The 1951 theatrical play Bedtime Story by Irish playwright Seán O’Casey inspired Czech director Jiří Krejčík to such a degree that after adapting the project for the small screen in 1965 he then brought it to the stage in Prague’s Činoherní klub. In 1967, yet another transformation was made; this time it was produced as a colour, widescreen, feature film, which to some degree compensated for the theatrical nature of the material. While Pension pro svobodné pány (Bed Time Story) is a situational farce, it also has much in common with the concept of the dramatic unity of time and place. It takes place during a single night in a London lodging house run by the old maid Mossie, whose strict rules ban lodgers from entertaining female guests. Despite Mossie’s eagle-eyed oversight, Bernard Mulligan manages to sneak a woman, Anděla, into his room. A whirlwind of comic dialogue and situations ensue between the lovers. Mulligan’s aim is to get Anděla out of his room before his roommate Halibut returns from the ball. But the exasperated, and later vengeful, Anděla wants to make the most out of the situation for herself – which, given Mulligan’s fears of being found out by the strict landlady, goes rather well (including the painful handing over of a twenty-pound cheque, and a jewel-encrusted ring as compensation)… This adeptly staged comedy remains boldly conservative, only slightly departing from its original theatrical form (thanks to cinematographer Rudolf Milič, even the location of the “London” suburbs, found by Krejčík in Prague’s Liboc, are reliably drawn from a mere vivified backdrop). Well-crafted dialogue and countless comical situations enable the two main stars, namely Josef Abrhám and Iva Janžurová, to display their comedic talents to the full. A number of actors in smaller roles also hit the mark – Věra Ferbasová, as the maid Mossie, and Jiří Hrzán as Halibut (a last-minute replacement for actor Vladimír Pucholt). Despite outwardly appearing to be little more than a light-hearted romp, Pension pro svobodné pány (Bed Time Story) finds strong solidarity with Czech cinema through the character of the bored and terrified Mulligan – a pitiful and willing victim of female domination, against which he tries to rebel in an infantile manner. The film shines for its allegorical reflection on the behind-the-scenes absurdity of bureaucratic institutions, and hypocritical social rules, which, with the advent of a full moon, even Halibut and Mossie eventually break too.
Visits by women are strictly prohibited in Ms Mossie's English pension for bachelors. Nevertheless, some of the younger tenants cannot resist the temptation and sometimes try to sneak a young lady to their room. The landlady, however, stands guard all night in the lodge, which becomes fatal to O'Brien - he is caught, the lady thrown out, and he himself receives immediate notice. Bernard Mulligan, however, is better off, managing to get his Anděla both to his room and to his bed. But morning is coming and Halibut, Mulligan's roommate, is soon to return home from a ball. Mulligan does his best to wake the girl up and get her out. The sleepy Anděla, however, instantly grasps that all her lover's tenderness is gone, and begins to torture him maliciously. She wishes the increasingly desperate man to put on the heating and make her breakfast, subsequently wheedles his picture out of him and suggests she might be pregnant. Then she finally gets dressed and even succeeds in extracting a diamond ring from the guy. Halibut returns and Anděla hides in the closet. Although the roommate is drunk as a dog, he still notices Mulligan's puzzled behaviour. Anděla smokes in the closet and burns Halibut's coat through. Then the crafty girl strips Mulligan of his cash, coat and twenty-pound check and eventually runs away through the window since the room is, luckily, on the ground floor. Halibut, trying to help his roommate, calls a psychiatrist for Mulligan, himself setting off to the roof in a somnambulist trance with the equally affected Ms Mossie.
Anděla
Bernard Mulligan zvaný Bertík
Halibut, Mulliganův spolubydlící
slečna Mossieová, majitelka pensionu
O'Brien
O'Brienova dáma
muž na ulici/psychiatr
policista
slečna
slečna
slečna
muž na chodbě
taxikář
ošetřovatel
ošetřovatel
ošetřovatel
jeptiška
Seán O’Casey (Bedtime Story – divadelní hra)
Josef Dvořák, Richard Staněk
Karel Hyka, Václav Havlík
František Nedvěd
Milena Třešková (klapka), Miroslav Pešan (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Song Composer Johann Strauss ml.
Singer Jiří HrzánJosef AbrhámIva Janžurová
Singer Iva Janžurová
bez exteriérů
Pension pro svobodné pány
Pension pro svobodné pány
Bed Time Story
film
featuretheatrical distribution
comedy, screwball comedy
Czechoslovakia
1967
1967
literary Screenplay approved 15 February 1967
technical Screenplay approved 20 June 1967
start of filming 11 July 1967
end of filming 16 October 1967
projection approval 22 December 1967
withdrawal from distribution 31 May 1992
premiere 26 April 1968 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /1 týden/, Městská knihovna /½ týdne od 3. 5./ a Světozor /6 týdnů od 9. 5./, Praha)
premiere 26 April 1968 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Tvůrčí skupina Feix – Brož, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Karel Feix (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
89 min
2 531 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,66, 1:2,35
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Event: Múzy pražských diváků
1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Iva Janžurová
Event: Ceny Trilobit 1967
1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Iva Janžurová
Event: Peněžitá odměna za film v rámci hodnocení produkce Filmového studia Barrandov v roce 1967
1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Rudolf Milič st.
Event: Peněžitá odměna za film v rámci hodnocení produkce Filmového studia Barrandov v roce 1967
1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Krejčík