American agents hijack a plane on the Ostrava-Prague route to launch a campaign against the People's Democratic Czechoslovakia. The plane lands in West Germany, but the Americans have an unexpected problem convincing the hijackers to stay in the West. Based on a true story.
Writing
Dialogue so ideologically loaded it barely functions as conversation.
Production
Authentic 1953 Czechoslovak state-studio aesthetic — gloriously staged.
Acting
Pešek's working-class everyman steals scenes from the American villains.
Director
Elmar Klos
Jiří Dohnal
passenger Horvát, deputy
Ladislav Pešek
passenger Prokop, development worker
Bohuš Záhorský
passenger Ryšánek, associate professor
Jaroslav Mareš
passenger Tonic, fitter
Božena Obrová
passenger Liduška, Toník's wife
Miloš Kopecký
passenger Rychman, musician
Soňa Červená
passenger Grábnerová, the pilot's wife
Rudolf Deyl
passenger Karfík, engineer
František Hanus
passenger, forester
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kadár would defect to the West in 1968; this film's anti-Western stance aged like milk in a sauna.
XC
