The Firemen's Ball (1967) on Netflix
A small town's volunteer fire brigade holds a ball for its former chairman, with a raffle and a beauty contest. Raffle prizes go missing, and the organizers press on with the evening.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb7.3/1013,491 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
In a small Czechoslovak town, the volunteer fire brigade stages a ball in the town hall, with a raffle and a beauty pageant. The raffle prizes sit on a table guarded by one of the brigade's elderly members. For their retired chairman's birthday the firefighters plan to present a small ceremonial axe; he has cancer, and they believe he has not been told. The bickering committee picks eight young women from the room to compete in the contest, and one man bribes them to include his homely daughter. The winner is to make the presentation. Josef, one of the firefighters, notices that several raffle prizes have gone from the table, among them a cake, a bottle of cognac and a head cheese.
Cast
- Ladislav Adamas Clen plesového výboru
- Vratislav Cermákas Clen plesového výboru
- Václav Novotnýas Clen plesového výboru
- Frantisek Paskaas Clen plesového výboru
- Frantisek Reinsteinas Clen plesového výboru
- Josef Rehorekas Clen plesového výboru
- J. Řeháčekas Commitee Member
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Firemen's Ball (1967)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Italian producer Carlo Ponti pulled his financing after taking umbrage at the film, leaving Miloš Forman facing a possible 10 years in prison for "economic damage to the state"; a chance meeting with Claude Berri led to François Truffaut buying the international rights and saving the film.
- After Loves of a Blonde, Miloš Forman and co-writers Ivan Passer and Jaroslav Papoušek went to a hotel in the north Bohemian town of Vrchlabí to write their next screenplay, but a real firemen's ball they attended one evening was such a "nightmare" that they abandoned the script and started this one.
- On release, fire companies across Czechoslovakia protested that the film was an attack on their integrity, so Forman and his team toured the country to dispel the literal reading, and Czechoslovak Communist party members objected to its cynical tone.
- After being shown in Czechoslovak cinemas during the reformist Prague Spring, the film was banned following the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact countries.
- To capture the actors' natural voices, the set had to be silent during dialogue scenes: the band only pretended to play and the dancing couples wore wool socks or slippers.
- According to Miloš Forman, it was Italian film producer Carlo Ponti's $65,000 that allowed the film to be shot in color.
- The Firemen's Ball was the last film Miloš Forman made in his native Czechoslovakia before he relocated to the United States, and the first film he shot in color.
