The film, in individual episodes, captures the fate of Bedřich Smetana from 1856 until the end of his life, from his young years until the moment when, exhausted by human and artistic hardship, he sees the fulfillment of his great dream, the opening of the National Theatre.
Karel Höger
as Bedřich Smetana
Zdenka Procházková
as Bettyna, Smetana's wife
Jaromír Spal
as writer Jan Neruda
Bedřich Karen
as dr. Ladislav Rieger
Vlasta Fialová
as paní Fröjda
Oldřich Lukeš
as Karel Sabina
Eduard Cupák
as Antonín Dvořák
Jana Rybářová
as writer Eliška Krásnohorská
Libuše Matějová
as Otylie Malá
Eduard Kohout
as dr. K. Sladkovský
Zdeněk Dítě
as poet Vítězslav Hálek
Jiří Vršťala
as Karel Purkyně
