Former members of the French Foreign Legion of Czechoslovak origin are returning home. The mother of Václav Malý from Plzeň is waiting for her son at the airport, but he is not among the home-comers. In a fortress in the middle of the jungle, he's made friends with his fellow countryman Petr, Tadeusz from Poland and Gerhardt from Germany. They all want to desert, because they can't take the cruel treatment from Sergeant Storch any longer. Storch lost a golden statuette gambling, but didn't accept his loss. Václav became an accidental witness to the treacherous murder of Storch's opponent, lived through a dangerous fight in the jungle, and witnessed a massacre in a village. Retreating, he found wounded Lieutenant Wolf in the jungle, and saved his life. Wolf took over the command of the troop, and offered Václav the position of his batman. Václav accepted the offer, despite his friends' disapproval. But when he found out that Wolf was an ex-SS officer who served in Plzeň at the end of the war, he realized that this was the man who murdered his sister and his father. He decided to kill Wolf. He joined Wolf on a reconnaissance in the jungle as a volunteer. Neither one of them returned. The next plane is landing in Prague. Petr is on board. However, he can't bring himself to tell Václav's mother the truth.
legionář Václav Malý
český voják Petr
německý voják Gerhardt
poručík Wolf
seržant Storch
polský voják Tadeusz
Antek
Jocker
major, velitel pevnosti
pobočník
Václavova matka
Lord
Petrův otec
legionář
mladíček
Ketham
doktor
König
Dietrich
legionář služba
Bellini
poručík
podporučík
seržant, šéf PM
kaprál PM
radiotelegrafista
radiotelegrafista
sluha
Karlova dívka
Karel
mladíček
vietnamský voják
vietnamská dívka
otec dívky
strážný věznice
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
legionář
Vladimír Řezníček, Jaroslav Kupšík
Ervín Páleš, Ivette Dubois, plk. František Nevěřil, Jaromír Lauda
Karel Skoumal (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Orchestr Karla Krautgartnera (Music Conducted by Karel Krautgartner), Ladislav Černý /sólo na violu/
Song Composer Bohumil Šmída
Writer of Lyrics Maurice Orion
Singer Maurice Orion
Song Composer Bohumil Šmída
Writer of Lyrics Maurice Orion
Singer Maurice Orion
Song Composer Bohumil Šmída
Writer of Lyrics Jaromír Hořec
Černý prapor
Černý prapor
The Black Battalion
film
featuretheatrical distribution
drama, war
Czechoslovakia
1958
1957
literary Screenplay approved 11 February 1957
technical Screenplay approved 4 August 1957
start of filming 15 August 1957
end of filming 12 December 1957
projection approval 17 March 1958
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1990
preview 6 June 1958 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
gala premiere 6 June 1958 (kino Sevastopol, Praha)
premiere 13 June 1958 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Blaník /4 týdny/, Flora /1 týden/, Kyjev /1 týden od 20. 6./, Veleslavín /1 týden od 27. 6./ a Arbes /1 týden od 4. 7./, Praha)
Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Kunc, František Břetislav Kunc (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
85 min
2 424 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech, German, French, Polish
Czech
Czech
Festival: 1. festival českých a slovenských filmů Banská Bystrica
1959
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 11. mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary
1958
Karlovy Vary / Czechoslovakia
Exhibition: 1. světová přehlídka vítězných festivalových filmů Mexico City
1958
Mexico City / Mexico