Little Claudia lives in the small chateau of her grandfather, Mr Viola, owner of a syndicate. She is surrounded by luxury, servants and toys, but still is not completely happy. Her mother is far away and the grandfather is too busy to find time for her. One day, a puppet of a little man wearing a bowler hat and carrying a little umbrella descends to her and turns into an adult man in front of her eyes. It is the magic Mr Tau, who does not like to see children sad and tries to help Claudia. The little girl wishes to return to the times of knights, and when she wakes up the next day, everything at the chateau looks like in the old times: the furniture, clothing, equipage with the team of horses... Mr Viola considers all this the work of his wicked competition while the journalists mistake his historical costume for an advertising trick. The biggest surprise comes when, at the press conference, Viola take a beautiful musical machine out of the case instead of the expected mini-TV. Surprisingly, there is a great interest in the machine on the market. The old Viola rushes to meet Claudia who in the meantime begs her mother on the phone to come for her. But when she sees her granddad in the historic costume, she decides to stay and goes with him to the park where they begin to play together. Mr Tau is satisfied - Claudie is happy. He swirls his bowler and the magic disappears. The granddad and Claudia are dressed in jeans again, the ancient coach turned to a modern car... Mr Tau bows and says good bye.
The film was distributed to Czech cinemas as part of the series Mr Tau and Claudia along with the feature film of the same title and the Czech cartoon film Circus (directed by Zdeněk Seydl and Ludvík Kadleček) and the American titles Lambert the Sheepish Lion, Ventriloquist Cat and Much Ado About Mousing.
The first (I.) series of thirteen medium-length films about Mr Tau was created in the years 1969–1972. It was first launched in cinemas, in series composed of two parts and accompanied by a cartoon movie (1. Mr Tau Arrives, 2. Mr Tau Gives Presents, 3. Mr Tau at the Mountains, 4. Mr Tau and Sunday, 5. Mr Tau Goes to School, 6. Mr Tau and Cold!, 7. Mr Tau and Claudia, 8. Mr Tau Will Handle It, 9. Mr Tau and Trip around the World, 10. Mr Tau in Circus, 11. Mr Tau and the Taxi Driver, 12. Mr Tau Wanted, 13. Mr Tau and a Thousand Miracles). In the Czechoslovak Television, the series was first introduced in December 1972. Due to its success, another thirteen parts (II.) were filmed in 1973–1975, this time intended exclusively for television (1. Mr Tau Returns, 2. Mr Tau and Robinson, 3. Mr Tau and Too Big Balloon, 4. Mr Tau and Dog Goaty-Dog, 5. Mr Tau and Family Celebration, 6. Mr Tau Goes to Work, 7. Mr Tau and Five Pears and Three Apples, 8. Mr Tau and Black Umbrella, 9. Mr Tau and Big Dog, 10. Mr Tau and Tree-Frog. 11. Mr Tau and Alladin Lamp, 12. Mr Tau and Golden Suitcase, 13. Mr Tau Leaves). The third (III.) and last (seven-part) series was filmed in the years 1977 and 1978 (1. Alert in the Sky, 2. Elephant Hunt, 3. Night at Safari, 4. Mr Tau and Woman-Magician, 5. Mr Tau at Pioneer Camp, 6. Mr Tau – And Which Is the Right One?, 7. No Magic from Tomorrow). On TV, the third series was introduced as a series in the original form and was edited for the film distribution into two feature films Alert in the Sky and No Magic from Tomorrow. The popular bowlered hero last appeared in the feature film Mr Tau, created by a German-Czechoslovak co-production in 1988.
pan Tau
bohatý pan Viola
Claudie, Violova vnučka
guvernantka
guvernantka
vedoucí výzkumu
ředitel prodeje
komorník
sluha
muž z koncernu/herec v TV filmu
muž z koncernu
muž z koncernu
muž z koncernu
muž z koncernu
sekretářka
televizní reportér
reportér
novinářka
novinář
novinářka
komorná
kuchařka
herec v televizním filmu
rváč v televizním filmu
Vilém Kijonka
Jaroslav Tuzar, Vladimír Malík (loutková část)
Stanislava Procházková (loutková část)
Václav Pošta, Jan Petrů, Jiří Žůček
Martin Baroch, Jan Syrový, Karel Prchal
Zorka Chrastinová (klapka)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Orchestr Karla Vlacha (Music Conducted by Karel Vlach)
Magda Hrnčířová, sbor
Pan Tau a Claudie
Pan Tau a Claudie
Mr Tau and Claudia
Pan Tau und Claudia im Schloss / Pan Tau und Claudia im Schloss
Kde je Claudie? / Pan Tau 4.
film
featuretheatrical distribution
children
Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria
1970
1970
projection approval 26 May 1971
the first film copy approved 15 December 1971
premiere 30 March 1972 /suitable for youths/ (kino Tatra, Praha)
premiere 31 March 1972 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Hofman (příprava), Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí výrobní skupiny), Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka
medium length film
32 min
915 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech