The Lost Face

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production year

1964—1965

Premiere

24 December 1965

Runtime

75 min

Director

Pavel Hobl

Category

film

Genre

slapstick, sci-fi

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Ztracená tvář

Czech title

Ztracená tvář

English title

The Lost Face

Summary

Director Pavel Hobl made a perhaps unexpected move in adding this sci-fi comedy to his filmography in 1965. Before then, he was usually remarked upon as a creator of children’s features (Máte doma lva? [Do You Keep a Lion at Home?, 1963], Za pět minut sedm [Five Minutes to Seven, 1964]). Ztracená tvář, created with writer and screenwriter Josef Nesvadba, deals with an instance of plastic surgery that symbolises the character and moral metamorphosis of the recipient. In the story, set in the 1920s, the physician Bartoš (Vlastimil Brodský) decides to swap the face of a wanted criminal with the face of murdered priest Hopsasa. A turn of circumstance sees him receive the criminal’s face himself. Eventually, the doctor realises that he has begun to change for the worse. He will renounce the opportunity to use the support of gangsters to apply his revolutionary discoveries... German actor Fred Delmare employs his impressive physiognomy while embodying the criminal nicknamed “Cutter”, while František Filipovský plays the part of Father Hopsasa, a man with a peaceable countenance.

Synopsis

It is the 1930s. Physician Bartoš devotedly attends poor patients in the city suburbs, at the same time researching the possibilities of regeneration of human tissues after transplantation. His former colleague Rosen, now working as an assistant at the private clinic of surgeon Kirchenbruch, considers the research a mere utopia. The disappointed Bartoš, trying to verify his theories, therefore accepts the outrageous proposal of Marion, owner of a brothel - to surgically replace the face of her lover, the wanted thief Cutter [Kráječ], with the face of murdered Father Hopsasa. Bartoš is well paid but his successful operation remains a secret. He bribes Rosen and exchanges positions with him. As the assistant at the clinic, he then continues his scientific research. He falls in love with Kirchenbruch's daughter and gives her a ring he had received from Cutter. It, however, soon turns out that the jewel has been stolen, and, after the subsequent scandal, Bartoš is fired from the clinic, moreover being pursued by the police for his reported participation in the theft. He is saved by the thieves themselves who force Rosen to implant Cutter's face on Bartoš. Cutter claims the new face had changed him for better, but Bartoš does not believe him. But, with Cutter's terrible face, he runs into many other problems. The gangsters arrange for him to present his invention before a plenary session of physicians headed by Kirchenbruch. Bartoš always worked for the good of humanity, and as soon as he realizes that both the physicians and the gangsters are interested only in money, he refuses to cooperate with them. His former features then again appear on his face.

Cast

Vlastimil Brodský

MUDr. J. Bartoš

Fred Delmare

lupič Urban zvaný Kráječ/Bartoš po operaci

František Filipovský

páter Hopsasa/Kráječ po operaci

Marie Vášová

Mařka zvaná Marion, Kráječova milenka

Martin Růžek

profesor Kirchenbruch

Nina Popelíková

Luisa, Kirchenbruchova žena

Jana Brejchová

Narcisa, dcera Kirchenbruchových

Jiří Vala

MUDr. Rosen, Bartošův spolužák

Zdenka Procházková

Helena, Rosenova žena

Zlatomír Vacek

lupič zvaný Had

Karel Effa

lupič zvaný Hmaták

Svatopluk Skládal

ošetřovatel Straka

Raoul Schránil

lékař Herr von, snoubenec Narcisy

Antonín Jedlička

detektiv z Liberce

Milan Kindl

detektiv z Liberce

Václav Wasserman

komorník Albert

Václav Podhorský

host

Jar. Váša

host

Gabriela Bártlová-Buddeusová

slečna z vykřičeného domu

Marie Buddeusová

slečna z vykřičeného domu

Václav Kaňkovský

četník z Hradce

Karel Karas

člen Kráječovy bandy

Hynek Němec

muž s deštníkem

Eva Olmerová

zpěvačka

Eva Foustková

svíčková bába

Dana Sikorová

slečna z vykřičeného domu

Zuzana Schnöblingová

slečna z vykřičeného domu

J. Borovanová

slečna z vykřičeného domu

František Svačina

trpaslík-číšník

V. Janoušek

pianista

Dubbing

Jiří Holý

Hlas Kráječe

Crew and creators

Director

Pavel Hobl

Second Unit Director

František Matoušek

Assistant Director

Jaroslav Toms, Věra Manglová

Screenstory

Josef Nesvadba

Shooting Script

Pavel Hobl

Director of Photography

Jiří Vojta

Second Unit Photography

Karel Dobřichovský

Camera Operator

Jiří Polák

Production Designer

Karel Lier

Assistent Production Designer

Libuše Jahodová

Set Designer

Vladimír Mácha, Jiří Široký, J. Suchý

Costume Designer

Jan Brychta

Assistant Film Editor

Helena Lehovcová

Sound Designer

Jiří Pavlík

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Ladislav Kalaš

Unit Production Manager

Josef Mathauser, Adolf Široký

Unit Production Manager

Vlasta Mathauserová

Cooperation

Jana Cunderlová (klapka), Josef Janoušek (fotograf), Josef Vítek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Luboš Fišer

Selected Music

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (Svatební pochod)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

Ať dělám, co dělám

Song Composer Luboš Fišer
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Marta Kubišová

Production info

Original Title

Ztracená tvář

Czech Title

Ztracená tvář

English Title

The Lost Face

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

slapstick, sci-fi

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production Year

1964—1965

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 3 June 1964
technical Screenplay approved 5 August 1964
start of filming 1 October 1964
end of filming 23 March 1965
projection approval 10 September 1965
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1973

Premiere

premiere 24 December 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 25 December 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /3 týdny/ a Světozor /3 týdny od 4. 2. 1966/, Praha)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

75 min

Original length in metres

2 128 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:2,35

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech