Don’t Look Round, a Horse Follows Us!

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1979

Production year

1979

Premiere

2 January 1981

Runtime

73 min

Category

film

Genre

children, comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Neohlížej se, jde za námi kůň!

Czech title

Neohlížej se, jde za námi kůň!

English title

Don’t Look Round, a Horse Follows Us!

Summary

Brothers Petr and Pavel collect scrap paper to buy a lottery ticket in the hope of winning a go-kart. But as it turns out, they win the second prize – a real, live horse. Fortunately, their parents have nothing against keeping Ferda, who ends up living in a shed in the courtyard of their Malá Strana, Prague home; until one day, the horse disappears. The boys employ all of their classmates in searching for the lost Ferda, as well as a pretty girl with a ponytail… This light 1979 comedy was directed by seasoned children’s film director Jiří Hanibal and written by Zdeněk Mahler. Jan Potměšil and Karel Roedl (who unlike his co-star never went on to become an adult actor) star as the young protagonists. Milena Dvorská and Jan Faltýnek play their parents.

Synopsis

Postwoman Mrs Skořepa, her husband the ambulance driver Mr Skořepa and their eleven-year-old twins Petr and Pavel live in Prague in Malá Strana (Lesser Town), one of the Prague's historical and oldest quarters. The boys are crazy about cars and everything linked to them. They don't share their father's love of classical music. On the other hand, they are crazy about the newly announced scrap yard competition for paper collection. The lottery tickets awarded for every ten kilograms of old paper collected could win them a go-kart. Petr and Pavel spend all their time collecting and delivering old paper. They even sell some of their own things, posters, toys etc, to friends at school in exchange for more lottery tickets. Apart from the two boys, a girl with a ponytail often shows up at the scrap yard wearing a T-shirt with the picture of a horse on it. The boys clear the old shed in their building's inner courtyard to make a depot, but their new neighbour Rozkošná wants to use the shed to park her car. Mrs Skořepa is a little jealous of the young blonde divorcee and supports the boys. Finally, however, an unknown chubby boy wins the go-kart. Petr and Pavel are shocked to find they have won the second price, a real living horse, which ends up in the shed for the moment. They all grow fond of the animal and the family savings are almost swallowed up by hay purchases. Only Petr still wants the go-kart, which is now being sold by the podgy boy's mother. Then the horse Ferda disappears from the shed. The entire class goes to look for it. It turns out that the girl with the ponytail, a passionate horse lover who has prepared a stable for the horse at her grandfather's farm on the city outskirts, hasn't taken the horse. The perpetrator is their fellow pupil Evžen. The horse doesn't return to the shed. The boys now have a go-kart and can visit Ferda at the farm, where the horse will be much happier.

Film online

Cast

Jan Potměšil

dvojče Petr Skořepa

Kamil Roedl

dvojče Pavel Skořepa

Milena Dvorská

maminka Skořepová

Jan Faltýnek

řidič sanitky Toník Skořepa, otec kluků

Jana Švandová

sousedka Rozkošná

Ladislav Mrkvička

strážmistr VB

Petra Dvořáková

Mihule, kamarádka dvojčat

Zora Vesecká

dívka s ohonem

Jan Jetmar

Evžen, spolužák dvojčat

Berenika Novotná

Regina

Jiří Bruder

ředitel školy

Věra Koktová

vedoucí Sběrných surovin

Jiří Petkov

tlouštík Oloušek

Dáša Neblechová

tlouštíkova matka

Antonín Jedlička

on sám, strýček Jedlička

Marie Štichová

asistentka

Michal Truxa

Jarda

Zdeňka Čortová

Jedličkovci

Ludvík Faruga

Jedličkovci

Miroslava Janoušková

Jedličkovci

Karel Karas

Jedličkovci

Rudolf Kupka

Jedličkovci

Zdeněk Piskač

Jedličkovci

Václav Podobský

Jedličkovci

Miloš Šustr

Jedličkovci

Jana Žáčková

Jedličkovci

Dagmar Žáčková

Jedličkovci

Jiří Fejfar

brankář

Josef Suk

houslista v televizi

Orchestr Ivo Pavlíka

orchestr

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Karel Brchel

Assistant Director

Robert Vacík, Magda Vodičková

Screenstory

Zdeněk Mahler

Shooting Script

Jiří Hanibal

Director of Photography

Josef Pávek

Second Unit Photography

Kamil Kadeřábek

Camera Operator

Michal Hvozdák

Production Designer

Jaroslav Krška

Assistent Production Designer

František Vokřál

Set Designer

Karel Kracík, Dana Smržová, Miloš Sršeň

Costume Designer

Lída Novotná

Film Editor

Zdeněk Stehlík

Sound Designer

Roman Hloch

Production Manager

Blažej Vráb

Unit Production Manager

Rudolf Mos, Jan Janda, Hana Štefanová

Unit Production Manager

Hana Štefanová

Consultant

Karel Michálek

Cooperation

Helena Kadlecová (klapka), Zdeněk Dukát (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jan Hrábek

Selected Music

Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Pražské smyčce (Music Conducted by Jan Hrábek)

Songs

Nám se to hodí

Song Composer Jan Hrábek
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav Machek
Singer Věra Špinarová

Production info

Original Title

Neohlížej se, jde za námi kůň!

Czech Title

Neohlížej se, jde za námi kůň!

English Title

Don’t Look Round, a Horse Follows Us!

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children, comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1979

Production Year

1979

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 25 May 1979
start of filming 18 June 1979
technical Screenplay approved 3 July 1979
end of filming 4 December 1979
projection approval 14 December 1979
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1991

Premiere

premiere 2 January 1981 /suitable for youths/

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

73 min

Original length in metres

2 086 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