Major Kalaš, the investigator who features in a quartet of crime films made by director Petr Schulhoff, is among the most popular characters in the realm of Czech detective stories. A substantial part of his charisma, of course, is down to the actor who portrays him: Rudolf Hrušínský. But Schulhoff's approach also made a significant contribution to the indisputable quality of the series. In the four detective stories – Strach (Fear, 1963), Vrah skrývá tvář (The Murderer Hides His Face, 1966), Po stopách krve (1969), and Diagnóza smrti (Diagnosis of Death, 1979) – Schulhoff created a prototype for high-quality, classic Czech detective tales with an impressively dismal atmosphere. In Po stopách krve, Kalaš investigates the murder of a Roma boy in the northern Bohemian town of Dubá. When another victim is discovered, the Prague-based investigator realises he is up against a serial killer – and a paedophile to boot. Tackling the case is made more complicated due to the absence of his trusted partner, Varga.
Major Kalaš from the Prague criminal intelligence service has been sent to a small town of Dubá in North Bohemia to help with the investigation of the puzzling death of a child. A Gypsy boy has been killed three weeks ago and his body found under a rock. After a thorough investigation and checking the testimonies, Kalaš and his local colleague Lieutenant Vlach can gradually rule out some of the suspects: the boy's stepfather, the aggressive hooligan Vavroch, and Burda, who was caught in flagrante not far from the scene of the crime. Bricklayer Fojt, a friendless widower, is also among the suspects. His son lives in Prague, but has been hospitalised after a road accident. As the investigation continues, another dead boy is found. The boy has bled to death after someone cut his artery with a handsaw. Both deaths are obviously the work of a murderer - a perverted paedophile, sadist who gets sexual satisfaction from the sight of a young boy's blood. Then the wife of the young Fojt also dies. Her death appears to be a suicide by gassing, but is finally exposed as murder. It seems that the young woman was done away with as an unwanted witness. The young Fojt's alibi falls through when it is confirmed that he left the hospital on several occasions. He makes one last attempt to throw the blame on his father but the surveillance camera recording from the hospital waiting room shows him hiding a boy's bloody bandage that he has pulled out of the rubbish bin, and his guilt is proved.
major VB Kalaš
poručík VB Vlach
podplukovník VB Tesař
hajný Frič
MUDr. Vít, lékař v Dubé
Šindlerová
cihlář Fojt
Fojtův syn
hostinská Vlasta Veselá
kočí Antonín Vavroch
sousedka
rotný VB
vyšetřovatel Suchánek
Honza Burda, Vlastin milenec
prosektor
Fojtová, žena mladšího Fojta
policista v civilu
řidič Tatry 603
nadstrážmistr VB
technik VB v kombinéze
mistr Tůma, Vavrochův šéf
laborant
Vavrochův domácí
policejní fotograf
spěchající žena
lékař
promítač
Otradovec
zdravotní sestra
zdravotní sestra
chlapec v nemocnici
matka v nemocnici
manipulantka v tiskárně
příslušník VB
policejní lékař u Fojtové
chlapec
technik VB
příslušník VB
Stanislava Hutková
Vladimír Ježek, Karel Kracík, Ladislav Winkelhöfer
Josef Mojžíš, Věra Winkelhöferová
Vlasta Mathauserová
mjr. Jaroslav Buchar, MUDr. Zdeněk Šňupárek
Věra Rathová (klapka), Karel Ješátko (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by Milivoj Uzelac)
Po stopách krve
Po stopách krve
On the Trail of Blood
Vrah na volné noze / Krev
film
featuretheatrical distribution
detective
Czechoslovakia
1969
1969
literary Screenplay approved 28 November 1968
technical Screenplay approved 16 June 1969
start of filming 19 August 1969
end of filming 4 November 1969
projection approval 23 December 1969
the first film copy approved 23 December 1969
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1975
premiere 27 March 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
gala premiere 8 April 1970 (kino 64 U Hradeb, Praha)
premiere 9 April 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /2 týdny/, Blaník /4 týdny od 23. 4./, Klub /1 týden od 21. 5./ a Veletrhy /1 týden od 4. 6./, Praha)
Tvůrčí skupina Novotný – Kubala, Bedřich Kubala (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Ladislav Novotný (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
94 min
2 660 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,66, 1:2,35
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech