Pushchik Goes to Prague

Soviet director Lev Golub was involved in two Czech coproductions – humorous children’s story Puščik jede do Prahy (Pushchik Goes to Prague, 1965) and the wartime drama Borisek malý seržant (Little Boris, a Sergeant, 1975). The eponymous hero of the first film is a bear cub, which a Belorussian boy Jura promised to give to a Czech girl named Zdena at the international “Pioneers” (scouting) camp Artěk. Together with his friend Michas, Jura goes to the forest to find a suitable baby bear, which after various incidents ends up in Prague. Equally important of course is the search for a former partisan who fought the Nazis alongside the father of Michas … The screenwriters of the film – they included the Czech Jiří Plachetka – represent the friendship between the children as a natural continuation of the good relations between the Soviets and Czechs that began during the war. Making her debut in the role of an air hostess is Hana Brejchová, Forman’s “blonde” in Lásky jedné plavovlásky (Loves of a Blonde, 1965).