He Stood at the Till...

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1939

Production year

1939

Premiere

10 February 1939

Runtime

97 min

Director

Karel Lamač

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

U pokladny stál...

Czech title

U pokladny stál...

English title

He Stood at the Till...

Protectorate parallel title

Bei der Kassa stand

Summary

The last film made by the director Karel Lamač shortly before he emigrated from a country threatened by the Nazis was a doppelganger comedy with Vlasta Burian in the lead role. In the film, the popular comic plays Kryštof Rozruch, a hospital attendant who is provided with a sojourn in a health spa from the hospital insurance firm after being mistaken for his superior, the consultant Doctor Marek. In the spa town of Rochov, he meets with the real Doctor Marek, who is actually pretending to be Rozruch in front of his girlfriend Heda so that he can test the strength of her selfless love... This comedy of errors provided Burian and his colleagues with plenty of opportunity for improvisation. The ballad about delirium tremens that Rozruch uses to regale the drunk Doctor Brener (Jaroslav Marvan), was written especially for the film by the playwright Jiří Verner.

Synopsis

Rozruch, a male nurse at St James Hospital, receives a set of dentures from the health insurance company instead of the curative mud he expected. When he goes to the insurance company to sort out the mix-up, the clerks are not at all helpful. Councillor Pěna comes to the insurance company to arrange a daytrip with his lover, Věra the secretary, whom he wants to marry once his daughter Heda marries. Pěna announces that the senior consultant of St James Hospital, Mr Marek, will also be visiting and although he does not know him personally he asks that his wish be satisfied. When the angry Rozruch reveals a moment later that he is from St James Hospital, the clerks assume he is Marek and their behaviour instantly changes. Chief physician Bruner prescribes a stay at a spa and even drives him there personally the next day. The real Marek then arives at the spa with Heda to whom he had introduced himself as Rozruch to demonstrate the selflessness of her feelings. Pěna and Věra arrive too, unaware that Věra's mother is also there. In the small spa town everybody eventually meets and their secrets are exposed. After returning to Prague, Rozruch graduates, having secretly completed his studies of medicine, and Bruner gives him a job at the health insurance company.

Note

Burian´a role - in the hotel book Krištof Rozruch, on the visiting card at the end of the film Kryštof Rozruch.

Cast

Vlasta Burian

ošetřovatel v nemocnici Kryštof Rozruch

Jaroslav Marvan

MUDr. Osvald Bruner, šéflékař nemocenské pojišťovny

Ladislav Hemmer

tajemník nemocenské pojišťovny

Adina Mandlová

sekretářka Věra Hornová

Marie Blažková

Věřina matka

Čeněk Šlégl

gremiální rada Richard Pěna

Anna Gabrielová

Heda, dcera rady Pěny

Antonín Streit

MUDr. Leon Marek, primář u sv. Jakuba

Karel Postranecký

lékař u sv. Jakuba

Václav Trégl

pacient Matyáš Klůcek

Emanuel Kovařík

úředník Patočka

Antonín Soukup

vrátný v pojišťovně

Marta Školudová

ošetřovatelka

Václav Mlčkovský

vrátný v lázních

Václav Menger

vinárník v lázních

Betty Kysilková

manželka vinárníka

František Lašek

pacient s nemocnými zuby

Karel Veverka

pacient s ovázanou hlavou

František Filipovský

úředník pojišťovny

Karel Němec

zřízenec v nemocnici

Ferdinand Jarkovský

kancelářský sluha

Růžena Kurelová

host v lázních

Kamil Plchot

R. A. Dvorský

zpěvák v lázních

Orchestr R. A. Dvorského

lázeňský orchestr

Crew and creators

Director

Karel Lamač

Assistant Director

Otakar Sedláček

Based on

Jiří Verner (U pokladny stál... – divadelní hra)

Director of Photography

Jan Stallich

Production Designer

Jan Zázvorka

Set Designer

Arnold Reimann

Film Editor

Jan Kohout

Sound Designer

Josef Zora

Production Manager

Ladislav Brom

Cooperation

Antonín Frič (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Josef Dobeš

Music Performed by

Orchestr F.O.K. (Music Conducted by Josef Dobeš), Orchestr R. A. Dvorského (Music Conducted by R. A. Dvorský)

Songs

Krev a písek /Řekněte mi, seňorito/ (tango)

Song Composer Josef Dobeš
Writer of Lyrics Ladislav Brom
Singer R. A. Dvorský

Valčík naší lásky

Song Composer Josef Dobeš
Writer of Lyrics Ladislav Brom
Singer R. A. Dvorský

Balada o deliriu tremens

Song Composer Josef Dobeš
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Verner
Singer Vlasta Burian /recitativ/

Production info

Original Title

U pokladny stál...

Czech Title

U pokladny stál...

English Title

He Stood at the Till...

Protectorate Parallel Title

Bei der Kassa stand

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1939

Production Year

1939

Production specifications

start of filming 7 January 1939
end of filming 19 January 1939
date of censorship 02/1939
date of censorship 02/1940
withdrawal from distribution 18 May 1945
projection approval 1968
withdrawal from distribution 1 June 1993

Premiere

premiere 10 February 1939 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Adrie /3 týdny/, Letka /4 týdny/ a Máj /4 týdny/, Praha)
renewed premiere 15 November 1968 /suitable for youths/

Production

Brom

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Laboratories

AB

Distribution

Brom (původní 1939), Ústřední půjčovna filmů (obnovená 1968)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

97 min

Original length in metres

2 772 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

Tobis – Klang

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, Latin

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Anketa deníku Večer – O nejlepší český film roku 1939 a o nejoblíbenější českou filmovou herečku a herce

1940
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Vlasta Burian

Vítěz

Event: Anketa deníku Večer – O nejlepší český film roku 1939 a o nejoblíbenější českou filmovou herečku a herce

1940
Praha / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Event: Anketa deníku Večer – O nejlepší český film roku 1939 a o nejoblíbenější českou filmovou herečku a herce

1940
Praha / Czechoslovakia