Karel Dostal

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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.

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.

Leopold Kohák married a rich widow a long time ago and now has nothing to do compared to his energetic wife. He's growing old and troubled by the fact that he betrayed his first love Emča and his beloved river Sázava where he spent his childhood and youth. A visit from an old friend Lebeda brings it all back to him. After a nervous breakdown Leopold secretly visits his home instead of going to the spa. A wandering tramp suggest Leopold should bathe in the magical waters of the Sázava, and slowly his youth returns to him.

One of the few European films of the 30s to criticize the Nazis, even if they couldn't be directly named due to censorship: Gangsters with gray hats stir up trouble in what is obviously the Sudetenland.

A young farmer, Jan Aleš, is drafted from his native Pošumaví to join the army. Since he likes his new environment, he stays with the army as a long-term serviceman. He even successfully passes the exams for the military academy. There he becomes friends with his Slovak colleague Milan Jurčík. He studies diligently, but thanks to Milan he sometimes finds time to go out into the city. That is how he meets the factory owner's daughter, Zdenka, with whom he falls in love. However, her father is not very happy about the promising relationship.

Prague in the 1870s. Work in Smolík's sulphur factory is hard and dangerous to health. The poorly paid workers resemble torches because their clothes are soaked with poisonous phosphorus. Young Josef Rezler also works in the sulphur factory and uses his earnings to feed his mother and little sisters. He throws his perpetually drunken father out of the house. The older worker Brož forces Josef to learn to read and write. A cholera epidemic breaks out in Prague and Josef is the only one of his family to survive the disease...

People are afraid of the usurer Chazaj and are convinced that he is the bearer of evil. One day Chazaj pays a visit to the poor artist Simon Jordán and asks him to paint his portrait. Simon agrees but as he progresses with the work his mind conjures up terrible thoughts and in the end he commits suicide. The portrait looks lifelike and Chazaj is content with the results. After Chazaj's death the picture changes hands and brings misfortune to all who own it. The last victim is the young painter Roman who buys Chazaj's portrait in a bazaar. He finds a treasure in the frame and begins to live well off it. The comfortable life suits him so well that he rejects his original artistic aims and becomes a painter of fashionable kitsch.

A biographical film about a Czech mechanic and designer who was the first in the Czech lands to construct a steam car.

The Czech revival movement is divided at the end of the first half of the 19th century. While the older generation, such as František Palacký, urges restraint, students lean towards radical positions. A report on the revolutionary events in Paris prompts Czech Prague residents to write down the demands of the Czech nation for self-determination and the proclamation of a constitution. Tensions peak during the All-Slavic Congress in Prague's Žofín. Vienna rejects the Czech demands and the congress is brutally dispersed by the Austrian police. Prague begins to build barricades...

Dvořák's well-known composition reappears again and again in the serious moments of the lives of the father and son Hupeks - talented non-professional musicians for whom music gives them the opportunity to rise above difficulties and problems...

In a country whose people have just been successfully persuaded of their superiority and the justification for military expansion by the fiery speeches of a dictator, the bacillus of a highly destructive form of leprosy has spread. It is called morbus Tshengi, or popularly „white disease“. The only one who has developed an effective cure for it is a physician of the poor named Galén. But he refuses to reveal the secret of his cure as long as the powerful destroy human lives through wars.

Vincenc Babočka, an insignificant employee of the police station, plays detective in private, convinced of his exceptional abilities. However, a vacation in Karlovy Vary unexpectedly gives him the opportunity to prove what he is really capable of. He is mistakenly considered to be the international adventurer Leon Weber, who is being pursued by the police. He decides to take advantage of the confusion and expose Weber's accomplices, who are planning to steal diamonds belonging to the Maharaja of Yohir. According to Weber's plan, he meets the Maharaja disguised as General Naryshkin, but everything only works out until the real Weber appears in town...

It all begins when Zuzanka, the new young owner, arrives at the dilapidated Blue Star Hotel. Determined to put the declining inheritance back on its feet, she starts chasing three young men, including the composer Jirka, who, dressed in a waiter's tailcoat, is to work off his debt to the new owner. Like his two friends, Jirka succumbs to the charms of his new boss and, with some confidence, hopes that he is the one who has the best chance of becoming her chosen one. At that moment, however, a guest arrives, intent on carrying out the family tradition and throwing an engagement party at the Blue Star Hotel, regardless of his condition. This, however, is not to the liking of his wilful fiancée. Fortunately, there is the sympathetic Zuzanka, who charms the unusual guest so much that he resolutely breaks off his engagement to the rich girl and prefers to marry the cute hotelier.

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.

A very hardworking but also very naive insurance company clerk, Valentin Plavec, becomes the target of endless pranks, jokes and recessions from his colleagues Bejšovec and Voborník. However, their last successful trick somewhat gets out of hand. They add a one to the winning number 8456 and convince Valentin that he has won a million in the lottery. However, since Valentin cannot collect his winnings immediately, he withdraws twenty thousand, which is all the savings he has saved together with his fiancée Helena, and starts shopping for a deposit. However, the truth soon comes out and when his colleagues reveal to him that it was just a joke, they all leave him, only the faithful Helena stays and even helps the unfortunate fiancé cancel all the deposits and agreed deals. When the newspaper reports that there has been a mistake and the winning ticket is number 18456, Valentin decides to take revenge on the two pranksters...

The imperial councilor Ullik decides to modernize his old mills by installing a new turbine. His eccentric brother-in-law Artuš tries to prevent this, as the construction work disrupts the statics of the tower in which he lives. Ullik's older daughter Tynda is a talented singer. The bewitched girl secretly accepts the courtship of the virile Václav, the son of the night watchman. Her younger sister, the doctor Marie, wins the heart and hand of the astronomer Zouplna, despite her father's prohibition...

A sometimes humorous, sometimes more serious look at the hustle and bustle of a house in Lesser Town with a diverse array of tenants living there, and often petty quarrels that break out between them. Behind the facade of the house in Lesser Town "U dvou slunců" (Two Suns) there is life. The Bavors live here, eternal slaves to the grocery store. The Ebros, who need to marry their daughter off at a good price. The bachelor Dr. Loukota and other interesting Nerudov characters.

The biographical film about the prematurely deceased violin virtuoso Josef Slavík takes place entirely like a haunting dream, in the mind of a feverish artist who remembers how he amazed Paganini himself with his playing.

The bad economic situation causes the owner of a fish shop, Kateřina Udadná, to declare bankruptcy. The woman is devastated because she has worked hard all her life. She unexpectedly receives a letter from America from a certain Jonn Sam, who informs her that he is coming to Europe, where he intends to settle down. He brings her news about the inheritance that Mrs. Kateřina is to receive from his deceased uncle.