1949

Runtime

88 min

Director

Martin Frič

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Návrat domů

Czech title

Návrat domů

English title

The Return Home

Working title

Zabloudil v Praze / Sám / Návrat / Zabloudil v Praze a sám

Summary

Seasoned director Martin Frič in 1948 carved another notch in his filmography by making a motion picture that answered the period’s demand for “political engagement”. The lead character in the narrative set just after the end of World War Two is First Lieutenant Kliment Mareš (Karel Höger). Upon his return to Prague he is painfully confronted by the open sores left in his life by the years of the Nazi occupation of his homeland. Kliment’s fiancée is now married, his friends have disappeared and both his mother and sister have been killed by the Nazis. Luckily, there is still Sergeant Stáňa (Běla Jurdová) who never wavers in her devout love for her brother in arms. The film’s finale sees the couple heading towards a new life in the Sudetenland, now a borderland region desperate for people to replace the displaced German population... Návrat domů (The Return Home) premiered in January 1949, and in April of the same year Frič released his parody Pytlákova schovanka aneb Šlechetný milionář (The Poacher's Foster Daughter), seen as so much closer to his natural style.

Synopsis

Lieutenant Mareš and his unit are returning to Prague just after the end of the War, in May 1945. He is looking forward to seeing his family, his fiancée and friends. His colleague Sergeant Stáňa loves him and is afraid that she will lose him in this new environment. Mareš visits old Mrs Stachová but does not have the courage to tell her that her son died in battle. He later finds out that his fiancée is now married to someone else, that his mother and sister were arrested and shot dead and his former friends are now dead or went missing during the War. He finds only the old professor who had not left his cellar flat for five years in order not to have to confront the Germans. Stáňa is disappointed that Mareš has forgotten their friendship and that he left her on her own on his first day back in Prague. In the evening they meet in the hotel where they are staying. They are told that they must leave for the border. They become aware of their mutual relationship and understand the value of their friendship. Reconciled, they leave for their new destination.

Note

On January 7, 1949, the film was shown in thirty provincial cinemas before its Prague première.

Cast

Karel Höger

nadporučík Kliment Mareš

Běla Jurdová

četařka Stáňa

Josef Pehr

desátník Janík

František Smolík

profesor Blažej

Pavla Suchá

Tonča, vnučka Stachové

Zdenka Procházková

Marta, bývalá Marešova snoubenka

Milada Smolíková

pokojská v hotelu

Ota Motyčka

Souček, Martin otec

Marie Blažková

Součková, Martina matka

Alois Dvorský

Alois, Martin strýc

Miloš Kopecký

mladík u Součků v bytě

Bohuš Hradil

Sedláček, majitel koloniálu

Jaroslav Mareš

Zdeněk, Sedláčkův syn

Blažena Slavíčková

Jitka, Sedláčkova dcera

Vladimír Řepa

řidič džípu

Jindra Hermanová

prodavačka klobouků

Josef Kemr

muž radící sovětskému vojákovi

Michaela Lišková

Martina dcera

Hermína Vojtová

Boža, Martina teta

Emil Bolek

voják ve skladu oděvů

Zdeněk Řehoř

mladý gardista v Mánesu

Milka Balek-Brodská

domovnice se žehličkou

Marta Májová

domovnice vytírající schody

Karel Houska

poručík

Zdeněk Flendr

malý chlapec

Otylie Beníšková

Marešova matka

Ervín Zolar

sovětský voják

Jan W. Speerger

posel z velitelství

Ilja Racek

mladík v Mánesu

Leo Spáčil

muž se sirkou v ústech

Josef Hořánek

Kovář, vrchní číšník v Mánesu

Josef Steigl

Kadeřábek, majitel klobouku

Ferdinand Jarkovský

soused s mlékem

Jindřich Doležal

Franta Skoupa, host v Mánesu

Josef Oliak

chodec na ulici

Crew and creators

Director

Martin Frič

Screenstory

Leopold Lahola

Director of Photography

Karel Degl

Second Unit Photography

Josef Novotný

Production Designer

Karel Škvor

Assistent Production Designer

Miroslav Pelc

Set Designer

V. Vacín

Make-Up Artist

Ladislav Bacílek

Film Editor

Jan Kohout

Assistant Film Editor

Jarmila Müllerová

Sound Designer

Miloslav Hůrka

Unit Production Manager

František Urbánek, Václav Hladký

Cooperation

Mirek Pitner (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

František Škvor

Songs

Poljuško, pole

Song Composer Lev Knipper

Partyzán

Singer sbor

Škoda lásky

Song Composer Jaromír Vejvoda

Lví silou, vzletem sokolím

Song Composer František Josef Pelz

Production info

Original Title

Návrat domů

Czech Title

Návrat domů

English Title

The Return Home

Working Title

Zabloudil v Praze / Sám / Návrat / Zabloudil v Praze a sám

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1948

Production Year

1948

Production specifications

start of filming 1 February 1948
date of censorship 24 November 1948 (konec povolení k promítání 24. 11. 1953)
withdrawal from distribution 22 April 1954
withdrawal from distribution 31 July 1976

Premiere

preview 7 January 1949 (mimopražská kina)
premiere 28 January 1949 /suitable for youths/ (kino Alfa /3 týdny/ a Dukla /1 týden od 11. 2./, Praha)
renewed premiere 3 May 1968 /suitable for youths/

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

III. výrobní skupina Frič – Reimann, Martin Frič (umělecký šéf III. výrobní skupiny), Zdeněk Reimann (produkční šéf III. výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

88 min

Original length in metres

2 508 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Soutěž Ústřední filmové dramaturgie na filmový námět

1946
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Leopold Lahola