I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen!

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1969

Production year

1969

Premiere

27 February 1970

Runtime

95 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy, sci-fi

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové...

Czech title

Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové...

English title

I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen!

Summary

Novelist Josef Nesvadba made his mark in Czech film history as the author of terrific source material and as a screenwriter. With the exception of Tajemství zlatého Buddhy (The Secret of the Gold Buddha, 1973), Nesvadba attended to sci-fi themes. He would write screenplays based on his own literary output, and this is what he did for the 1969 sci-fi comedy Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové..., directed by the experienced Oldřích Lipský. On this occasion, however, the subject matter better suited co-screenwriter Miloš Macourek, who took part in the shooting of several stories based on mind-spinning turns of events with Václav Vorlíček (“Pane, vy jste vdova!” [You Are a Widow, Sir, 1970], Což takhle dát si špenát [How About a Plate of Spinach?, 1977]) and Jindřich Polák (Zítra vstanu a opařím se čajem [I’ll Get Up and Scald Myself with Tea Tomorrow, 1977]). When it comes to Lipský’s involvement in directing Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové… it’s clear that sci-fi was not his usual ground as he was essentially a writer-director who dramatised comic material (Muž z prvního století [The Man from the First Century, 1961], Srdečný pozdrav ze zeměkoule [Cordially from Earth, 1982]). This plot of this film, which cinema audiences got to see at the start of the 1970s, turns on a well-known hypothesis concerning time travel. If somebody could go back in time and assassinate Albert Einstein, they would prevent the application of outcomes of the theoretical physicist’s work – outcomes which, the film story relates, were essential in the construction of the destructive “G-bomb” at the dawn of the third millennium. One effect of a G-bomb detonation that has taken place is that women have lost the capability to reproduce and have started to grow beards. A scientific expedition from the future, led by Professor Moore (Jiří Sovák), travels to the year 1911. But expedition members Gwen Williams (Jana Brejchová), a historian, and Frank Pech, a mathematician, do not want to kill: they only want to help facilitate a fatal accident. According to attested historical documents on which the mission is based, Einstein (Petr Čepek) almost died in the house of the banker Wertheim when a heavy chandelier plunged from the ceiling. If they could just move him to the right spot, then it would be mission accomplished. But the thoroughly planned mission fails – and a second expedition causes scientific consequences that end up leaving Moore as the only “real man” on Earth… For Lipský, this motion picture followed his experimental Happy End (1967). It is a crazy, over-complicated comedy, but, in the end, it is saved by a great cast. As an aside, it is noteworthy that the extinction of mankind was connected to secret US arms industry activities.

Synopsis

It is the beginning of the third millennium and the situation of the human race is critical. Secret experiments with the G bomb has caused women to grow beards and completely lose their ability to bear children. The only hope is an expedition which Professor Moore wants to make in his time machine, planning to go to Prague of 1911 and kill Professor Einstein, whose calculations eventually resulted in the production of the G bomb. Moore is accompanied by mathematician Frank Pech and pretty historian Gwen Williams. Their plan is based on historical records, according to which Einstein almost died in the house of the banker Wertheim, standing under a heavy chandelier which fell on the exact spot he had stood on just a while ago. The task of the group of three is only to help the tragedy a little - to thwart the scientist's rescue. The time machine lands in Prague but, gradually, everything goes wrong. Frank makes friends with an ingenious little arithmetician and great rascal named František, his future father. But the boy dies instead of Einstein and Frank - who thus could not have been born - disappears in an instant. The expedition has failed. Moore asks for a new attempt. This time, Gwen decides to use her women's charms against Einstein, convincing him to abandon physics and take up a career playing the violin. But when the expedition returns to the future, everything has changed. Moore finds out to his horror that he had remained the only one real man. Chemistry, which came to rule the world in the new history instead of physics, caused a "female" mutation to men, preventing them from having any descendants. Moore can do naught else but engender new generations and invent the "salutary" nuclear bomb.

Film online

Cast

Jiří Sovák

profesor David Moore

Jana Brejchová

doktorka historie Gwen Williamsová/Jane Einsteinová, dcera Gwen

Lubomír Lipský

profesor Frank Pech

Iva Janžurová

Betsy, Frankova žena

Petr Čepek

profesor Albert Einstein

Radoslav Brzobohatý

profesor Robert Grant

Svatopluk Beneš

tajemník OSN Giacometti

Jan Libíček

Smith, člen Grantovy bandy

Viktor Maurer

sekretář OSN Snyder

Miloš Kopecký

bankéř Guido Wertheim

Stella Zázvorková

Vilma, Wertheimova žena

Oldřich Musil

rektor Rath

Josef Hlinomaz

inspektor policie

Karel Effa

zástupce velitele policie

Josef Bláha

ředitel fyzikálního ústavu

Josef Kemr

vynálezce profesor Hughes

Vladimír Hlavatý

rada Vágner

Josef Beyvl

chlípný profesor Wurm

Zdeněk Dítě

režisér v Národním divadle

Ivo Gübel

fiakrista

Karel Pavlík

mluvčí zmutovaných mužů

Jaroslav Štercl

vrchní Franc

Jarmila Gerlová

herečka Swansonová

Jiří Hálek

člen Grantovy bandy

Vladimír Zátka

malý František, Frankův otec jako dítě

Jindřich Narenta

televizní hlasatel

Jan Pohan

pobočník

Oldřich Velen

dirigent v Národním divadle

Dana Hlaváčová

komorná Emilka

Jiří Lír

lékárník Lier

Luba Skořepová

dáma s lorňonem

Mirko Musil

delegát-muž s ňadry

Stanislav Litera

delegát-muž s ňadry

Josef Hajdučík

delegát-muž s ňadry

H. Bohatová

manželka

Petra Černocká

posluchačka

Karel Engel

policista

Karel Vítek

policista

Ladislav Dražan

vrchní

Jana Sedlmajerová

studentka Geislerová

Karel Hejsek

kameraman

Rudolf Jokl

kameraman

Jaroslav Kupšík

kameraman

Václav Štekl

muž-barmanka

Hana Houbová

dáma ve společnosti

Jan Maška

delegát

Robert Morávek

vrátný v Národním divadle

Pavel Navara

pilot

Josef Mojžíš

zvukař

Jarmila Orlová

konferenciérka

Ivo Palec

asistent

Eva Rubínová

laborantka

Václav Halama

pomocník nosiče

Miroslav Smrček

asistent kamery

Antonín Soukup

šlechetný pán

Jan Víšek

asistent

Pavel Jareš

host

František Šeba

host

Adolf Široký

host

M. Jelínek

host

Alois Zouhar

hudebník

Josef Puffler

hudebník

Václav Čechák

hudebník

Hilbert

hudebník

Vladimír Král (2)

hudebník

D. Špačková

posluchačka

Zuzana Talpová

asistentka

Vondráček

Clark

Leichner

pianista

Dubbing

Antonín Jedlička

hlas počítače

Alena Kreuzmannová

hlas ženské podoby Franka Pecha

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Tomáš Svoboda

Assistant Director

Stanislava Hutková

Continuity

Marta Kunstová

Director of Photography

Ivan Šlapeta

Second Unit Photography

Emil Sirotek

Camera Operator

Richard Valenta

Production Designer

Jindřich Goetz

Assistent Production Designer

Jaromír Švarc

Art Director

Vladimír Dvořák

Set Designer

Ivan Ernyei, Oldřich Halaza, Jiří Rulík

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Jitka Šulcová

Sound Designer

Jiří Kejř

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Jiří Krejčí

Unit Production Manager

Věra Winkelhöferová, Josef Mojžíš

Unit Production Manager

Jaroslav Vondráček

Cooperation

Věra Rathová (klapka), Jaromír Komárek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Vlastimil Hála

Selected Music

Bedřich Smetana (Prodaná nevěsta /sbor Proč bychom se netěšili/ – opera), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sonáta e moll)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Taneční orchestr Václava Hybše (Music Conducted by Václav Hybš)

Production info

Original Title

Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové...

Czech Title

Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové...

English Title

I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen!

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy, sci-fi

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1969

Production Year

1969

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 10 April 1968
technical Screenplay approved 17 March 1969
start of filming 21 April 1969
end of filming 17 July 1969
the first film copy approved 28 November 1969
projection approval 11 December 1969
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1975

Premiere

premiere 27 February 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 5 March 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /2 týdny/, Světozor /4 týdny od 2. 4./ a Metro /2 týdny od 4. 6./, Praha)

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

95 min

Original length in metres

2 694 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66, 1:2,35

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech