Mr Tau in the Circus

Country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1972

Production year

1971

Premiere

14 April 1972

Runtime

36 min

Category

film

Genre

children

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Pan Tau v cirkusu

Czech title

Pan Tau v cirkusu

English title

Mr Tau in the Circus

Co-production title

Pan Tau und die Zirkus Welt / Pan Tau und die Zirkus Welt

Working title

Pan Tau a cirkus „Svět“ / Pan Tau VI

Synopsis

The rich Mr Viola is travelling with his grand-daughter Claudie just as she wanted. In tramp style they are sleeping outside and eating whatever they can scrounge. In fact Viola has made a secret agreement with the Globus travel company to improve conditions slightly - for example whenever Claudie has fallen asleep, he gets his bed and a glass of wine on the bedside table. This time, however, a real - and really rough - tramp is sleeping in his bed in a scrapyard. Fortunately Claudie is charmed by her granddad's "victorious" brawl with fake toughs. At a French market her grandfather exchanges a diamond ring for a small baguette. In a branch of the travel agency he then angrily demands his money back for poor services and is taken away by the police. Mr Tau falls into the hands of the wicked director of the Apollo Circus, and he decides to put him on show with his miniaturizing charm. In their search for food, Viola and Claudie arrive at the same circus. They almost eat the bananas meant for the monkeys, and then have to pay for it in hard work. They feed the animals, Viola cleans the elephant, and Claudie washes linen. Pan Tau secretly lets children in through the back of the tent to see the circus. Participation in an acrobatic number completely flattens grandfather and Claudie no longer wants to travel either. Thanks to one of Mr Tau's spells, they both find themselves back home in the castle. The old gentleman already knows what it is that children really want and so has the knowledge to decide properly on the future activities of his firms. Meanwhile he makes a paper bird and Claudie enthusiastically catches it.

Note

The tale was presented as part of the compilation Mr Tau and a Trip around the World together with the tales Mr Tau Will Arrange It and Mr Tau and a Trip around the World.

The first (I.) series of thirteen medium-length films about Mr Tau was created in the years 1969–1972. It was first launched in cinemas, in series composed of two parts and accompanied by a cartoon movie (1. Mr Tau Arrives, 2. Mr Tau Gives Presents, 3. Mr Tau at the Mountains, 4. Mr Tau and Sunday, 5. Mr Tau Goes to School, 6. Mr Tau and Cold!, 7. Mr Tau and Claudia, 8. Mr Tau Will Handle It, 9. Mr Tau and Trip around the World, 10. Mr Tau in Circus, 11. Mr Tau and the Taxi Driver, 12. Mr Tau Wanted, 13. Mr Tau and a Thousand Miracles). In the Czechoslovak Television, the series was first introduced in December 1972. Due to its success, another thirteen parts (II.) were filmed in 1973–1975, this time intended exclusively for television (1. Mr Tau Returns, 2. Mr Tau and Robinson, 3. Mr Tau and Too Big Balloon, 4. Mr Tau and Dog Goaty-Dog, 5. Mr Tau and Family Celebration, 6. Mr Tau Goes to Work, 7. Mr Tau and Five Pears and Three Apples, 8. Mr Tau and Black Umbrella, 9. Mr Tau and Big Dog, 10. Mr Tau and Tree-Frog. 11. Mr Tau and Alladin Lamp, 12. Mr Tau and Golden Suitcase, 13. Mr Tau Leaves). The third (III.) and last (seven-part) series was filmed in the years 1977 and 1978 (1. Alert in the Sky, 2. Elephant Hunt, 3. Night at Safari, 4. Mr Tau and Woman-Magician, 5. Mr Tau at Pioneer Camp, 6. Mr Tau – And Which Is the Right One?, 7. No Magic from Tomorrow). On TV, the third series was introduced as a series in the original form and was edited for the film distribution into two feature films Alert in the Sky and No Magic from Tomorrow. The popular bowlered hero last appeared in the feature film Mr Tau, created by a German-Czechoslovak co-production in 1988.

Cast

Jan Werich

bohatý pan Viola

Veronika Renčová

Claudie, Violova vnučka

Josef Hlinomaz

ředitel cirkusu Apollo

Oldřich Musil

rada Müller

Jan Skopeček

šéf výzkumu

Karel Pavlík

ředitel prodeje

Luděk Kopřiva

ředitel pařížské pobočky cestovní kanceláře Globus

Bohumil Křížek

úředník pařížské pobočky Globusu

Vít Pešina

úředník Globusu

Mirko Musil

muž z koncernu

Miloš Vavruška

muž z koncernu

Jan Víšek

muž z koncernu

Ella Bouřilová

artistka/dubl za Veroniku Renčovou

Zdeněk Procházka (kouzelník)

kouzelník

Jan Pohan

vůdce vágusů

Zdeněk Hess

policista

Jan Kuželka

policista

Pavel Osif

policista

Dana Francová

telefonistka

Jana Nikrleová

telefonistka

Eva Lorenzová

telefonistka

Magda Maděrová

telefonistka

Petra Nohová

telefonistka

Libuše Zátková

telefonistka

Eduard Žemla

stevard

Josef Aleš

artista

Vlastimil Aleš

artista

Františka Alešová

artistka

Jana Alešová

artistka

Marta Alešová

artistka

Augustin Růžička

artista

Jiří Lír

komorník

Jana Sedlmajerová

sekretářka

Robert Boreš

dětský artista – cvičené kozy

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Elmar Kloss

Assistant Director

Jiří Potsch, Robert Vacík

Continuity

Pavla Marková

Shooting Script

Jindřich Polák

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Tuzar, Vladimír Malík (loutková část)

Second Unit Photography

Miloš Petrolín

Camera Operator

Stanislav Šťastný

Production Designer

Jiří Hlupý, Miroslav Hrachovec

Art Director

Stanislav Látal (loutková část)

Set Designer

Václav Pošta, Jan Petrů, Jiří Žůček

Costume Designer

Jan Kropáček

Film Editor

Zdeněk Stehlík

Sound Designer

Adolf Böhm

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Gustav Rohan

Unit Production Manager

Dana Dudová, Martin Baroch, Jan Syrový

Unit Production Manager

Lucie Hertlová

Cooperation

Dagmar Ševčíková (klapka), Josef Vítek (fotograf)

Music

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Orchestr Karla Vlacha

Songs

My jsme ti tuláci

Song Composer Jiří MalásekJiří BažantVlastimil Hála
Writer of Lyrics Ivo Fischer
Singer Jan Werich

Production info

Original Title

Pan Tau v cirkusu

Czech Title

Pan Tau v cirkusu

English Title

Mr Tau in the Circus

Co-production Title

Pan Tau und die Zirkus Welt / Pan Tau und die Zirkus Welt

Working Title

Pan Tau a cirkus „Svět“ / Pan Tau VI

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1972

Production Year

1971

Production specifications

start of filming 27 January 1971
end of filming 13 October 1971
projection approval 11 January 1972
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1995

Premiere

premiere 14 April 1972 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 20 April 1972 /suitable for youths/ (kino Hvězda, Praha)

Copyright Holders

Česká televize

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka, Erich Švabík (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

36 min

Original length in metres

1 026 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech