The Key

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1971

Production year

1970—1971

Premiere

14 May 1971

Runtime

97 min

Director

Vladimír Čech

Genre

drama, historical

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Klíč

Czech title

Klíč

English title

The Key

Working title

Jan Zika

Summary

This 1971 drama, filmed on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), was directed by seasoned filmmaker Vladimír Čech. One of the early films of the post-1968 “normalisation” period, it takes place shortly after the assassination of Nazi Reich-Protector Reinhard Heydrich after which the Gestapo arrested, among others, the chairman of the illegal KSČ central committee, Jan Zika (1902–1942). The brave communist is subjected to torture by Gestapo officer Friedrich. Zika does not crack and does not reveal his identity – and Friedrich fails to grasp the importance of a key found on the prisoner that would have been a clue to the whereabouts of other resistance fighters… The main protagonist of this tale of unyielding belief in one’s ideals is depicted in an iconic manner by František Vicena. The Nazi sadist, Friedrich, is portrayed by German actor Wilhelm Koch-Hooge. He also appeared in other Czech films such as Zbabělec (The Coward, 1961) directed by Jiří Weiss, Dušan Klein’s Lekce (Lesson, 1971) and Otakar Vávra’s Dny zrady (Days of Betrayal, 1973).

Synopsis

The story takes place in May 1942, shortly after the assassination on the Acting Reichsprotektor of Bohemia und Moravia Reinhard Heydrich, the most tragic period for the Czech nation. The Martial Law enables the German invaders to execute any suspicious person, often with all his family. Night Prague is being watched by heavily armed patrols, searching one house after another. Jan Zika, a member of the illegal Communist Party Committee and an active member of the Czech resistance groups, stays with the Preisler's family. He tries to escape from their flat on the third floor, roping down the window. Unfortunately, the rope pulls apart and the man, seriously injured, is arrested. Friedrich, a Gestapo inspector has been investigating his identity, but Zika keeps silence, despite a big pain he suffers. The Preislers' also resist a cruel interrogation, and are executed upon a short trial. A German surgeon operates Zika, although he knows that he can only save his life for a couple of hours. Dying Zika recalls the feverish memories of his wife and child, who are safe in Moscow, where he had been before the war. Friedrich hopes to find the resistance fighters with the help of a key he had found at Zika. Gestapo is trying hard to find the right door, using hundreds copies of the key, but all in vain. Zika's allies managed to change the key of the illegal shelter in time. The fellow prisoners, passing by Zika's stretcher, do not reveal his identity, despite being promised freedom by the Nazis. Zika is one of those who laid their lives for their home country freedom.

Note

The movie was filmed at the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

Photos

Cast

František Vicena

člen ilegálního výboru KSČ Jan Zika

Wilhelm Koch-Hooge

komisař Friedrich

Zdeněk Kampf

tlumočník Nergl

Vlasta Vlasáková

Milada

Eva Jiroušková

Blažena Preislerová

Oldřich Velen

Josef, manžel Preislerové

Jürgen Frohriep

německý chirurg

Miloslav Holub

tiskař Jankovský

Alena Hessová

Zikova žena

Jindřich Narenta

kat

Oto Ševčík

vysoký důstojník wehrmachtu

Josef Hajdučík

Voice by Rudolf Jelínek
radista Černý

Josef Beyvl

majitel koloniálu

Zdeněk Kryzánek

velitel hlídky SS

Miloš Vavruška

velitel SS

Jana Walterová

Věra

Richard Záhorský

Karl Hermann Frank

Gustav Heverle

holič

Vladimír Leraus

profesor Jankovec

Josef Chvalina

doktor

Zdeněk Dřevojánek

Pokorný

Oldřich Lukeš

Eduard Urx

Vítězslav Jandák

atentátník četař Josef Gabčík

Jan Dejmek

atentátník četař Jan Kubiš

Vladimír Ptáček

major

Milan Hlavín

druhý kat

Marta Richterová

slečna ve vile

Jana Posseltová

slečna ve vile

Milena Kaplická

slečna ve vile

JUDr. Jaroslav Blažek

státní návladní

Eduard Pavlíček

armádní generál

Jiřina Bílá

správcová Králová

Jitka Zelenohorská

prodavačka v koloniále

Václav Švec

zámečník

Josef Burda

vládní rada

Bohumil Koška

příslušník SS v civilu

Vladimír Navrátil

příslušník SS v civilu

Viktor Maurer

příslušník SS v civilu

Jan Pohan

Frankův pobočník

Karel Pavlík

český policista

Ladislav Vičar

český policista

Jiří Vondrovič

velitel hlídky SS u Preislerových

Adolf Filip

telegrafista u Franka

Vladimír Zoubek

bachař ve vězeňské chodbě/dozorce v sekyrárně

Josef Žoha

dozorce

Mirko Musil

Voice by Jindřich Narenta
gestapák v civilu/dozorce

Miroslav Müller

příslušník SS v uniformě

Zdeněk Braunschläger

gestapák v civilu

Zdeněk Novotný

gestapák v civilu

Antonín Šimon

gestapák v civilu

Alexandr Ovčarič

příslušník SS u komisaře Friedricha

A. A. Dajmičenko

průvodkyně na Rudém náměstí v Moskvě

Vladimír Vodeničarov

generál policie

Štěpán Bulejko

generál armády

František Kubíček

katův pomocník

Pavel Jiras

katův pomocník

Jaromír Šnajdr

katův pomocník

Jiří Koutný

příslušník SS

Eugen Jegorov

člen NSDAP v koženém kabátě

Věra Kovářová

dcera Preislerových

Ludvík Pozník

generál policie

Vladimír Svoboda (2)

příslušník SS u Friedricha

Petr Skarke

muž vedený k popravě

Vladimír Štros

Zikův přítel/vězeň

Miloslav Štibich

lékař

Miloslav Šindler

český policista

Magdalena Šmídová

dívka u Friedricha

Roman Hemala

generál SS na Hradě

Antonín Ženíšek

generál SS na Hradě

Karel Voska

důstojník wehrmachtu

Karel Havlíček

odsouzenec

Jiří Cimický

důstojník wehrmachtu ve vile

Oleg Reif

důstojník wehrmachtu ve vile

Jaroslav Tomsa

důstojník wehrmachtu ve vile

Jaroslav Kovář

důstojník wehrmachtu ve vile