At the End of the City

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1954

Production year

1953—1954

Premiere

11 March 1955

Runtime

97 min

Category

film

Genre

detective

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Na konci města

Czech title

Na konci města

English title

At the End of the City

Synopsis

While clearing away the remains of a house which, in its state of disrepair, had been pulled down a few years before, a voluntary worker finds a pocket watch. In the same place he also discovers a freshly filled hole and so the police are called. They find the small remains of a human body and realize that, up until the previous day, this site had been a grave. During their investigations the police have to go back twenty years when the owner of the house, Kostka, had disappeared. They seek out former tenants who add to their old testimonies and find an alibi for the evening when the human remains had been removed from the grave. A mosaic of events is gradually put together, events which happened all those years ago. In 1932 Kostka bought a nearly new house on the outskirts of town of which constructor Vedral made such a shoddy job that the building began to crack from its foundations. The tenants demanded compensation but Vedral did not bother with the reconstruction after Kostka's disappearance and the house had to be demolished during the War. Under the weight of evidence a former tenant, Kalčík, admitted to having argued with Kostka during which the owner of the house had a heart attack. Kalčík, a dealer in petty goods on the black market, had buried the body in the cellar in fear of the police and now he threw the remains into the river. In the courtroom he gives testimony together with Vedral who, for purposes of gain, helped him do the job. The case is thus resolved after twenty years.

Cast

Miloš Nedbal

poručík SNB František Lukeš

Gustav Heverle

poručík SNB Václav Budil

Oldřich Vykypěl

kapitán SNB Jirák

Vítězslav Vejražka

stavitel Karel Vedral

Oldřich Lukeš

dílovedoucí Antonín Záhora, dříve zedník

Vlasta Vlasáková

Emilie, Záhorova žena, Vedralova bývalá služba

Rudolf Hrušínský

řidič dálkových náklaďáků Emil Kalčík

Bohuš Záhorský

majitel domu Hubert Kostka

Marie Brožová

Kostkova žena

Soběslav Sejk

redaktor Kovář

Lída Vostrčilová

Dohnalová, Kalčíkova milenka

Jiří Vršťala

skladník Josef Válek, dříve domovník

Eva Jiroušková

Mařenka, Válkova žena

Marie Rosůlková

Vedralová, stavitelova žena

Vítězslav Boček

komisař-vyšetřovatel JUDr. Daněk

Vladimír Řepa

garážmistr

Karel Pavlík

nájemník Zoubek

Eva Klepáčová

Věra, Lukešova dcera

Josef Chvalina

nájemník

František Hanus

vedoucí inženýr

Oldřich Hoblík

redaktor Rudého večerníku

Ota Sklenčka

vedoucí brigády

Miloš Willig

mladší brigádník

Emil Bolek

průvodčí

Karel Hovorka

nájemník

Josef Bláha

technik SNB

Ladislav Rejžek

technik SNB

Josef Steigl

svědek Kalčíkova alibi

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Zbyněk Brynych

Assistant Director

Helena Zídková, Zdeněk Maršálek

Screenstory

Eduard Fiker

Screenplay

Eduard Fiker

Director of Photography

Julius Vegricht

Production Designer

Karel Černý, Chrudoš Uher

Set Designer

Josef Calta

Costume Designer

A. V. Hrska

Make-Up Artist

Rudolf Hammer

Film Editor

Antonín Zelenka

Sound Designer

Adolf Böhm

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Rudolf Hájek

Unit Production Manager

Josef Pitrák

Consultant

Kamil Pixa

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Fiala

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Milivoj Uzelac)

Production info

Original Title

Na konci města

Czech Title

Na konci města

English Title

At the End of the City

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

detective

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1954

Production Year

1953—1954

Production specifications

start of filming 9 October 1953
the first film copy approved 30 December 1954
projection approval 02/1955
withdrawal from distribution 1 April 1966

Premiere

premiere 11 March 1955 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Blaník /5 týdnů/, Arbes /1 týden/, Oko /1 týden od 18. 3./, Revoluce /1 týden od 25. 3./, Bystrica /1 týden od 1. 4./ a Mír /1 týden od 8. 4./, Praha)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Jiřího Weisse (vývoj scénáře), Jiří Weiss (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

97 min

Original length in metres

2 772 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech