Plaváček

The dramatization of the Old Prague short story by the writer Ignát Herrmann is an acting concert by Jan Pivec. In this film from 1964, the actor let all registers of his mature acting sound, from outright comical positions to tones sounding with tragic undertones. And although the character of Vavřinec Konopka clearly dominates in this story, the great actor disciplinedly left enough space for his teammates, especially Jaroslav Marvan, Dana Medřická (her poisonous Petronila is an excellent figure), the modest Libuša Havelková and the bohemian Josef Kemr and everyone else. The director František Filip was actually the conductor here, who got a beautifully coordinated orchestra of soloists at his disposal... But let's go back to the century before last. Where is the dignified and rather burly official Mr. Konopka peláší? And even runs with a jet and without a hat…

Sňatky z rozumu was a Czechoslovak television programme which was first broadcast in 1968. The programme was directed by František Filip.

A fairy tale in which the devil can make hell for people on earth, but is powerless against common sense.

The fact that the man succumbed one morning to an irresistible urge to sit down at the piano and play the entire Chopin Sonata in B Minor would not have been so strange if it had not been for the fact that he had never played the piano in his life and he himself had no idea that he could.

The cheerful fairy tale takes us to the first category of hell, inhabited by mischievous devils, and the second category of hell with dirty devils. And this is where the village youth Kája Fousek falls as punishment for his arrogance... The devils decide to correct him. But one of them falls in love with Kája, and he falls in love with her.

Among the apprentices learning the confectionery trade is Honza Králíček, who is not enjoying it at all and would rather be working with cars. The fairy Cukřenka wants to help him and lends him a magic bag. Since then, Honza has been doing well and is also trying hard to study for his exams.

A little-known adaptation of Jaroslav Vrchlický's play is returning to the television screen, full of humorous plots, telling the story of the courage of two women in love who, because of their love, infiltrated Karlštejn Castle, where women are forbidden to enter by order of the monarch. It was created with a number of star actors eight years before the now legendary film adaptation by Zdeněk Podskalský. When it premiered in 1965, it aroused a stormy, positive and negative response. Quite naturally, because Filip's concept of this classic play, albeit in the authentic setting of Karlštejn Castle, was completely new and unconventional at the time. This adaptation of the classic original uses the melodies of popular Czech and foreign hits with lyrics by P. Kopta. For example, the ruler's arrival at the castle was announced by the melody of the popular song Jó, třešné zrály. However, professional singers mostly sing for the actors here.

A host of actors in the classic national fairy tale by A. Jirásek. Jirásek's "Lucerna" is the best-known and most performed of his plays. It was also used by television producers. In the second half of the 1960s, a successful transcription was created with a remarkably well-captured atmosphere of the realistic-fairytale motif of the original. The film captures the acting mastery of Jan Pivec in the role of the castle's headmaster, the musicians played by Bohuš Záhorský and Vladimír Menšík, Zdeněk Štěpánek and Josef Kemr in the roles of the watermen Ivan and Michal. The television version of Lucerna premiered on Christmas Eve 1967, and each rerun only confirms that it is an excellent production.