director Józef Lejtes
screenplay (based on the novel of the same name by Pola Gojawiczyńska) Józef Lejtes, Stanisław Urbanowicz
director of photography Seweryn Steinwurzel, Stanisław Lipiński
music Marian Neuteich, Roman Palester
with Elżbieta Barszczewska, Jadwiga Andrzejewska, Tamara Wiszniewska, Anna Jaraczówna, Mieczysława Ćwiklińska, Hanna Brzezińska, Stanisława Wysocka, Helena Buczyńska, Janina Janecka, Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski, Stefan Hnydziński, Tadeusz Białoszczyński, Andrzej Szalawski, Władysław Grabowski
POLA GOJAWICZYŃSKA, THE GIRLS OF NOWOLIPKI [DZIEWCZĘTA Z NOWOLIPEK]
Bitter triumph when neat and refined men, balanced and clean, dropped to her feet to kiss her muddy worn-out shoes. (…) Not at all confused, she walked through the restaurant, followed by surprised looks. She had well taught them she would not be glanced at in darkness, furtively, secretly, without a bow. One had to look out for in the daylight in kitchens full of stench and steam, among cooks, bundled up women, haggard children, insolent youngsters spitting through their teeth. She belonged to them and they stood by her – one could see that…
BARBARA AND LESZEK ARMATYS, FEATURE FILM IN 1935–1939; IN: HISTORY OF POLISH CINEMA, VOL. 2; ED. BY J. TOEPLITZ [FILM FABULARNY W LATACH 1935-1939 [W:] HISTORIA FILMU POLSKIEGO, T. II], WARSZAWA 1988
The films ‘Girls of Nowolipki’ and ‘The Border’, both by Józef Lejtes mark a turn from light entertainment in the form of a revue, cabaret and open-air theatre towards the real problems of everyday life. (…) Gojawiczyńska's novel appealed to Lejtes with the great amount of realistic detail and psychological observations. (…) The pivot of the plot is the courtyard of a suburban tenement house which suddenly becomes a symbol of the girls’ world. (…) The film played almost ten weeks at a top cinema and was the first major success of Polish film making.
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