Three Nuts for Cinderella

Czechoslovakia 1973, 85 min.

Director: Václav Vorlíček. Screenplay: František Pavlíček, Václav Vorlíček. Director of photography: Josef Illík. Film editor: Miroslav Hájek, Barbara Leuschner. Music: Karel Svoboda, Architect: Oldřich Bosák, Alfred Thomalla. Cast: Libuše Šafránková, Pavel Trávníček, Carola Braunbock, Rolf Hoppe, Karin Lesch, Dana Hlaváčová, Jan Libíček, Vítězslav Jandák, Vladimír Menšík.

A favorite of audiences, Three Nuts for Cinderella, with a screenplay by František Pavlíček, was coproduced by the then German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia. The modern treatment, humorous perspective and charming cast enthralled audiences, domestic and abroad. Royal balls, magic hazelnuts and lost slippers are only fragments of the many attributes of this well-loved film which, not for its winter atmosphere alone, has become an emblematic must-see at Christmas time.

Three Nuts for Cinderella, coproduced by Barradov Film Studio and Studio DEFY, was shot by director Václav Vorlíček. To tell the tale of Cinderella is quite unnecessary – we are all very familiar with it. It carries us back into the realm of fairytales. Vorlička’s Cinderella, based on the story by Božena Němcová, differs from the original in that it is not strictly the tale of Cinderella. Yes, three nuts do fall straight into her lap, but she does not wait passively for her fortune to come to her. A nimble rider and a good shot, the world lies at her feet.

[E. Kincelová (1973): From the World of Stories. Práca 28, no. 237 (16. 11.), pg. 6.]