The Incredibly Sad Princess

Lore & Background

It was televised in the United Kingdom by the BBC as The Madly Sad Princess with Gary Watson voicing a narration over the original Czech dialogue; like many such series it was brought in by Peggy Miller.

Reader's Guide

Prince Václav goes with his father on an engagement to a neighbouring 'merry' kingdom, but he does not want to get married at all. His father, the king, promised to marry him off to Princess Helena as part of a peace agreement with the neighbouring kingdom. So Prince Václav, on the pretext of going to the bathroom, escapes from the royal carriage and rides a borrowed cow to see the princess on his own. He secretly enters the princess's castle garden, climbs a tree to get a better view of the princess's chambers, falls into a pond, and in the process unwittingly meets Princess Helena. He is then caught by the castle guards and imprisoned. The king lies for the sake of the neighbouring king, making excuses and feeling ashamed of the prince who has escaped. He says his son is ill. Gradually he becomes entangled in his lies. But the princess falls in love with the unknown prisoner, unaware that he is Prince Václav, her future fiancé. In order to cancel her expected engagement to a prince she does not yet know, she feigns sadness and declares that she will only marry a man who makes her laugh. Coincidentally, without his knowing it, Prince Václav succeeds. His incognito is thus revealed, however, and Princess Helena is briefly offended by this and has Václav imprisoned again and formally sentenced to execution - but in fact he is never executed in the 'merry' kingdom. Two royal advisors, Y and X, announce that the prince and princess do not want each other. Eventually, the two kings are told that Prince Wenceslas is in prison and that means there will be war. Two generals, namely former advisors X and Y, take command of both armies. The prince and princess immediately reconcile and capture the two generals in the night, ending the war. The film ends with Prince Václav handing over control of both kingdoms and getting married. The treacherous generals and counsellors X and Y are punished as they deserve.

Did You Know?

• The film stars Helena Vondráčková as Princess Helena and Václav Neckář as Prince Václav.
• Songs in the movie were composed by Jan Hammer.
• The film was televised in the UK by the BBC as The Madly Sad Princess.

Production & Creative Vision

The Incredibly Sad Princess, known in its original Czech as Šíleně smutná princezna, arrived in 1968 as a product of Czechoslovak cinema at a pivotal moment in the country's cultural history. The film was helmed by director Bořivoj Zeman, who shaped the project around a lead pairing of Helena Vondráčková and Václav Neckář, two performers whose names would become synonymous with Czech musical comedy. The supporting cast included veteran actors Jaroslav Marvan and Josef Kemr, lending gravitas to the more scheming roles. Perhaps most notably, the musical score was composed by Jan Hammer, whose work gave the film its distinctive melodic identity. The combination of Zeman's direction, Hammer's compositions, and the chemistry between the leads created a film that balanced political satire with lighthearted romance, establishing it as a memorable entry in the Czechoslovak film catalogue of the late 1960s.

Plot & Narrative Arc

The narrative centers on Prince Václav, who resists a politically arranged marriage to Princess Helena, a union his father King Dobromysl has pledged to a neighboring 'merry' kingdom as a peace agreement. Rather than submit, the prince flees the royal carriage under the guise of a bathroom break and rides a borrowed cow to the princess's castle. His clumsy attempt to spy on Helena—climbing a tree, tumbling into a pond—leads to an accidental meeting and his subsequent capture. The king, desperate to cover his son's escape, tells the neighboring monarch his heir is ill, spiraling into an ever-growing web of lies. Meanwhile, Princess Helena, unaware of the prisoner's true identity, falls for him and declares she will only wed a man who can make her laugh. The prince unwittingly fulfills this condition, exposing his identity. After a brief imprisonment and a formal but never carried-out death sentence, the two reconcile and together capture the treacherous advisors X and Y, who had escalated the situation toward war. The film closes with the prince ceding control of both kingdoms and marrying Helena.

UK Broadcast & International Life

Beyond its Czechoslovak release, The Incredibly Sad Princess found a second life on British television. The BBC broadcast the film under the English title The Madly Sad Princess, a translation that slightly shifts the tone from 'incredibly' to 'madly,' lending a touch of British whimsy to the original. Rather than dubbing the dialogue, the broadcast preserved the original Czech audio and layered a narration performed by Gary Watson over the proceedings, guiding English-speaking viewers through the plot. The acquisition was handled by Peggy Miller, a figure who brought numerous foreign-language series to UK screens during this era. This approach—narration over untranslated dialogue—was characteristic of how the BBC introduced continental European cinema to domestic audiences in the late 1960s and 1970s, allowing viewers to experience the film's music and performances in their original form while still following the story. The broadcast gave the film a modest but meaningful international audience, extending its reach well beyond the borders of Czechoslovakia.

Ensemble Cast & Character Dynamics

Beyond the central romantic pair, The Incredibly Sad Princess features a rich ensemble that drives both the comedy and the political intrigue. Bohuš Záhorský portrays King Dobromysl, the well-meaning but increasingly flustered father who must paper over his son's escapades with increasingly elaborate lies. Jaroslav Marvan takes on King Jindřich, the neighboring monarch whose pride and diplomatic sensitivities are tested by the unfolding chaos. The scheming advisors X and Y, played by Josef Kemr and Darek Vostřel respectively, serve as the film's principal antagonists, their machinations ultimately pushing the two kingdoms toward the brink of war. František Dibarbora appears as the Executioner, a role that carries darkly comic weight given the prince's never-actually-carried-out death sentence. Oldřich Dědek plays Kokoška, Stella Zázvorková the Nanny, and Branislav Koreň appears as Janek, rounding out a cast that gives the film a warm, theatrical texture typical of Czechoslovak musical comedies of the period.