Josef Zíma

The Princess with the Golden Star

A Czech fairy tale about a princess named Lada who runs away from home in a mouse fur disguise in order to escape an unwanted and forced marriage.

Burglar and Umbrella

In the morning twilight of Prague, the dead body of the safe-breaker Toufar is found floating on the river Vltava with a knife in his back. Police inspectors visit Toufar's lover, the prostitute Anna Kulatá (Jirina Bohdalová), nicknamed Umbrella, and it is apparent that the moment before she opened the door of her flat, someone fled through the window. Umbrella is summoned for examination to the head of the criminal police - Police Councilman Vacátko Jaroslav Marvan, but although shocked by the photograph of the dead man, she does not confess to anything. Before Toufar, Umbrella lived with the safe-breaker Penicka (Radoslav Brzobohatý), who loved her very much and made her quit her street trade. But when he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, Umbrella began to live with the brute Toufar, who chased her to street again. In the case of the murder, Penicka is therefore the prime suspect.

Páté kolo u vozu

Although the emancipated editor of a women's magazine proclaims that grandparents in particular should not be abused by their adult children, she accepts without scruple the fact that her mother, still a sprightly pensioner, works in her household as a jack-of-all-trades without receiving not only any pay but also no recognition. However, the grandmother learns from an article written by her daughter - and rebels.

Lady on the Tracks

Tram driver Marie has far too much to do after her shift is over. But she likes to do it all since she loves her husband Václav sincerely. One day she spots him on the Lesser Town Square in Prague, kissing an attractive blonde good-bye. It seems to Marie that her small comfortable world has collapsed and she walks out of the tram in tears. But her sadness does not last long. She wipes off the tears and begins to act. She withdraws all the money from their savings books and buys off all the latest models from the Fashion Works. The visit to the beauty salon then completes her transformation into a lady.

Alibi on the Lake

Miss Nováková reports to Major Tuma (Karel Höger) from the police about the disappearance of her roommate, the model Zuzana. Shortly afterwards, a film director named Konrád (Otomar Krejca) asks Tuma to cooperate on a new cinéma-vérité film describing the story of Zuzana's disappearance.

Puppies

Explores young adults' fears of being conscripted by the communist government into working outside of Prague, a relative oasis of creativity and freedom of thought. From an early script by Milos Forman.

Šach mat

A live, semi-documentary TV broadcast investigates why former prisoner Dr. Benet collapsed after defeating world chess champion Mirko Čentovič aboard the ship Victoria. The crew stages a detailed reconstruction of the fateful game on deck, interviews witnesses to piece together events, and deliberately blurs fact and fiction to draw viewers into Benet’s psychological unraveling and the deeper mysteries behind his victory.

Bylo čtvrt a bude půl

Getting into the popular music spotlight is not easy, as even an enthusiastic amateur, an overconfident young man whose singing career soon fails, will find out... A tantalising insight into the backstage of the entertainment industry, neither the musical passages nor the unexpectedly massive participation of the singing stars of the time succeeded.