The End of the Agent W4C
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1967Production year
1966—1967Premiere
6 October 1967Runtime
86 minDirector
Václav VorlíčekCategory
filmGenre
parody, spyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Konec agenta W4C prostřednictvím psa pana FoustkyCzech title
Konec agenta W4C prostřednictvím psa pana FoustkyEnglish title
The End of the Agent W4CWorking title
Konec agenta W4CSummary
Václav Vorlíček’s Konec agenta W4C prostřednictvím psa pana Foustky (The End of Agent W4C), a James Bond-style parody of films about indestructible secret agents, is a rarity in Czechoslovak cinematography. The most bizarre aspect of the 1967 film is that viewers behind the Iron Curtain had no opportunity to see any Bond movies at that time, as censors regarded them as an example of reviled Western popular culture. However, cooperation between Vorlíček and playwright Oldřich Daněk resulted in a screenplay in which characters and tropes from the decadent “capitalist” genre come face to face with the small Czech reality. The focus of this encounter – as seen in numerous other parodies and comedies over the decades – is a regular Czech guy, Foustka, an unassuming, naive and good-natured accountant who owns a little dog named Pajda. Foustka sparks a situation in which secret service officers from around the world battle to obtain a secret military plan to make use of Venus hidden in an ordinary salt cellar. The most important of them is Cyril Juan Borguette (an utterly elegant Jan Kačer), the world’s greatest spy, codenamed agent W4C. The absurdly conceived picture packed with verbal and situational humour still has a fresh feel today, despite the fact that Daněk, who penned the story and co-wrote the screenplay, did not provide Vorlíček with material of the quality of his favoured writer Miloš Macourek, with whom the director had worked a year previously on the successful comedy Kdo chce zabít Jessii? (Who Wants to Kill Jessie?). The detachment of Foustka, as portrayed with inimitable humanity by Jiří Sovák, allows him to come out on top in the cold world of hard-bitten, merciless spies and femme fatales (personified by the sensuous Alice, played by Květa Fialová).
Synopsis
The invincible agent Cyril Juan Borguette alias W4C has been assigned a mission to go to a certain hotel in an "unknown city" - Prague, get hold of a saltcellar with a plan for the military exploitation of Venus hidden in it, and hand it over to the beautiful agent Alice. He will have to compete for the saltcellar with other agents working for the world's various greater and smaller powers. The head of a counter-intelligence unit in the "unknown city" gets news of agent W4C's mission. Deficient in personnel, he nominates accountant Foustka as agent 13B. Mr Foustka takes his dog Pajda with him and the two head for the airport. Pajda helps him track down agent W4C in a classy hotel that becomes the battleground for the interests and plans of the secret agents from different countries, each trying to get hold of the precious saltcellar. The accountant joins this high-stakes game. He saves the beautiful agent Alice from drowning in the swimming pool, wins a swimming race and finally also finds the saltcellar, the secret of which is worth one billion Czechoslovak crowns. Alice and the agent W4C win nothing at all. Alice ends up all alone because when a special alarm clock explodes, shoes are all that remains of the great agent. Mr Foustka is not pleased either. He has dreamt of becoming the head accountant but is instead promoted to number one agent.
Photos
Cast
Jan Kačer
agent W4C Cyril Juan Borguette
Květa Fialová
agentka Alice Robertsová
Jiří Sovák
účetní Josef Foustka
Jan Libíček
rezident
Jiří Pleskot
šéf agentury nejmenované podmocnosti
Jiří Lír
agent Stern
Jaroslav Kepka
agent s plamenometem
Václav Kotva
agent v krbu
Zdeněk Blažek
agent
Zdeněk Braunschläger
agent
Jaroslav Cmíral
agent
Karel Engel
agent
Ivo Gübel
agent
Josef Hlinomaz
agent
Karel Hovorka
agent
Eduard Pavlíček
agent
Vladimír Pospíšil
agent
Svatopluk Skládal
agent
Jaroslav Tomsa
agent
Oldřich Velen
agent
Lubomír Kostelka
vrchní
Otto Šimánek
zbrojíř du Jardin
Vlastimil Hašek
technik
Antonín Šůra
reportér/francouzský policista
Věra Bauerová
recepční
Jan Cmíral
pořadatel
Jaroslav Heyduk
agent ve světlíku
Alena Kreuzmannová
sekretářka
František Husák
houslista
Hana Talpová
barmanka, agentka G 15
Helena Růžičková
dáma v baru
Luďa Marešová
dáma v baru
Petr Čepek
ekvádorský plavec
Valtr Taub
velký šéf
Miloš Vavruška
snědý muž s kinžálem
Antonín Pražák
řidič na letišti
Stanislav Zindulka
důstojník
Karel Bezděk
příslušník VB
Oldřich Hoblík
příslušník VB
Jiří Sedlmayer
příslušník VB
Vladimír Hora
hudebník
Viktor Klinger
hudebník
Karel Kos
hudebník
Čestmír Preclík
hudebník
Jana Weberová
dívka
Jana Sedlmajerová
liftgirl
Dana Reimová
sekretářka
Zdeněk Skalický
vrchní na schodech
Isabella Tylínková
zpěvačka
Zuzana Talpová
slečna u baru
K. Hejl
dubl za Jana Kačera
pes Pajda
pes Pajda
Dubbing
Vladimír Šmeral
hlas rezidentova nadřízeného
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
Set Designer
Jiří Cvrček, Jiří Drégr, Oldřich Halaza
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Vladimír Tišer
Cooperation
Luďka Žáková (klapka), Miroslav Pešan (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Songs
Konec agenta W4C
Song Composer Svatopluk Havelka
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Judita Čeřovská
Production info
Original Title
Konec agenta W4C prostřednictvím psa pana Foustky
Czech Title
Konec agenta W4C prostřednictvím psa pana Foustky
English Title
The End of the Agent W4C
Working Title
Konec agenta W4C
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
parody, spy
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1967
Production Year
1966—1967
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 23 August 1966
technical Screenplay approved 20 September 1966
start of filming 17 October 1966
end of filming 7 May 1967
projection approval 28 June 1967
withdrawal from distribution 31 August 1976
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1991
Premiere
premiere 6 October 1967 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 20 October 1967 /suitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /2 týdny/ a Blaník /4 týdny od 1. 12./, Praha)
renewed premiere 11 December 1981 /suitable for youths/
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1967 a obnovená 1981)
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
86 min
Original length in metres
2 440 meters
Distribution carrier
16mm, 35mm
Aspect ratio
1:1,66, 1:2,35
Colour
black & white
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
stereo
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
