XC
A social comedy about a wealthy man in his prime, for whom marital infidelity is just a pleasant and regular sport. A young flower shop owner, to whom her husband seems to be generally ordinary and overworked, nevertheless manages to resist the advances of an experienced seducer.
Jan 1945
The famous operetta singer Jarmila Kšírová tries to hide her marital status from the sensationalist public. The heroine of the story is the star of the big operetta scene Soňa Jansová. For advertising reasons, it is claimed that she is still single and that she even avoids men. In reality, however, the operetta soubrette has been happily married to Dr. Karel Svoboda for several years and even has a four-year-old daughter, Evička. Her husband pretends to be only her legal representative and only sneaks into her apartment secretly...
Aug 1940
Thirteen people have gathered at Mayor Bartoš's. The company is uneasy about this number and therefore warmly welcomes the fourteenth guest, who is the new librarian Pavel Čtrnáctý...
Sep 1943
A highly romanticized autobiographical novel by a Czech 19th century writer, Bozena Nemcova. It's a classical, compulsory reading in Czech schools, about a wise, working-class woman, happier in her simplicity and good heart than the nobles whom she serves.
Nov 1940
Two good friends return from long-term military service: Jan Cimbura from Semic and Josef Piksa from Putim. Piksa farms on his own, Cimbura accepts service with the Hradiště farmer and mayor of Kovanda. The farmhand Cimbura is a real treasure for the farm. He is strong and hardworking, he doesn't drink or smoke. He can keep his eyes on the girl Marjánka, and Cimbura likes her too. However, Cimbura doesn't want to and cannot marry. First, he wants to become independent, and that may take years....
Nov 1941
The stuffed animal dealer Václav Barvínek spent twenty-four hours in prison for a petty dispute. And that very day, his uncle's will was read, stating that the deceased had hidden a check for a million crowns somewhere. If it was not cashed by the appointed time, the entire amount would go to charity. The other relatives looted all the movable property, and only an abandoned Saint Bernard remained in the uncle's villa, which the kind-hearted Mr. Barvínek took in. The cheated heir continues to lead a simple life and has no idea that wealth is within reach. He has quite different worries - the heart of the elderly fat man has burned with love for a girl whose friendliness he misinterpreted...
Dec 1942
Theater props maker Karel Vajgant has a young wife, Magda, and two children, seven-year-old Pavlík and eleven-year-old Pepička. Magda is a caring mother, but she feels that her husband prioritizes work and his comfort. In a weak moment, Magda becomes unfaithful. Vajgant receives an anonymous letter that warns him of his wife's infidelity. His friend, the opportunist Tonda, advises him to throw away the letter and instead devote more time to Magda...
Dec 1941
Marta Dekasová works as a governess in a garrison town. The beautiful girl is the center of attention of many men, but she only desires Lieutenant Varga, who is married and rejects her. Desperate, Marta throws herself into the arms of the most intrusive of her suitors, and is then dismissed in disgrace. She goes to Prague to live with her friend Kiki, becomes a bar singer, and continues her journey down the sloping surface. Hope for a new life dawns on her when a young student falls in love with her, but just then Varga appears in the bar and rekindles her unquenched feelings...
Oct 1941
Jan 1939
Student Jarek Pšenička worries teachers and parents in this Czech comedy. He is in his second year of sixth form and is facing another re-examination. His sister Věra is the exact opposite of her brother: she is a model student. But she also cannot avoid trouble - she falls hopelessly in love with Jarek's home tutor, a candidate for professorship, Stáni Mařík...
Dec 1938
Mrs. Piskořová, co-owner of a debt-ridden boarding house, forces her daughter Klára to marry a wealthy elderly architect, Kacík, who has recently separated from his wife. However, Klára is in love with the waiter Prokop, who she does not know is actually a mining engineer. No one suspects that Klára's land, considered worthless, contains a coal deposit...
Oct 1939
The foolish Pedro is supposed to marry the beautiful Rosita, who is also attracted to the adventurer Pancho - during his journey to see her, Pancho finds himself in prison, where he is tricked by a cunning desperado who decides to win Rosita for himself.
Sep 1946
Josef Houbička, the owner of the U pěti veverek apartment building in Malostran, is a kind and forgiving good man who allows himself to be ruthlessly oppressed by his proud wife, Filoména, and secretly fixes her problems with the tenants. He lends rent money to two poor painters and bribes offended maids just to keep the house quiet. He would like to restore the old soap factory in the house, but Filoména promotes more profitable garages. And since neither of them wants to back down, Houbička eventually leaves the house after one of the arguments. He makes friends with the innkeeper Pulec, who runs the not-so-prosperous inn At the Leaky Jug...
Feb 1944
In the garden of Hojtaš's estate, local dignitaries gather to watch a theatrical performance starring the author of the play, Dr. Pavel Chvojka, the landowner's granddaughter Olga, and Lenka, her ward. Lenka is intoxicated by the theater and Pavel, but he prefers the more experienced Olga. Lenka runs away to Prague to become a real actress. However, the beginnings are difficult and the girl is forced to work in a fashion salon. Here she meets the warm-hearted Milada, with whom she also shares a sublet. In the salon, Lenka meets Pavel again after some time...
Nov 1942
Ryba, the owner of a boat rental shop and ferryman, has lived his entire life in a house by the river, which often becomes fatal for swimmers and suicides. However, because Ryba saves many drowning people, he becomes a very popular figure in the entire region.
Sep 1942
This romantic story turns on a stirring infatuation that takes hold of three young people under the influence of Simon, a Prague student. After the study year, 18 year-old Julio returns to his parental home, a little chateau on the Otava river. There he converges with his childhood friend Petr and the young boatman's daughter Klárka. Sharing her beguilement with Simon, who has quickly turned a tranquil summer atmosphere into a relationship drama, is Julio's cousin Rosa.
A comedy about a caring protector of the family who had help, good advice and understanding for everyone. No one in the family calls Anna Svojanovská anything other than Kvočna - everyone is used to running under her protective wings as soon as any problems arise. And what a blessing this mother and grandmother has to deal with!
Sep 1937
The doomed love of a city girl caught in the vise of poverty is detailed in Vavra’s fluid, romantic work, one of the most elegant creations of the Czech Modernist era... The film lingers over its characters’ habitats and haunts, finding psychological truths in what each owns or desires, and countering every Hollywood-ready scene of gleaming restaurants and dazzling penthouses with realist moments of employment lines and crammed flats. Vavra’s classical camerawork and aura of romantic defeatism give Virginity a force comparable to the master of this genre, Hollywood’s Frank Borzage. (BAM/PFA)
Nov 1937
The families of Vavruš Cagala and Cyril Hanulík live in a secluded area in the Beskydy Mountains. Vavruš and Cyril are hardworking woodcutters and foremen. Cagala's daughter Terezka likes Tomáš Hanulík, but she also likes Pavel Zgabaj, the son of the owner of the farms in the valley. Cyril Hanulík is jealous of his Heva and wrongly suspects her of infidelity. Francek, whom Heva loved before their marriage, takes revenge on the Hanulíks: he sets fire to their apiary, from which he seizes Cagala's hayloft. Since then, misfortune has befallen the Cagala family. They lose their horses and wood, and old Zgabaj demands the money he lent them. He is only willing to back down from his demands if Terezka marries his son. Cagala does not want to allow her daughter to sacrifice herself, so the girl secretly goes to the farm to work there as a helper on the farm...
Oct 1944