Cathy and the Ghosts

Country

Czech Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Copyright

1992

Production year

1991—1992

Premiere

18 March 1993

Runtime

84 min

Category

film

Genre

children, fantastic, comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Kačenka a strašidla

Czech title

Kačenka a strašidla

English title

Cathy and the Ghosts

Co-production title

Katja und die Gespenster / Katja und die Gespenster / Katja und die Gespenster

Working title

Kačenka a duchové

Summary

Modern fairy tale. During her short sojourn in the hospital the little schoolgirl Cathy meets grandpa Swoboda who tells her fairy-tales about ghosts. After some time he surprised her and gifted her with the House of Horrors in Vienna which is full of spooky figures.

Synopsis

The little school girl, Kačenka Mahlerová, finds herself in hospital with an acute appendix. In order not to be sad after the operation, another patient, the old man Franz Swoboda, who is in hospital because of his heart, tells her fairy tales. After some time the Mahler's family gets a letter from a notary. Mr. Swoboda left Kačenka real estate in Vienna. But in the Austrian capital, the Mahlers find out that it was a kind of Greek gift. It is a closed and moss-grown House of Horror, a former attraction of the amusement park in Prater. The owner of a shooting gallery, Mrs. Seidlová, tells them that two profiteers have an itch for the ground under the house. They want to build a gambling house there instead. Kačenka is the only one who believes in ghosts, so she manages to liven up three dummies for an hour by pendulum. The hypnotist, Caligari, the beautiful Elvíra and the witch Berta become friends with Kačenka. Two villains try to destroy the attraction, but the livened up ghosts punish them. On top of that, Caligari forces them to pay for the transport of the dismantled house to Bohemia. Boxes with parts of the house and the dummies are put by carrier in the garden of the house belonging to Kačenka's grandparents and her uncle Pavel, a village postmaster. Caligari builds the house at night. Neighbours are shocked, although the house does not have its usual spooky equipment. The father wants to rebuild the house for living. Berta changes into a dog and they set off with Elvíra and Caligari to Prague.

Note

Based on the co-production TV series, two films for cinema were made: Cathy and the Ghosts and Cathy and Those Ghosts Again. The individual parts of the series have German titles: 1. Das Schloss in Wien, 2. Die Zauberuhr, 3. Spass ohne Grenzen, 4. Das seltsame Haus, 5. Spurensuche, 6. Unsichtbare Untermieter, 7. Das grosse Theater, 8. Bitte recht schrecklich!

Cast

Helena Vitovská

Voice by Klára Šumanová
Kačenka Mahlerová

Jiří Schmitzer

Petr Mahler, Kačenčin otec

Jana Krausová

Mahlerová, Kačenčina matka

Svatopluk Beneš

hypnotizér dr. Caligari, figurína z Domu hrůzy

Jiřina Bohdalová

čarodějnice Berta, figurína z Domu hrůzy

Eva Vejmělková

krásná Elvíra, figurína z Domu hrůzy

Lubomír Kostelka

děda Franz Swoboda, majitel Domu hrůzy

Josef Somr

notář Weber

Gabriela Wilhelmová

majitelka střelnice Seidlová

Jan Jiráň

strýc Pavel Mahler, Petrův bratr

Alena Kreuzmannová

babička Mahlerová, Petrova a Pavlova matka

Vítězslav Jandák

padouch Ludvík

Pavel Nový

padouch Rössel

Carmen Mayerová

vrchní sestra Fleischerová

Hana Čížková

zdravotní sestra Anna

Miroslava Hozová

zdravotní sestra Marie

Elena Strupková

Voice by Veronika Žilková
zdravotní sestra Renata

Petr Pospíchal

řidič nákladního auta

Evžen Illín

Voice by Vlastimil Zavřel
závozník

Jiřina Třebická

Rudiho žena

Jiří Žák

starší pacient

Zdeněk Srstka

majitel nabouraného auta

Jiří Krytinář

dvouhlavý muž

Commentary

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Stanislav Rovný

Continuity

Pavla Marková

Screenstory

Ota Hofman

Screenplay

Jindřich Polák, Václav Šašek (spolupráce na scénáři)

Shooting Script

Jindřich Polák

Director of Photography

Josef Vaniš

Second Unit Photography

Václav Helliman

Production Designer

Jindřich Goetz

Assistent Production Designer

Bohumil Nový

Art Director

Ivo Houf (figuríny), Radek Houf (figuríny), Šárka Hejnová (figuríny), Zdeněk Deyl (figuríny)

Set Designer

Bedřich Čermák (vedoucí výpravy), Jaroslav Lehman (rekvizitář), Karel Kočí (rekvizitář), Rudolf Beneš (rekvizitář)

Costume Designer

Šárka Hejnová

Costumes

Ludmila Ondráčková (vedoucí kostymérka), Dana Chaloupková (vedoucí kostymérka), Mária Hubáčková, Marta Jenčová

Film Editor

Dalibor Lipský

Sound Designer

Karel Jaroš

Producer

Jan Šuster (Filmové studio Barrandov)

Production Manager

Pavel Nový

Production Supervisor

Zdeňka Králíková

Cooperation

Adriana Jánská (klapka), Antonín Heřman (vrchní osvětlovač), Jan Kuděla (fotograf), Jaromír Vaverka, J. Fiala

Music

Music Composed by

Karel Svoboda

Selected Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Kouzelná flétna)

Music Performed by

Elektrovox Praha, FISYO

Songs

Strašidla, strašidla

Song Composer Karel Svoboda
Writer of Lyrics Jindřich Polák
Singer Svatopluk BenešJiřina BohdalováEva Vejmělková

Production info

Original Title

Kačenka a strašidla

Czech Title

Kačenka a strašidla

English Title

Cathy and the Ghosts

Co-production Title

Katja und die Gespenster / Katja und die Gespenster / Katja und die Gespenster

Working Title

Kačenka a duchové

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children, fantastic, comedy

Origin country

Czech Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Copyright

1992

Production Year

1991—1992

Production specifications

end of filming 10/1991

Premiere

premiere 18 March 1993 /suitable for youths/ (kino Praha, Praha)

Distribution slogan

A Czech film directed by Jindřich Polák for children and the whole family. Czech comedy about the House of Horrors and of ghosts who are unemployed.

Production

Filmové studio Barrandov, Producentské centrum Jana Šustera (Filmové studio Barrandov), Bayerischer Rundfunk München (koprodukce), SWF Baden-Baden (koprodukce), Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln am Rhein (koprodukce), ORF Wien (koprodukce), DRS Zürich (koprodukce), AB Barrandov

Distribution

Space films

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

84 min

Distribution carrier

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: 25. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti a 1. přehlídka televizní tvorby pro děti Ostrov

1993
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czech Republic
Helena Vitovská

Vítěz

Exhibition: 25. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti a 1. přehlídka televizní tvorby pro děti Ostrov

1993
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czech Republic

Vítěz

Exhibition: 25. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti a 1. přehlídka televizní tvorby pro děti Ostrov

1993
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czech Republic
Jiřina Bohdalová