How I Unleashed World War II

How I Unleashed World War II
How I Unleashed World War II
	Polish DVD cover
Directed by	Tadeusz Chemielewski
Screenplay by	Tadeusz Chmielewski
Based on	The Adventures of Dolas the Cannoneer ; by Kazimierz Sławiński
Produced by	Ludgierd Romanis
Starring	Marian Kociniak
Cinematography	Jerzy Stawicki
Edited by	Janina Niedźwiecka
Music by	Jerzy Matuszkiewicz
Production; company	Zespoły Filmowe
Release date	2 April 1970
Running time	224 minutes
Country	Poland
Languages	Polish ; German ; Serbo-Croat ; Greek ; English ; French ; Italian ; Russian

How I Unleashed World War II (Polish: Jak rozpętałem drugą wojnę światową) is a 1970 Polish comedy film directed by Tadeusz Chmielewski and based on Kazimierz Sławiński's novel "Przygody kanoniera Dolasa" (The Adventures of Dolas the Cannoneer). It was shot in Sochi, Baku, Poświętne and Łódź, among other places.

Synopsis[edit]

The film was divided into three parts:

Część I: Ucieczka (Part I: The Escape)
Część II: Za bronią (Part II: Following the Arms)
Część III: Wśród swoich (Part III: Among Friends)

Originally filmed in black and white, it was digitally colorized in 2001 by the Hollywood company Dynacs Digital Studios, as requested by the Studio Filmowe "Oko" and TV Polsat.^[1]

The film tells the story of a Polish soldier Franciszek (Franek) Dolas, who—as a result of comical coincidences—is convinced that he started the Second World War. Trying to redeem himself at all costs, he constantly gets into new trouble. In doing so, he finds himself on different war fronts (Yugoslavia, Mediterranean Sea, Middle East, Italy) and eventually returns to Poland.

In a particularly famous scene, Dolas is questioned by a German-speaking Gestapo officer in Austria and answers that his name is "Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz"; the officer gets increasingly frustrated trying to write the fictitious Polish name.^[2]^[3]

Cast[edit]

Marian Kociniak – Franek Dolas
Wirgiliusz Gryń – Józek Kryska
Leonard Pietraszak – airman in stalag
Stanisław Milski – German general
Kazimierz Talarczyk – Woydyłło
Jerzy Block – stationmaster
Andrzej Gawroński – Helmut, Gestapo man
Emil Karewicz – Gestapo officer
Henryk Łapiński – Władzio Wachocki
Andrzej Herder – Hans, Gestapo man
Leon Pietraszkiewicz – Herbert Gulke
Jerzy Rogalski – Jędrzej Grzyb, peasant
Mirosław Szonert – gendarme
Mieczysław Stoor – Gestapo man
Jarosław Skulski – colonel in the Polish embassy in Belgrad
Tomasz Zaliwski – Yugoslav officer
Elżbieta Starostecka – singer in the inn
Jerzy Moes – lieutenant Regulski
Andrzej Krasicki – French ship's captain
Wojciech Zagórski – the Turk enrolling on the German ship
Janina Borońska – Elżbieta
Ludwik Benoit – innkeeper
Janusz Kłosiński – innkeeper
Jan Paweł Kruk – sailor
Zdzisław Kuźniar – Dino Stojadinović (Yugoslav ship's captain)
Józef Łodyński – stoker on the Yugoslav ship
Krystyna Borowicz – the brothel owner
Piotr Fronczewski – Italian soldier
Wacław Kowalski – Kiedros, sergeant in French Foreign Legion
Jan Świderski – Letoux, captain in Foreign Legion
Leonard Andrzejewski – soldier in Foreign Legion
Kazimierz Rudzki – captain Ralf Peacoock
Lech Ordon – sergeant Hopkins
Zdzisław Maklakiewicz – Italian soldier
Jerzy Duszyński – Italian soldier
Marian Rułka – British soldier
Joanna Jędryka – Teresa
Małgorzata Pritulak – Mirella
Kazimierz Fabisiak – father Dominik, prior in a monastery
Konrad Morawski – Matula
Zygmunt Zintel – father Sebastian
Halina Buyno-Łoza – Jóźwiakowa
Stanisław Gronkowski – partisan "Wilk" (Wolf)
Aleksander Fogiel – Jóźwiak
Eugeniusz Kamiński – Gestapo man
Ludwik Kasendra – brother Florian

References[edit]

^ "2 kwietnia 1970 roku miała miejsce premiera filmu "Jak rozpętałem drugą wojnę światową" » Historykon.pl". Historykon.pl (in Polish). 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
^ Gliński, Mikołaj (29 July 2016). "The 9 Most Unpronounceable Words in Polish". Culture.pl. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016.
^ Gazur, Łukasz; Strzyga, Lucjan (18 March 2016). "Zmarł niezapomniany Franek Dolas" [The unforgettable Franek Dolas has died]. Dziennik Polski (in Polish). Archived from the original on 22 August 2020.

External links[edit]

How I Unleashed World War II at IMDb

[1] "2 kwietnia 1970 roku miała miejsce premiera filmu "Jak rozpętałem drugą wojnę światową" » Historykon.pl". Historykon.pl (in Polish). 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-11-17.

[Glinski2016-2] Gliński, Mikołaj (29 July 2016). "The 9 Most Unpronounceable Words in Polish". Culture.pl. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016.

[Gazur2016-3] Gazur, Łukasz; Strzyga, Lucjan (18 March 2016). "Zmarł niezapomniany Franek Dolas" [The unforgettable Franek Dolas has died]. Dziennik Polski (in Polish). Archived from the original on 22 August 2020.

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