Summary
To achieve some economies, Jindřich Polák used costly props designed for his ambitious sci-fi film Ikarie XB 1 (AKA Voyage to the End of the Universe, 1963) in the making of another film, Klaun Ferdinand a raketa (Clown Ferdinand and the Rocket, 1963), a sci-fi for children. The lead character of this family movie was a household name in the 1960s and screenwriter Ota Hofman (who was to become a fixture in Polák’s filmmaking) made sure that Clown Ferdinand gave his young fans plenty of entertainment in his feature-film appearance. Ferdinand (Jiří Vršťala) is a friend to all children. It is thus no wonder that he finds himself inside a space rocket in the company of little Helenka, Honza and Jirka. The foursome soon discover that returning to Earth is no easy task, but Ferdinand eventually succeeds in averting a crash with the Sun and sets the spaceship on a homeward course. The part of Jirka is delivered by experienced child actor Hanuš Bor. Vladimír Horka (Honza) was later cast by Jindřich Polák in three parts of the Pan Tau (Tau) series.
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