The Tempo of the First Love

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production year

1965—1966

Premiere

28 July 1967

Runtime

34 min

Category

film

Genre

short-story

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Tempo první lásky

Czech title

Tempo první lásky

English title

The Tempo of the First Love

Summary

In 1966, experienced director Zbyněk Brynych completed two “Karlovy Vary” projects: spy drama Transit Carlsbad (Carlsbad Transit) and the 30-minute film Tempo první lásky (The Tempo of the First Love). The latter production tells the story of a one-day romance that occurs between young liftboy Jirka and Gloria, the daughter of a South American hotel tycoon. The story unfolds in the chic setting of the Grandhotel Moskva-Pupp in the spa town of Karlovy Vary (often referred to by its German name Carlsbad). While the guide assigned to the girl, Mr. Robert, and the hotel manager dwell on old times, misunderstandings caused by the language barrier cause hotel staff to bad mouth Jirka… The character of the “noble of birth”, ageing hotel manager Altschul would be one of the last parts played by the actor Oldřich Nový. The role of Jiří is performed by the then 21-year-old Ladislav Potměšil, while the part of Gloria entailed the sole film appearance of Fedora Marková (dubbed by Kateřina Trávnická).

Synopsis

In Grand-Hotel Moskva in Carlsbad, the daughter of a South American hotel magnate and member of the Diners Club, is expected to visit. The very young liftboy Jirka is enchanted by the elegant, blonde and still very young Miss Gloria so much he cannot think about anything else. Gloria's companion Mr Robert is a long time friend of the distinguished hotel director, Altschul, and the two elderly men thus spend a nice evening with typical Czech dishes and wine. Altschul nostalgically recalls the times when he began working as a liftboy, he still had many dreams and everything was ahead of him. Jirka, who had managed to learn only a few lessons of German, does not understand Gloria's French and confuses her good-bye greeting for an invitation to her room. This amuses the young woman, who was bored a little until then, and she and Jirka have dinner together. The shocked waitress, with whom Jirka rather clumsily orders drinks for himself and Gloria, spreads the news of the young man's visit throughout the hotel. The next day, Gloria leaves. Jirka goes on learning German after an gramophone record.

Note

This medium-length film was created together with the film entitled Transit Carlsbad.

Cast

Oldřich Nový

ředitel Altschul

Ladislav Potměšil

liftboy Jirka

Fedora Marková

Voice by Kateřina Trávnická
slečna Gloria

Jana Vaňková

servírka Karla

Petr Mach

Jirkův spolubydlící

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Ota Koval

Screenstory

Vladimír Kalina

Shooting Script

Zbyněk Brynych

Director of Photography

Jan Kališ

Second Unit Photography

František Uldrich

Production Designer

Milan Nejedlý

Set Designer

Eva Slívová

Costume Designer

Olga Dimitrovová

Make-Up Artist

Vladimír Petřina

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Sound Designer

Miloš Alster

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Eliška Nejedlá

Unit Production Manager

Vladislav Špidra, Jiří Zika

Consultant

A. Altschul

Cooperation

Miloslav Mirvald (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

archivní

Production info

Original Title

Tempo první lásky

Czech Title

Tempo první lásky

English Title

The Tempo of the First Love

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

short-story

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production Year

1965—1966

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 14 October 1965
technical Screenplay approved 8 November 1965
start of filming 9 December 1965
end of filming 10 February 1966
projection approval 29 June 1966

Premiere

premiere 28 July 1967 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 28 July 1967 /suitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /1 týden/ a Klub /1 týden od 1. 9./, Praha)

Distribution slogan

no caption

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

34 min

Original length in metres

962 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:2,35

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German, French

Subtitles languages

Czech

Opening/End credits languages

Czech