The screenwriter and director of films for children and young people Věra Plívová-Šimková created one of her most popular movies in 1970. The family film Lišáci – Myšáci a Šibeničák (Foxes, Mice and Gallows Hill) is – like the majority of her works – set in a village. The idyllic winter revelry of a group of boys from the highland settlement beneath Gallows Hill is interrupted by the rivalry of two rather wild teenage boys – the previous gang leader Jožka, known as Red, and the peculiar “incomer” Olda, nicknamed Mouse. The first of the boys, the son of a local gravedigger, has little chance against the son of the new chairman of the agricultural co-op, who fixes it for the members of the gang to go horse-riding. The conflict between the two rivals ends with the death of Mouse’s mare and efforts to keep her newborn foal alive… The narrative with adventure elements, co-written by František Pavlíček, is not lacking in suspense, in part because the profession of Red’s father evokes an air of mystery (communication with spirits, typical of the folk tradition in the foothills of the Krkonosše Mountains, even occurs). Scenes featuring horses in the wide open countryside create a specific mood. As always with director Plívová-Šimková, the child leads, hand-picked non-actors, contribute to the convincing atmosphere of the narrative. However, after extensive auditions for the role of Mouse the filmmaker plumped for the experienced Jan Kraus, who was then 17 and had appeared in her feature debut Káťa a krokodýl (Kate and the Crocodile) (1965). Opposite him she cast non-actor Zdeněk Tůma in the part of the second urchin and rogue, Red. Plívová-Šimková shot the picture in her home village and for several of the adult roles chose locals whom she combined with experienced actors and had dubbed. The film’s natural yet poetic look was produced by the then novice cinematographer Emil Sirotek, while its impressive score was the work of the renowned Zdeněk Liška.
Until recently, the children from a village at the foot of the Gallows hill have had a tacit leader in Jožka nicknamed the Gingerboy [Zrzek], the gravedigger's son. But now a new boy Olda, nicknamed Mouse [Myšák], has moved into the village. Thanks to his father, the head of the village co-op, he has access to the co-op's horses, which he can ride freely and which he looks after enthusiastically. All the boys who want a ride become members of the Mouse's gang and the Gingerboy finds himself alone. Barborka, the gamekeeper's daughter and his platonic girlfriend, is the only one to stay with him. Mouse takes advantage of his domination and forces the boys from his gang to bully Gingerboy. The boys are malicious and the ill-feeling between the two boys grows. Mouse is banned from riding after he plays at a corrida with the tame fawn Zuzik and the gamekeeper complains about it to his father. But more than anything else, Mouse fears for the life of the mare Sylva, who is expectant and whose life is at risk because it has a hernia. Barborka has a fight with Gingerboy and makes a display of her new affection for Mouse. At night, the gang wants to steal the raven that Gingerboy has recently caught, but they are overcome with fear at the graveyard. To make it even worse, Gingerboy catches Mouse and locks him in the morgue. The next day, Sylva dies giving birth to the foal. The unhappy Mouse is desperate to save the young foal. Gingerboy advises him to feed it goat's milk from grandpa Petárek. During their successful care for the foal Mouse and Gingerboy become friends and there is finally peace among the children in the village.
The Pavlíček´s authorship of the script was kept secret for political reasons.
Jožka zvaný Zrzek
Olda zvaný Myšák
Tonda zvaný Dýmák
Vincek
Gula
Voice by Zuzana Fišerová
Barborka
Kačka, sestra Barborky
Andula
Maruška
Lipka
Malý, Jožkův bratr
Fanda, Jožkův bratr
hajný, Barborčin otec
předseda JZD, Myšákův otec
učitel
Voice by Karel Augusta
hrobník, Zrzkův otec
Voice by Věra Galatíková
Zrzkova matka
Voice by Václav Lohniský
děda Petárek
zvěrolékař
Karel Hurský
Jiří Rulík, Ivan Ernyei, Stehlíková
Jaroslav Vlk, Věra Winkelhöferová
Růžena Bedriová (klapka), Richard Polák (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer ženský hlas
Singer dětský sbor
Lišáci – Myšáci a Šibeničák
Lišáci – Myšáci a Šibeničák
Foxes, Mice and Gallows Hill
Lišáci, Myšáci a Šibeničák
film
featuretheatrical distribution
children
Czechoslovakia
1970
1970
literary Screenplay approved 11 November 1969
technical Screenplay approved 2 December 1969
start of filming 28 January 1970
end of filming 12 May 1970
projection approval 3 August 1970
the first film copy approved 7 August 1970
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1991
gala premiere 26 October 1970 (kino Sevastopol, Praha)
premiere 30 October 1970 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 25 February 1971 /suitable for youths/ (kino Mír /1 týden/, Praha)
Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Hofman (příprava), Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí výrobní skupiny), Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka
feature film
74 min
2 105 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Event: Múzy pražských diváků 1971
1971
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Věra Plívová-Šimková
Festival: 9. filmový festival mladých Trutnov
1971
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia
Zdeněk Liška
Exhibition: 11. celostátní přehlídka československých filmů pro děti Gottwaldov
1971
Zlín / Czechoslovakia
Event: 9. mezinárodní soutěž filmů pro děti Gijón
1971
Gijón / Spain
Exhibition: 2. přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří
1970
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia
Věra Plívová-Šimková
Exhibition: 2. přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří
1970
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia
Blažena Hendrychová