Lucy Again

Country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany

Copyright

1983

Production year

1979—1980, 1983

Premiere

1 December 1984

Runtime

82 min

Category

film

Genre

children, comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

...a zase ta Lucie!

Czech title

...a zase ta Lucie!

English title

Lucy Again

Co-production title

Luzie, der Schrecken der Strasse

Summary

The director Jindřich Polák and screenwriter Ota Hofman worked together frequently on television and film series for children. Besides the stories of Pan Tau (Tau) and Chobotnice ze II. Patra (Octopuses from the Second Floor), they also made two film comedies about a little girl called Lucie. These had been preceded by the television series Luzie, der Schrecken der Straße, which had been commissioned by West German television and made in 1980. These six half-hour stories, which Czech Television did not screen at the time, were not seen in this country until 1984, when they were compiled into two feature-length films – Lucie, postrach ulice (Lucy, Terror of the Street) and …a zase ta Lucie! (Lucy Again). In the second of these films, the six-year-old heroine gets into more scrapes with the plasticine men called Ferda and Ferda. In the previous work, the young girl, who is supposed to be entering first grade after the holidays, met with the two playdough chaps in a shopping centre. This resulted in her taking over the leadership of a kid’s gang from Osvald, a nasty boy from the neighbourhood. He is now set on having his revenge. However, when he takes possession of the magical playdough men, it only complicates matters. The homunculi continue with their roguishness even after returning to Lucie… Besides the animated plasticine men, who are the main attraction of the popular children’s film, Žaneta Fuchsová also shines in the title role. She was already an experienced film actress at that time, who also worked with Jindřich Polák while shooting the aforementioned Octopuses and the film Tau (1988). The role of Osvald was played by Michael Hofbauer, whom the director had already tested out in those films about the magical man with a bowler hat. The popular actor who played Mr Tau, Otto Šimánek, appears in the film as a store detective from the shopping centre. A young Mahulena Bočanová can also be seen in one of the smaller children’s roles. The playdough men were dubbed by Jiřina Bohdalová and Josef Dvořák while Daniela Kolářová and Jaromír Hanzlík played the young heroine’s parents.

Synopsis

Thanks to two plasticine puppets, the six-year old Lucie can play with a party of older children living in the same street. The orange Ferda and the green Ferda have magical powers to change the world around the little girl and they also protect her from her neighbour – the boy Osvald. Osvald cannot forgive Lucie that he is not the leader of the children's gang any more, and steels the puppets from her by a trick. But the two puppets make life difficult for him. They ravage the dainties prepared for a family celebration and also totally discredit Osvald's piano performance. The sweet-toothed Ferdas then continue with their monkey business even after their return to Lucie, who is at home alone at the end of the summer holidays. A shocked refrigerator repairer destroys an electrical circuit just at the sight of them, and the flat thus must be visited over time by an electrician, TV repairer, glazier, plumber and even a paper-hanger. Lucie persuades her grandfather, who came to watch over her, to return the stolen box of plasticine, from which Ferda & Ferda "originated", to a department store. But they must then buy it back so that Lucie does not have to part with her beloved puppets. The action succeeds even in spite of a slight hiccup. The first school day arrives. The parents and the grandfather have, however, overslept, and the courageous and self-reliant Lucie sets off to school alone. The deeply touched adults arrive in front of the school at the last moment. But they did not park right and a policeman forces them to get out of the car. It shows that both the parents and the grandfather are still wearing their pyjamas. Ferda & Ferda then accompany Lucie to school as small apples into which they easily changed.

Note

The film Lucy, the Bugbear of the Street and its sequel Lucy Again were cut for cinema screening from the originally six-episodes series filmed by the Film Studio Barrandov for West-German television. The series was first shown under the title Luzie der Schrecken der Strasse by Westdeutscher Rundfunk in October 1980. The individual epizodes are listed in German sources as follows: 1. Luzie der Schrecken der Strasse, 2. Luzie kommt zur Schule, 3. Luzie und der Sommerschnee, 4. Luzie geht durch die Stadt, 5. Luzie und die schönen Zahnschmerzen, 6. Luzie und Friedrich & Friedrich.

Cast

Žaneta Fuchsová

Lucie Krausová

Daniela Kolářová

Luciina maminka, zubařka

Jaromír Hanzlík

Rudolf Kraus, Luciin tatínek

Jiří Pleskot

MUDr. Kraus, Luciin dědeček

Michael Hofbauer

Osvald Richter

Hana Maciuchová

Krista Richterová, Osvaldova maminka

František Filipovský

prodavač zeleniny

Jiří Hrzán

Voice by Roman Skamene
profesor hudby Hartmann

Jiří D. Novotný

prodavač Party James

Václav Lohniský

Voice by Ivo Niederle
televizní opravář

Luděk Kopřiva

kadeřník

Karel Augusta

opravář lednic Šmíd

Pavel Zedníček

elektrikář

Karel Effa

elektrikář

Saša Pirná

Maruška

Ota Bláha

kluk

Pavel Miko

kluk

Petr Nárožný

Oskarův otec

Otto Šimánek

detektiv obchodního domu

Zdeněk Dítě

ředitel obchodního domu

Václav Kotva

zákazník s tapetami

Eugen Jegorov

sklenář

Oskar Hák

sklenář

Vanda Švarcová

Voice by Jitka Zelenohorská
dispečerka firmy Arnold

Vladimír Hrabánek

zákazník Kos

Josef Šebek

Voice by Petr Pospíchal
vedoucí dispečinku Novák

Markéta Krbušková

dívka v obchodním domě

Jaroslav Tomsa

Voice by Milan Neděla
gangster v televizi

Raoul Schránil

starší muž v obchodním domě

Ela Šárková

starší žena v obchodním domě

Gert K. Müntefering

Voice by Milan Mach
profesor Maruška v televizi

Commentary

Dubbing

Jiřina Bohdalová

hlas zeleného formeláka Ferdy

Josef Dvořák

hlas oranžového formeláka Ferdy

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Milan Vácha

Screenstory

Ota Hofman

Director of Photography

Josef Vaniš, Jiří Vojta (animovaná část)

Second Unit Photography

Václav Helliman

Camera Operator

Bohumil Vodička

Production Designer

Karel Černý

Set Designer

Miloslav Dvořák, Matthaei Bettina /loutky/

Make-Up Artist

Vladimír Petřina

Animation

Seishi Katto, Vladimír Plicka, Otmar Gutmann

Production Manager

Jan Šuster

Unit Production Manager

Miloslav Doležal, Jarmila Benešová (2), Jaroslav Bouček, Zuzana Kovaříková

Cooperation

Josef Vítek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Angelo Michajlov

Selected Music

Ludwig van Beethoven (Pro Elišku /Für Elise/ – klavírní skladba a moll)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Production info

Original Title

...a zase ta Lucie!

Czech Title

...a zase ta Lucie!

English Title

Lucy Again

Co-production Title

Luzie, der Schrecken der Strasse

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children, comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany

Copyright

1983

Production Year

1979—1980, 1983

Production specifications

technical Screenplay approved 1982
start of filming 1 August 1983 (sestřih do podoby filmu)
end of filming 25 November 1983 (sestřih do podoby filmu)
projection approval 6 January 1984
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1994

Premiere

premiere 1 December 1984 /suitable for youths/

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

4. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Stanislav Rudolf (vedoucí 4. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

82 min

Original length in metres

2 358 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

Awards

Vítěz

Exhibition: 16. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří

1984
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia
Michael Hofbauer

Vítěz

Exhibition: 16. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří

1984
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia
Žaneta Fuchsová