''Riders of the Sky'' () is a Czechoslovak movie directed by Jindřich Polák in 1968 about Czechoslovak pilots in

No. 311 Squadron RAF No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF was a Demographics of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-manned bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force in the World War II, Second World War. It was the RAF's only Czechoslovak-manned medium bomber, medium and heav ...

service during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

, and the ongoing aerial battle in

northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

Production

The movie is based on the 1964 novel ''Nebeští jezdci'' by Czech World War II RAF and Soviet Air Force air gunner Richard Husmann, writing as Filip Jánský. Part of the inspiration for the novel was the story of ,

gunner and later No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF pilot, and a member of Guinea Pig Club. In 1969

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

published an English translation of the book as ''Riders in the Sky''. The name of the book was inspired by a country song '' Riders in the Sky'' by American songwriter Stan Jones. The song can be heard in the movie. It was filmed at Klecany military airfield north of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, English park at Dobříš Chateau, Prague hospital U Apolináře and Rügen island in Germany. Some of the aerial shots were from a 1941 documentary film '' Target for Tonight''.

Cast

* Jiří Bednář as Sgt. Malý, nicknamed "Študent" * Jiří Hrzán as Sgt. Novák, nicknamed "Prcek" * Svatopluk Matyáš as Pilot Pavel Kolár * Elsie Randolph as Nurse Henderson * Charles Cameron as Bradley * Jana Nováková as Patricia Watkinson, WAAF member * Joan Seton as Watkinson's mother * Winston Chrislock as Navigator Tommy * Vojtěch Holý as Navigator George * Josef Váša as Second pilot Frank

Release

The movie premiere took place in

Kolín Kolín (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monume ...

on November 15, 1968. Several members of Czechoslovak RAF Squadrons were present, including Air Marshal Karel Janoušek, KCB. The film was released to distribution on December 20, 1968, but in February 1969 it was banned.

Reception

''Nebeští jezdci'' is often referred as the best Czech war film.

References

External links