The legendary fairy tale Three Nuts for Cinderella has been an essential symbol of Christmas for decades, but few people realize that it is not just a Czechoslovak miracle. The film was created as a Czech-German co-production, and in addition to domestic stars, German actors also played in it, thanks to which Cinderella fell in love with the audience not only here, but also abroad. Actors’ fees differed significantly, writes the website.
The Germans initially wanted to save money, but they did not succeed. Problems with the financing of the fairy tale came at the beginning, and the budget increased with each shooting day. The first complications were caused by the ball scene. The decorations designed in Germany were so economical that at the instigation of the Czech side, everything had to be changed in order for the fairy tale to have sufficient shine.
The original budget was supposed to be 3.5 million crowns. During the filming, however, it increased by half a million crowns. In today’s terms, it would be roughly 2,882,912 euros. However, the investment paid off and continues to generate large profits for all involved.
Director Václav Vorlíček’s fee was 40,000 crowns, for what, for example, a house could be bought at that time. At the end of his life, he revealed that he collected 3 million crowns every year for the copyright of the fairy tale. “I have a lot of films that have been playing for twenty, thirty years. The royalties come in one package. It adds up to a decent amount, which would be enough to live on, even if I didn’t work anymore. But for me, the biggest reward is always not the fee, but the fact that people laugh,” he said in the book Three Nuts for Cinderella.
Screenwriter František Pavlíček collected 26,000 crowns and composer Karel Svoboda received 40,000 crowns. Thanks to the fact that the fairy tale was broadcast every year all over the world, they also received large sums of money every year.
Actors’ fees depended on how they were evaluated by the highest communist leadership in the then totalitarian regime. Whoever received the title of National Artist from them could receive 1,300 crowns for one day of filming. The deserving artist had 800 crowns in one day. The fees of other actors averaged 400 crowns per day in the 1970s.
The only actor with the title of National Artist was Vladimír Menšík († 58). An important award was given to him in memoriam, i.e. after his death. However, the year 1974, when he received the honorary title of Meritorious Artist, is also sometimes mentioned.
In the fairy tale, many scenes took place outside. Filming was marked by extremely cold weather and temperatures dropped to -17 degrees Celsius, while the actors were in skimpy costumes. “When we were shooting outside the studio, then outside, like that at that time there was a 33 percent surcharge for each day,” revealed actor Jan Kuželka, who often collaborated with Vorlíček.
