Stroke the Cat’s Ears

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1985

Production year

1985

Premiere

1 September 1986

Runtime

82 min

Director

Josef Pinkava

Genre

children, music, comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Pohlaď kočce uši

Czech title

Pohlaď kočce uši

English title

Stroke the Cat’s Ears

Working title

Marta

Summary

It was in 1985 that old hand Josef Pinkava expanded his director’s portfolio of films with this summer holiday comedy about an Ostrava girls’ choir. Following a mistake made by the choirmaster František Přikryl, the company of singers sets out on a peculiar “tour”. František has confused the date of the singing contest – and both the choir and its leader are reluctant to return home immediately. They decide to give performances wherever takes their fancy, something which of course affects their repertoire. While at the disco, a parody of a Naďa Urbánková song wins praise, while at the chateau the audience is captivated by Gounod’s classical composition Ave Maria. Meanwhile, a duel breaks out between the two soloists, Marta and Gábina, though it concludes with both a musical and personal reconciliation… This movie, starring Zdeněk Řehoř as the choirmaster, draws on a frivolous summer ambience and musical performances staged in appealing settings (including Prachov Rocks and Chateau Humprecht near Sobotka).

Synopsis

A girls' choir of the Community Centre in Ostrava, headed by choirmaster František Přikryl, prepares for a contest to be held in the village of Kamenice-under-Trosky. Two fourteen-year old girls excelling among the singers are Marta and Gábina. As soon as the choir arrives in Kamenice, it turns out that Přikryl made a mistake and the contest will take place in only two months. But both Přikryl and the girls do not want to return to Ostrava. They find lodgings and the financial manager Dostál and the choirmaster try to find a place for the choir to perform. In the meantime, the girls rehearse at various places and attract the attention of the local boys. Their concert in military quarters is interrupted by a practice alarm and the girls are left alone. At an evening disco, Marta sings Smetana's Nightingale Song but the youngsters prefer Gábina's parody of the popular Naďa Urbánková's Nothing Special. This makes Marta unhappy and she cannot even be comforted by the little Míša who offers her to stroke her plush cat for luck. Out of sadness and anger, Marta destroys Gábina's dress for the performance, cutting off its sleeves. In the Humprecht château, Marta enthuses the listeners with her rendition of Gounod's Ave Maria, and she is even praised by Gábina for it. Marta puts on Gábina's ruined dress and the two girls sing together a melody from Tchaikovsky’s Concerto B Flat Minor. The tour thus turns successful even despite the initial difficulties and then, during a trip to the Prachovské Rocks, they all fancy singing together amidst the unique sandstone rock town.

Photos

Cast

Jana Páleníčková

nejmladší sboristka Míša Kratochvílová

Zuzana Krupicová

Voice by Ilona Svobodová
sólistka Marta Skálová

Markéta Zmožková

sólistka Gábina Šámalová

Rostislav Prochovník

David Palička, Pavlin bratr

Jiří Devát

Jožin Řezníček zvaný Travolta

Martin Krb

fotbalista Dan Kroupa

Zdeněk Řehoř

sbormistr František Přikryl

Regina Zahradníková

předsedkyně sboru Pavla Paličková

Vlasta Myšková

Bedřiška Holinová zvaná Vzorňačka

Marta Spirová

Hedvika Buchalová zvaná Vzorňačka

Bronislav Poloczek

organizátor Josef Dostál zvaný Tarzan

Jana Drbohlavová

úřednice Anička Kroupová, matka Dana

Jiřina Jelenská

zdravotnice Zdenička Čapilová zvaná Zrzka

Karel Heřmánek

kulturní referent MNV Vycpálek

Lubor Tokoš

hlídač v třešňovém sadu

Štefan Skrúcaný

Voice by Oldřich Kaiser
diskžokej John Řezníček, Jožinův bratr

Jiří Kvasnička

klavírista sboru Karel Šebestík

Jiří Tomek

vrchní v zahradní restauraci

Svatopluk Matyáš

major v kasárnách

Jiří Zobač

průvodce ve skalním městě

Stanislav Balcar

kastelán zámku Humprecht

Naděžda Letenská

Míšina babička

Jan Laibl

divák

Miroslav Mikulička

Bobby

Zdeňka Macková

úřednice zájmové umělecké činnosti Cibulková

Andrea Bujoková

Zuzana Paličková