The Road to Life

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production year

1961

Premiere

1 June 1962

Runtime

67 min

Category

film

Genre

children

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Kuřata na cestách

Czech title

Kuřata na cestách

English title

The Road to Life

Working title

Cesta do života

Synopsis

Playing a game of pioneers at school the children, by chance, come upon an abandoned poultry-house. There they find a hatchery in working order and decide to breed chicken. They all go looking for fresh eggs, except for Vláďa who is busy setting the hatchery to work. Hanka finds a book about poultry farming and ends up looking after the hatchery all by herself since the boys' interest has in the meantime switched to cycle races. The cooperative accountant realizes that someone is using the electricity at the old poultry farm. The co-op's leader Kaláb, who looks into the matter, finds the hatchery working, and finds eggs in it marked with names. He immediately telephones the local Czechoslovak Youth Movement committee with the information that his co-op has already set up the pioneering farm that he promised to build a while before. One day the children's efforts, especially those of Hanka and Vláďa, pay off: the chickens emerge from their shells. But the newly hatched chicks cause the children a lot of trouble. They overhear a conversation between the co-op's leader and a builder and conclude that the men plan to renovate the poultry farm. The children move the chicks, first to the library and then to a tent in the orchard. Their teacher Hudrava finds the chicks there and, joined by a district officer drives them back to the freshly whitened poultry-house. The children are happy and Kaláb, who was afraid of disgracing the co-op, is also pleased, since when he had noticed that there were no chickens at the poultry-house, he had thought the children's experiment had failed.

Cast

Jiří Sovák

předseda zemědělského družstva Kaláb

Libuše Havelková

prodavačka Klemperová

František Filipovský

kominík Josef Klempera

Otto Šimánek

učitel Hudrava

Jan Šmíd

předseda okresního výboru ČSM Beránek

František Kovářík

děda včelař

Josef Hlinomaz

účetní Vrána

Renata Kroutilová

Hanka, dcera Klemperových

Jaroslav Drbohlav

Tonda, Kalábův syn

Jiří Brantner

Vašek

Eva Vesecká

Zuzana

Václav Růžička

Filip

Jan Klosar

Karlík, Hančin bratr

Zuzana Hrnčířová

Maruška

Helena Štvánová

knihovnice Táňa

Pavel Bártl

veterinář

Věra Kalendová

družstevnice Kalcíková

Dana Nejdlová

matka Marušky

Václav Podhorský

muž u mlátičky

Ladislav Gzela

ovčák Průcha

Luďa Marešová

traktoristka u mlátičky

Karel Hovorka

listonoš

Ivana Skaláková

družstevnice

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Jaroslav Pour

Assistant Director

Karel Čáslavský, Mojmír Ticháček

Screenstory

Oldřich Kryštofek

Screenplay

Milan Pavlík

Shooting Script

Václav Vorlíček

Director of Photography

Václav Huňka

Second Unit Photography

Josef Pechar

Camera Operator

Zdeněk Prchlík

Production Designer

Bohumil Pokorný

Assistent Production Designer

Jaroslav Brabenec

Set Designer

Karel Černoch, Karel Kočí, Jaroslava Vilímková

Film Editor

Zdeněk Stehlík

Assistant Film Editor

Libuše Vaněčková

Sound Designer

Pavel Jelínek, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)

Production Manager

Gustav Rohan

Unit Production Manager

Petr Čapek, Dana Dudová

Unit Production Manager

Ivan Hajný

Cooperation

Jaroslava Radová (klapka), Jaromír Komárek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Svatopluk Havelka

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Kühnův dětský pěvecký sbor (Music Conducted by Markéta Kühnová)

Songs

Rudé šátky na slunci hoří

Song Composer Svatopluk Havelka
Writer of Lyrics Josef Brukner
Singer Kühnův dětský pěvecký sbor

Production info

Original Title

Kuřata na cestách

Czech Title

Kuřata na cestách

English Title

The Road to Life

Working Title

Cesta do života

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production Year

1961

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 19 April 1961
start of filming 9 August 1961
end of filming 16 November 1961
projection approval 16 February 1962
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1991

Premiere

premiere 1 June 1962 /suitable for youths/ (kino Belvedere /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 1 June 1962 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

67 min

Original length in metres

1 897 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

Exhibition: 2. celostátní přehlídka československých filmů pro děti a mládež Gottwaldov

1962
Zlín / Czechoslovakia