IMDb RATING
7.4/10
12K
YOUR RATING
A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn spite of many claims the film was banned in Czechoslovakia by the communists in power at the time, it was not. It actually sold over 750,000 tickets in the country and was shown on state-controlled television in 1969.
- Quotes
Gray-haired Committee Member: The lottery has been stolen.
Joska, Committee Member: Gentlemen, there is one fact: if the people stole it, they cannot win it.
Committee Member: Don't talk like that, Joska. What about those people who bought the tickets honestly and didn't steal anything?
Joska, Committee Member: They should have stolen.
- Alternate versionsIn the United States, this film was shown in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions.
- ConnectionsEdited into CzechMate: In Search of Jirí Menzel (2018)
Featured review
Superb lost comedy
Reaching 70 years young in a few weeks, I was thinking about some of the films I most enjoyed when young and would I still enjoy them now? The Fireman's Ball seems to be a lost comedy here in the UK. It never pops up on TV and does not appear in film festivals or revival houses.What a loss to those who were not alive in 1967. If your a Brit reading this think Dad's Army and then fireman instead and your nearly there.Its country of origin is Czechoslovakia,with a little help from Italy, a big hit with a best foreign film Oscar, a running time of 73 mins and not one minute wasted.A town's fire department celebrating with a ball to honour it's retired elderly chief, a beauty contest and a large table with raffle prizes that vanish one by one, that's it,but oh boy it is good, totally droll and very funny.The punchline at it's end maybe posted but who cares. If only some of the comedies today knew when to stop. Really pleased that this was one old film I rerented.
helpful•74
- mikelang42
- Sep 14, 2011
- How long is The Firemen's Ball?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Firemen's Ball and Lottery
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $65,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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