Acting

Jaroslav Zrotal

Born April 7, 1909 · Velké Mezirící, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]

Died June 13, 1969 · aged 60

No biography available.

Known For

Silent Barricade

Silent Barricade · 1949

Silent Barricade

A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.

Krakatit

Krakatit · 1948

MovieScience FictionThriller

In early 20th century Czechoslovakia, a gravely ill chemist recalls his discovery of a powerful explosive and how it landed in the hands of anarchists.

Tažní ptáci

Tažní ptáci · 1961

A bunch of old friends reunite for the start of the rail tunnel construction. The miner Vojta Balvín is a dedicated worker, but at the same time a stubborn man. It is only a work accident that clarifies relations between him and the other workers...

Men Without Wings

Men Without Wings · 1946

Men Without Wings

After an attack against the guard of the Third Reich, Nazi repression intensifies, and the Czechoslovakian resistance's organized sabotage in an aircraft factory leads to Gestapo shootings.

Anna the Proletarian

Anna the Proletarian · 1953

Anna the Proletarian

The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I.

O ševci Matoušovi

O ševci Matoušovi · 1948

O ševci Matoušovi

MovieDramaHistory

The revolutionary year of 1848 brought great hopes among the hitherto silent classes, awakening social and national hopes. The response also penetrated the remote countryside, even as far as the Podkrkonoše Mountains. The young shoemaker there began to take an interest in social and political events, and he also experienced disappointment in later developments.

Racek Is Late

Racek Is Late · 1950

Baker Jan Racek (Vladimír Repa) is a very hard-working and sensible man. His great passion is pigeon-keeping and also, for many years, Ruzenka (Ludmila Vostrcilová). They are going to get married but Racek is busy waiting for the pigeons' return and misses the wedding. The engaged couple is already getting a little older so the otherwise kind Ruzenka gets very angry at this and gives Racek an ultimatum - it's going to be her or the pigeons.

Alena

MovieComedyFantasy

Master armourer Tomás has young wife Alena, of whom he is very jealous. One day the ruler of town sees Alena and decides to win her over for himself. To get a free hand for his love affairs, he sends Master Tomás to acquire more skills in Flanders. Jealous husband does not know how to secure fidelity of his beautiful wife while he is away, and finally accepts aid of the devil, to whom he signs his soul as a reward. Devil in the disguise of Master Ondrej works in Tomás's workshop and protects Alena against various courtiers and the ruler of town. But finally he falls in love with Alena himself and becomes her lover.

Filmography

Sort

Silent Barricade

Silent Barricade · 1949

Silent Barricade

A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.

Krakatit

Krakatit · 1948

MovieScience FictionThriller

In early 20th century Czechoslovakia, a gravely ill chemist recalls his discovery of a powerful explosive and how it landed in the hands of anarchists.

The Doctor

Tažní ptáci

Tažní ptáci · 1961

A bunch of old friends reunite for the start of the rail tunnel construction. The miner Vojta Balvín is a dedicated worker, but at the same time a stubborn man. It is only a work accident that clarifies relations between him and the other workers...

Story

Men Without Wings

Men Without Wings · 1946

Men Without Wings

After an attack against the guard of the Third Reich, Nazi repression intensifies, and the Czechoslovakian resistance's organized sabotage in an aircraft factory leads to Gestapo shootings.

Pavlík

Anna the Proletarian

Anna the Proletarian · 1953

Anna the Proletarian

The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I.

O ševci Matoušovi

O ševci Matoušovi · 1948

O ševci Matoušovi

MovieDramaHistory

The revolutionary year of 1848 brought great hopes among the hitherto silent classes, awakening social and national hopes. The response also penetrated the remote countryside, even as far as the Podkrkonoše Mountains. The young shoemaker there began to take an interest in social and political events, and he also experienced disappointment in later developments.

Racek Is Late

Racek Is Late · 1950

Baker Jan Racek (Vladimír Repa) is a very hard-working and sensible man. His great passion is pigeon-keeping and also, for many years, Ruzenka (Ludmila Vostrcilová). They are going to get married but Racek is busy waiting for the pigeons' return and misses the wedding. The engaged couple is already getting a little older so the otherwise kind Ruzenka gets very angry at this and gives Racek an ultimatum - it's going to be her or the pigeons.

Karášek

Alena

MovieComedyFantasy

Master armourer Tomás has young wife Alena, of whom he is very jealous. One day the ruler of town sees Alena and decides to win her over for himself. To get a free hand for his love affairs, he sends Master Tomás to acquire more skills in Flanders. Jealous husband does not know how to secure fidelity of his beautiful wife while he is away, and finally accepts aid of the devil, to whom he signs his soul as a reward. Devil in the disguise of Master Ondrej works in Tomás's workshop and protects Alena against various courtiers and the ruler of town. But finally he falls in love with Alena himself and becomes her lover.

Kruh

The mother is trying to prevent the break-up of a marriage of many years. She knows about her husband's infidelity, but fears his leaving the family with the teenage children. But the crisis seems inevitable...

Kohout plaší smrt

Kohout plaší smrt · 1962

Kohout plaší smrt

A group of saboteurs search for a weapons cache hidden by the Nazi army. Beskydy in the summer of 1950: the StB agent Borek infiltrates a group of saboteurs hidden in the Beskydy mountains. They are preparing terrorist actions against the ongoing collectivisation in the village. The group is led by Ervín Kopal and Metud Hanák. Borek is to make contact with them, secure the saboteurs and discover a weapons depot. After many dramatic events, the task is accomplished, but at the highest cost...

Kidnapped

Kidnapped · 1953

American agents hijack a plane on the Ostrava-Prague route to launch a campaign against the People's Democratic Czechoslovakia. The plane lands in West Germany, but the Americans have an unexpected problem convincing the hijackers to stay in the West. Based on a true story.

Bernát, director of steel mills

Tank Brigade

Tank Brigade · 1955

The fate of a tank crew on the most difficult part of the First Czechoslovak Independent Brigade's combat path during World War II. We also follow the fate of its commander, Sergeant Juraj Klimka. During the bloody battles for the Dukel Pass, he falls in love and it turns out that behind the mask of a sovereign, he is actually a shy and sensitive person.

The Strike

The Strike · 1947

In late 19th century Czech-speaking Bohemia, oppressed workers at German-owned mines and foundries revolt against their harsh working conditions. Made shortly after World War II as Czechoslovakia was falling to communism, the film resonates in Czech resentment of the German occupation.

Hroník

Capek's Tales

Capek's Tales · 1947

MovieComedyCrime

Five crime stories connected by the narration of police superintendent Bartosek.

Three Wishes

Three Wishes · 1963

MovieComedyDrama

The sad hero of the story, Petr, an ordinary lawyer in a construction company, is crowded into a small apartment in Žižkov with his wife and grandparents, desperately struggling with the lack of money. One day he offers an old man a seat on a crowded trolley bus and is generously rewarded for his good deed, for the unknown old man is a fabulous grandfather. He gives Peter a magic bell and the opportunity to make three wishes, but the first two slip through his fingers. For the third, the astonished man must take time to think...

Three Pals

Three Pals · 1947

Young men Štěpán, Ludvík and Karel became friends abroad, where they fought during World War II. Now they have returned home and are thinking about their future. Štěpán is a designer, so he starts a car repair shop. There is also work for Ludvík, while Karel gets a job at the Omega car factory. However, the young entrepreneurs are all in debt and their business is not prospering. Štěpán invents a car carburetor, but he has no way to test it. In his greatest need, he receives news that Štěpán will inherit from his uncle from South America...

The Hen and the Sexton

The Hen and the Sexton · 1951

The Hen and the Sexton

Cooperative members are harvesting crops, trying to get new water piping installed and preparing to plough away the field boundaries in autumn. Local kulak Voznica (Vladimír Repa) doesn't like any of this so he forces sexton Kodýtek (Vlasta Burian) to help him sabotage their efforts.

Screenplay

Frona

Frona Filípková, out of a desire for a better life, married Floriš Zobač on the land. However, the ownership of the land has affected both her husband and her father-in-law, who, out of hatred, intrigue against the emerging agricultural cooperative and against each other, so Frona looks for a way to free herself.

Screenplay

Joseph Kilian

Joseph Kilian · 1964

The story is about Harold, an isolated figure in an overwhelming world of totalitarian bureaucracy. Harold tries to find the elusive Joseph Kilian, an old acquaintance, in Prague. When Harold stumbles across a state-run cat-lending store, he impulsively rents a feline for the day. Later, he attempts to return the cat and finds that the store no longer exists. Now with a furry companion, Harold continues his search for Kilian. Written and directed by Pavel Juracek, this 40 minute film effectively aims its allegorical shots at personality cults and the absurdities of a totalitarian regime.

Sign of the Anchor

Sign of the Anchor · 1947

Sign of the Anchor

The mysterious story of a young girl Pavla, who mysteriously disappeared from her mother five years ago, takes place in the dark corners of the Bratislava port. The girl was kidnapped by the hypnotist Lascani, who performs in a variety show and has just arrived in Pavla's hometown on his travels. He completely controls his victim and Pavla doesn't remember anything. She has to act as his "medium" with Lascani and even has to be his lover. However, a young boatman, Franta, falls in love with the girl and tries to free her...

Old Ironside

Old Ironside · 1948

At the end of the war, the old train driver Matys saves his beloved locomotive Líza from depth charges. However, the locomotive is damaged and he is injured. At a critical moment, he stands in for his son-in-law, also a train driver, and thus prevents a train accident. Despite this, he is sent into retirement. To show what the "iron old man" can do, he reconstructs Líza with a group of apprentices...

Story

Do You Keep a Lion at Home?

Do You Keep a Lion at Home? · 1964

Do You Keep a Lion at Home?

MovieFamilyMusic

“And what did you do at school today?” In Pavel Hobl’s Czech fairytale, when Pepik and Honzik learn that school has been canceled they embark on an amazing odyssey around Prague that has them directing traffic, following the lead of a talking dog, breaking the spell an evil sorcerer has placed on a group of local musicians, rollerskating through a museum, and winning a magical car race. (University of Chicago Doc Films)

Přehlídce velím já!

Přehlídce velím já! · 1969

Přehlídce velím já!

A cunning plan to deprive an "illegal millionaire" of his ill-gotten wealth. But the catch is that someone else has an even more subtle plan...

Hrejza

Pan Novák

Pan Novák · 1949

Mr. Novák, an insurance company clerk, only cares about his job, nothing else interests him. Even the social changes in February 1948 leave him indifferent. He only becomes aware of them when the insurance company is closed down. He has to make a decision: either retire or go to work in a factory. Neither of these options appeals to Mr. Novák...