Jan W. Speerger

Na růžích ustláno

The World Where One Goes Begging

The smooth narration, corresponding to the requirements of a light comedy, develops the smiling and optimistic story of the "one-armed" beggar Dostál, who earned enough money with his excellent begging skills to buy a nice house, become a respectable master of the house, and save the impoverished lawyer Neprosil from poverty, who he contributed regularly to him when he was still well off. He also wanted to get him together with his pretty ward Zorka, for whom he said he would be an ideal husband, but the young people were able to do that by themselves and without his clumsy help, or rather despite his rather ineffective help... The film was shown at the VI. IFF in Venice in 1938.

Vandiny trampoty

The likeable and charming Vanda Karhanová has problems in every job because of her appearance. So when she is about to start a new job, she decides to decisively prevent similar problems. She adjusts and dresses in a way that men do not notice her and do not pay attention to her. She has no idea that she will cause even more problems for herself, and not only because she now bears an uncanny resemblance to the millionaire Czech-American Ruth Baretová, who ran away from home to avoid getting married. First, Vanda is mistakenly arrested and ends up in the police station, so she cannot return to work. At the factory, they suspect her of having disappeared with a large sum of money that they had entrusted to her to deposit in the bank. Then the whole situation is complicated by the arrival of the real Miss Baretová.

Long Live the Dead Man

Wealthy and ill Petr Kornel (Karel Hasler) is not pleased with the carousing lifestyle of his nephew. He stops supporting him financially and demands that he change his name. Out of gratitude Kornel bequeaths a substantial sum of money to his nurse Alice (Adina Mandlová) with the condition that she marries. Petr Suk (Hugo Haas), as the nephew is now named, visits the doctor. In the waiting room his X-ray is mistakenly switched with one of another patient's. On the basis of this he presently learns that he is seriously ill and has only one day of life left to him.

Falešná kočička

A fortune teller predicts that Dr. Přelouč will marry the third poor girl he meets. Míla, the daughter of factory owner Janota, likes the doctor and, with the help of his housekeeper Amálka, sneaks into his home disguised as a poor shoelace saleswoman. She first prepares for her role by exploring the outskirts, where she meets Vendelín Pleticha, who becomes her guide to the local pubs and her teacher of the vernacular. Dr. Přelouč is enthusiastic about the poor, uneducated girl and tries to teach her the basics of social behavior and standard language. All this until he discovers that Míla has deceived him and that Pleticha is not her father, as she had claimed...

Poor girl

The illegitimate child, Marie Růžová, grows up in the family of the Bořický miller. Childhood and youth spend with the son of Bořice, Klement. Klement asserts the rights, becomes a lawyer, and marries Jirina. In order not to cause further contradictions, Mary will go to Prague secretly at night. There he is living heavily as a waitress. He resists the insults of architect Jansky until he ultimately decides to commit suicide in despair.

White Paradise

After a young man is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, the daughter of the local tavern owners must spring to the rescue.

Naše XI.

Na růžích ustláno

The World Where One Goes Begging

The smooth narration, corresponding to the requirements of a light comedy, develops the smiling and optimistic story of the "one-armed" beggar Dostál, who earned enough money with his excellent begging skills to buy a nice house, become a respectable master of the house, and save the impoverished lawyer Neprosil from poverty, who he contributed regularly to him when he was still well off. He also wanted to get him together with his pretty ward Zorka, for whom he said he would be an ideal husband, but the young people were able to do that by themselves and without his clumsy help, or rather despite his rather ineffective help... The film was shown at the VI. IFF in Venice in 1938.

Vandiny trampoty

The likeable and charming Vanda Karhanová has problems in every job because of her appearance. So when she is about to start a new job, she decides to decisively prevent similar problems. She adjusts and dresses in a way that men do not notice her and do not pay attention to her. She has no idea that she will cause even more problems for herself, and not only because she now bears an uncanny resemblance to the millionaire Czech-American Ruth Baretová, who ran away from home to avoid getting married. First, Vanda is mistakenly arrested and ends up in the police station, so she cannot return to work. At the factory, they suspect her of having disappeared with a large sum of money that they had entrusted to her to deposit in the bank. Then the whole situation is complicated by the arrival of the real Miss Baretová.

Long Live the Dead Man

Wealthy and ill Petr Kornel (Karel Hasler) is not pleased with the carousing lifestyle of his nephew. He stops supporting him financially and demands that he change his name. Out of gratitude Kornel bequeaths a substantial sum of money to his nurse Alice (Adina Mandlová) with the condition that she marries. Petr Suk (Hugo Haas), as the nephew is now named, visits the doctor. In the waiting room his X-ray is mistakenly switched with one of another patient's. On the basis of this he presently learns that he is seriously ill and has only one day of life left to him.

Falešná kočička

A fortune teller predicts that Dr. Přelouč will marry the third poor girl he meets. Míla, the daughter of factory owner Janota, likes the doctor and, with the help of his housekeeper Amálka, sneaks into his home disguised as a poor shoelace saleswoman. She first prepares for her role by exploring the outskirts, where she meets Vendelín Pleticha, who becomes her guide to the local pubs and her teacher of the vernacular. Dr. Přelouč is enthusiastic about the poor, uneducated girl and tries to teach her the basics of social behavior and standard language. All this until he discovers that Míla has deceived him and that Pleticha is not her father, as she had claimed...

Poor girl

The illegitimate child, Marie Růžová, grows up in the family of the Bořický miller. Childhood and youth spend with the son of Bořice, Klement. Klement asserts the rights, becomes a lawyer, and marries Jirina. In order not to cause further contradictions, Mary will go to Prague secretly at night. There he is living heavily as a waitress. He resists the insults of architect Jansky until he ultimately decides to commit suicide in despair.

White Paradise

After a young man is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, the daughter of the local tavern owners must spring to the rescue.

Naše XI.

Beware!

A drama about Slovaks who emigrated before WW I. It is focused on the life of Ondrej Muranica. He emigrates to America because of the hard life that is partly caused by Hungarian landowners. His dreams and hopes for a happier life are destroyed by a disaster in the mines where he works. Ondrej is declared missing.Years later he returns to his home country and finds out his wife married his best friend.

Jánošík

Jánošík has been topic of many Slovak and Polish legends, books and films. According to the legend, he robbed nobles and gave the loot to the poor. The legend were also known in neighboring Silesia, the Margraviate of Moravia and later spread to the Kingdom of Bohemia. The actual robber had little to do with the modern legend, whose content partly reflects the ubiquitous folk myths of a hero taking from the rich and giving to the poor. However, the legend was also shaped in important ways by the activists and writers in the 19th century when Jánošík became the key highwayman character in stories that spread in the north counties of the Kingdom of Hungary (present Slovakia) and among the local Gorals and Polish tourists in the Podhale region north of the Tatras.

Karel a já

The factory owner's son Oldřich missed his own wedding. He overdid his bachelor party and spent the night before the wedding in Mr. Šourek's carriage, who asked him in vain for his address. In the morning, the cabman went to the police for advice, but the passenger woke up and drove away with his carriage. He headed for his bride, but she was offended and threw him out. Oldřich also became hardened and declared that he would marry the first girl he met. The further development of events was ensured by Šourek's horse Karel, when he headed home, bringing Boženka, his master's daughter, to Oldřich's path. But she was not interested in the spoiled young man either. So Oldřich bet with her father that he would work hard for a month. If he won, he would win Boženka's hand, the cab, and the faithful Karel...

The Incendiary's Daughter

The fiddler Valenta has troubled his wife with his drinking and disorderly life. His daughter Rozárka and her younger sisters go to their aunt's in Prague, and their father sets fire to the abandoned house. Rozárka is suspected...

The Merry Wives

A morally questionable lord comes to the aid of a working class man who is to be executed for speaking out about thieving rich scoundrels sticking it to the poor.

Jánošík

Janosík, a friar retrained as a bandit, becomes the farmers' symbol of resistance and fight against the feudal conditions.

A Step into the Darkness

A dashing but mysterious man saves a gambler from suicide, crashes the posh party of a prominent industrialist, falls in love with his daughter, and finds himself in a web of intrigue revolving around her blackmailing fiance and a gang of counterfeiters.

Nobody Knows Anything

Martin Plechatý and Petr Nový roam occupied Prague with their trams. Times are hard and sometimes survival is not easy - especially when, in an attempt to help a threatened (and charming) neighbor, you get involved with an SS man, hit him on the head and kill him. At least that's how the two friends explained the situation to each other when their opponent collapsed to the ground. What to do with the body now? An endless anabasis begins, in which even a baby stroller comes into play...

History of Philosophy

A student rebellion precedes revolutionary events in Prague.

The Kreutzer Sonata

We have a liberal, modern Czech flapper bound to a serious and bored husband and don't forget the important fact that the wife has a lover so soon the widening gulf between husband and wife leads to stress and resentment and we get a tormented psychological study of irreconcilable differences that will lead to tragedy.

Karel Hynek Mácha

Film about famous poet Karel Hynek Mácha

Nad propastí

Gypsies

The tale of the Venetian gondolier whose desire for revenge following a thwarted love affair leads him to Bohemia. The intricate plot also deals with destinies of other characters, who finally come together in a dramatic encounter at one time and in one place. In his role as screenwriter and director, Anton produced a highly accomplished version of Mácha’s work. He respected the original but was also able, along with the DoP Karel Kopřiva, to capitalise on the possibilities that the film medium offered. For the Venice prologue, the filmmakers exploited the photogenic qualities of the city – the narrow streets, the lagoons, gondolas and the sea – and they moved the set to the enigmatic Czech landscape around the castle of Kokořín.

Veselá bída

Two young composers offer their operetta in vain - it is rejected before anyone reads it. By a coincidence, when its text ends up in the wrong briefcase, it ends up with a popular singer who, on the contrary, likes it very much, but has no idea who wrote the play... The search for the authors, personality confusion and budding love become the main plot elements of this pleasantly naive film, where there is constant singing.

Svatební cesta

Kind and decent professor Artur Čejka is about to marry his fiancée Helena Frýdlová. On the eve of the wedding, he comes across the unfortunate actress Káťa Holanová on the riverbank, who has been unsuccessfully looking for an engagement for a long time and wants to take her own life out of desperation. Čejka prevents her from committing suicide and helps her. He meets the girl again on the train when he and Helena are going on their honeymoon...

The Hard Life of an Adventurer

A writer of pulp crime novels is drawn into a series of real crimes. This film was one of the first Czech attempts on a genre parody.