Three Wishes for Cinderella

Tři oříšky pro Popelku (German: Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel, English: Three Nuts for Cinderella, Three Gifts for Cinderella [UK title] and Three Wishes for Cinderella) is a Czechoslovak/East German fairy-tale film from 1973. It was directed by Václav Vorlíček in co-production between DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme and Barrandov Studios. The story was based on a fairy tale written by Božena Němcová (a Bohemian variation of the classic Cinderella fairytale). The main roles were played by Libuše Šafránková and Pavel Trávníček. The film was shot at the DEFA studios in Babelsberg (Brandenburg), in the Barrandov studios in Prague, and various places in Bohemia in what was then Czechoslovakia, like the Švihov castle in western Bohemia, and the Bohemian Forest, as well as the Schloss Moritzburg in Saxony. The film was released in a Czech and a German version. The ensemble was composed of Czech and German actors all speaking their native languages. In the respective editions, they were dubbed to Czech or German. The film had its international première in East Berlin in 1973. An edited, English dubbed version under the title Three Nuts for Cinderella aired in the United States on the CBS Children's Film Festival in 1974. The film has become, much like Dinner for One, a holiday classic in several European countries. It is shown on TV around Christmas time every year in the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, and sometimes Russia. This film has likened its status to that held by Frank Capra's 1946 It's a Wonderful Life in the United States as a holiday staple. Theodor Pištěk designed the costumes for the film.