The Crime at the Girl’s School

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production year

1965

Premiere

18 February 1966

Runtime

106 min

Category

povídkový film

Genre

detective, short-story

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Zločin v dívčí škole

Czech title

Zločin v dívčí škole

English title

The Crime at the Girl’s School

Summary

Filmmakers during the 1960s most often opted to adapt one of Josef Škvorecký's crime stories when it came to making a silver screen version of one of the author's literary works. The first director to show interest in the popular writer was Jiří Menzel. In 1965, he directed the crime comedy Zločin v dívčí škole (Crime at the Girls' School), a motion picture that combines another two stories with the title piece. These are Smrt na jehle (Death at the Needle) and Jak se koupe žena (How a Woman Bathes). Škvorecký, who provided input during the screenwriting, was able to introduce his favourite hero, gloomy lieutenant Borůvka, to the world of cinema. Played by Lubomír Lipský, the detective investigates a theft in a girls’ school attended by his daughter Zuzanka (Hana Horáčková). Rather than tracking the missing money, Borůvka soon turns his attention to the disappearance of the unpopular maths teacher, Professor Kotě, and to his daughter’s secret sexual life… Brothers Petr and Matěj Forman, then just one-year-old make brief film debuts as twin infants.

Synopsis

Three short stories.

Crew and creators

Cooperation

Bohuslav Kück (fotograf)

Production info

Original Title

Zločin v dívčí škole

Czech Title

Zločin v dívčí škole

English Title

The Crime at the Girl’s School

Category

povídkový film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

detective, short-story

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production Year

1965

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 8 April 1965
technical Screenplay approved 20 April 1965
start of filming 10 May 1965
end of filming 4 July 1965
projection approval 11 November 1965
withdrawal from distribution 6 April 1973

Premiere

premiere 18 February 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 25 February 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Jalta /6½ týdne/, Metro /3 týdny/, Arbes /1 týden od 25. 3./ a Oko /1 týden od 8. 4./, Praha)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šebor – Bor, Vladimír Bor (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

106 min

Original length in metres

3 004 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