The Angel of Blissful Death
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1965Production year
1965Premiere
4 March 1966Runtime
83 minDirector
Štěpán SkalskýCategory
filmGenre
drama, spyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Anděl blažené smrtiCzech title
Anděl blažené smrtiEnglish title
The Angel of Blissful DeathWorking title
Anděl šťastné smrtiSummary
A period spy drama from 1965, this film tells the high-suspense story of the search for an archive hidden by the Nazis in the Czechoslovak Highlands of Vysočina before the end of the war. Members of the Czechoslovak counter-espionage service open a case previously shelved for two decades in order to solve the recent murder of a foreign intelligence resident and to capture his minions. In terms of craftsmanship, Anděl blažené smrti (The Angel of Blissful Death) was somewhat of a rarity of its time thanks in no small measure to esteemed screenwriter Jan Procházka, who also collaborated with director Karel Kachyňa when making the 1965 war drama Ať žije republika (Long Live the Republic). Director Štěpán Skalský attempted to increase the veracity of the film by employing an unusual documentary style and by casting lesser-known actors. Skalský later reaffirmed his interest in genre cinema by directing the A. C. Doyle-inspired parody Touha Sherlocka Holmese (Sherlock Holmes’ Desire, 1971) and spy drama Tichý Američan v Praze (Quiet American in Prague, 1977).
Synopsis
Czechoslovak counter-espionage intercepts a coded message from the West German secret service ordering death for an unknown person on Czech territory. Among the unusual deaths that follow in the course of the next few hours, a car mechanic and his girlfriend die in a car whose brakes were apparently damaged. The car belonged to a foreign citizen named Mertens and the car mechanic borrowed it without permission. Mertens is subsequently found dead in his room in a Brno hotel. He was electrocuted by his electric razor, which had been tampered with. The investigators believe a woman agent was involved and reveal that Mertens was in contact with a prostitute nicknamed Show Rose [Šaurůža]; she, however, has nothing to do with the case. The painstaking investigation leads the counter-espionage agents to Věra Weimannová and engineer Radek. The current piece of espionage turns out to be connected to a twenty-year-old unsolved case. Mertens was a spy. His stand-in is arrested on the border and a member of Czechoslovak counter-espionage is substituted. The investigators thus manage to discover the identity of Merten's murderer - the taxi driver Burda. Both he and Radek were personally interested in preventing Mertens from finding what he was searching for - a secret Nazi archive buried in a Moravian cemetery. When the particular cemetery is identified from an old photograph, it comes out that it had been flooded when a new dam was built. Burda, Radek and Weimannová are arrested.
Photos
Cast
Zora Božinová
vedoucí květinářství Věra Weimannová
Rade Marković
rezident
Vlasta Kabelíková
prostitutka Růžena Šnajdrová zvaná Šaurůža
František Krahulík
muž A
Jaroslav Dufek
muž B
František Bohdal
muž C
Josef Větrovec
inženýr Vratislav Radek
Josef Husník
muž jedna
Pavel Kunert
muž dvě
Mojmír Heger
muž tři
Alois Liškutín
muž X
Jiří Tomek
muž Y
Ladislav Večeřa
muž Z
Václav Všelicha
fotograf František Knoor
Vladimír Bičík
příslušník StB
Oldřich Celerýn
příslušník StB
Jaroslav Navrátil
příslušník StB
Zdeněk Ornest
příslušník StB
Bohumil Smutný
příslušník StB
Pavel Pípal
příslušník VB
Jana Hlaváčková
sekretářka
Aleš Helcelet
kunsthistorik
Karel Karas
profesor Johann Mertens
Ladislav Ladýř
náčelník
Bohumil Slezáček
odborník VB
JUDr. Jan Šopf
soudce
Jaroslav Kuneš
informátor
Helena Trýbová
telefonistka
Ladislav Lakomý
číšník Jindřich Sklenář
Miroslav Knoz
recepční
Stanislav Wandas
taxikář Alfred Burda
Karel Adam
garážmistr
Rudolf Krátký
pumpař
Lubor Hochmann
technik odposlechu
Jiří Dušek
muž
Vladimír Linka
muž z garáže
Miroslav Laňka
celník
Vilém Pruner
náčelník
Milan Pacák
bezpečnostní technik
Št. Petráš
muž s polaroidem
Jiřina Prokšová
pokojská
Miroslav Samek
demograf
Stanislava Strobachová
Burdová
Sonja Sázavská
Radková
Bedřich Synek
muž s klotovými rukávy
Jarmila Šmídová
biletářka
Luboš Vraspír
rezident
Milan Vágner
laborant
Klementina Zunová
žena v Ivančicích
J. Franek
mrtvý z fiatu
Nora Tvrzská
mrtvá z fiatu
Commentary
Dubbing
Ilja Prachař
hlas patologa
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Dramaturg
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Art Director
Miroslav Kolář (2)
Set Designer
Jiří Čermák, Emanuel Dvořáček, Eva Slívová
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Special Effects
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Ctibor Jeřábek, Jaroslav Vágner
Consultant
Jiří Batelka, mjr. Vladimír Chylík
Cooperation
Emanuela Peterová (klapka), Karel Šebík (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Production info
Original Title
Anděl blažené smrti
Czech Title
Anděl blažené smrti
English Title
The Angel of Blissful Death
Working Title
Anděl šťastné smrti
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
drama, spy
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1965
Production Year
1965
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 28 December 1964
start of filming 12 May 1965
technical Screenplay approved 30 May 1965
end of filming 5 October 1965
projection approval 9 December 1965
withdrawal from distribution 6 April 1973
Premiere
premiere 4 March 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Sevastopol /3 týdny/, Revoluce /1 týden/, Flora /1 týden od 11. 3./, Svornost /1 týden od 18. 3./ a Veletrhy /1 týden od 25. 3./, Praha)
premiere 4 March 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Distribution
Creative Group
Tvůrčí skupina Novotný – Kubala, Bedřich Kubala (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Ladislav Novotný (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
83 min
Original length in metres
2 354 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
Awards
Vítěz
Event: Čestný diplom ministerstva vnitra Československé socialistické republiky
1966
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jan Procházka
Vítěz
Event: Čestný diplom ministerstva vnitra Československé socialistické republiky
1966
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Stanislav Milota
Vítěz
Event: Čestný diplom ministerstva vnitra Československé socialistické republiky
1966
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Štěpán Skalský
