The Great Unknown

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1970

Production year

1969—1970

Premiere

23 October 1970

Runtime

85 min

Director

Pavel Hobl

Category

povídkový film

Genre

short-story, mystery

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Velká neznámá

Czech title

Velká neznámá

English title

The Great Unknown

Working title

Cosi mezi nebem a zemí / Přízraky dne

Summary

Amidst director Pavel Hobl’s rich genre-themed filmography, a place was found for this anthology film, inspired by the mysterious short stories of author Iva Hercíková. The writer assisted in adapting her work for the big screen. Velká neznámá (The Great Unknown, 1970) presents three unrelated stories, linked together by the theme of mystery. In the first story, Přejetá dívka (A Girl Run over by a Car), a professor of Latin discovers why a young cyclist was destined to die. The next story, Vznášející se docent (The Senior Lecturer Rising) tells the story of the romantic yearnings of a bachelor working in a research institute. Noc v hotelu (One Night in a Hotel) tells the tale of a pair of lovers, who encounter a detective book with the laconic, ominous title Vražda (Murder)… The film boasts a number of noteworthy performers, including those of Gustav Nezval, Jiří Hrzán, Marie Málková, Jan Kačer and Nina Divíšková.

Synopsis

A Girl Run over by a Car (One Investigation) - In the city suburbs, an old professor of Latin lives in an old villa, attending to his severely ill wife. One accidental look out of the window makes him a witness of the strange death of a young woman who collapsed on an empty pavement in a burst of cry and died, her raincoat bearing traces of a tire. The disturbed Professor tries to solve the mystery on his own. He finds out that the dead girl, named Lydie, wanted to be an actress. But when her girlfriend Lenka succeeded in an audition instead of her, she began to imitate her in the way she dressed and behaved, eventually almost becoming one with her. Lenka is cast in a film in which she is going to be run over by a car, but nothing is supposed to happen to her. Lenka's surname is Tanátová and the Professor realizes with horror that the Greek thanatos stands for "death." Now, he feels he understands why Lydie had to die. The Senior Lecturer Rising (Fumbling in the Dark) - An old bachelor, a senior lecturer working in a research institute, is pursued by the attentive care of a young pretty cleaning lady named Anežka. But one day, the face of an attractive blonde appears on the screen of his scientific appliance. The pretty girl visits his study immediately afterwards, claiming to have been appointed his assistant. If the blond-haired Markéta is absent in the study, she at least keeps on reappearing on the senior lecture's screen. The embarrassed man consults the case with his friend who is a psychiatrist, but he cuts him short. The senior lecturer comes to the conclusion he loves Markéta, decides to ask her to marry him, but soon finds the girl in the arms of the Head of the Institute. He has arrived at his final decision - to go up through the elevator shaft to the greenhouse where Anežka is watering her flowers. One Night in a Hotel (Wandering) - A young married woman apologizes to her boyfriend, Havel, that their departure must be set back three hours. The man thus wanders through the town, running into a bookstore and deciding to buy a detective story entitled Murder That Does Not Need an Explanation. Both the bookstore manager and the shop seller claim that the work is brand new, but Havel is firmly convinced he is familiar with the plot and has read it already. The situation results in a quarrel among the three. Havel later visits his friend, a detective-story connoisseur, asking him to judge the dispute. Then, he and Jarmila leave for another city and stay in single bedrooms on various floors, to give the appearance of being imperviously separated from each other. Nonetheless, the two lovers spend the night together. In the morning, Havel finds his lover missing and the liftboy claims not to be aware of their hotel sojourn at all. Havel rushes to the railway station but fails to catch up with the woman. It is only in Prague that he finds out that the train Jarmila was supposed to arrive with has been stuck for three hours in the station since the dead body of a woman was discovered on board. Then Havel receives a phone call from his friend telling him the plot of the book is definitely new and genuine.

Note

The short story One Night in a Hotel was published in the collection of short storie entitled The Limping Spider; the remaining two were written by Iva Hercíková especially for the film.

Cast

Gustav Nezval

profesor Just

Marta Krásová

Klára, profesorova manželka

Andrea Čunderlíková

Lenka Tanátová

Alena Kreuzmannová

matka zemřelé dívky Lydie/herečka

Jana Preissová

kamarádka Lenky a Lydie/klapka

Jana Břežková

dívka v informacích

Jiří Hrzán

Oldřich, Lydiin přítel

Eva Kratochvílová

Voice by Jana Andresíková
mladá žena na sídlišti/asistentka

Ladislava Tschamundjiová

černovláska v čekárně/maskérka

Boris Moravec

přítel černovlásky

Miloslav Drtílek

vyšetřovatel

Karel Bělohradský

vyšetřovatel

František Husák

vyšetřovatel

Antonín Soukup

děda s dýmkou

Pavel Hobl

režisér při filmování

Marie Málková

uklízečka Anežka Černá

Jana Šulcová

asistentka Markéta Borová

Marie Rosůlková

docentova matka

Josef Somr

psychiatr Lakomý, docentův přítel

Zdeněk Dítě

ředitel výzkumného ústavu

Věra Galatíková

sekretářka

Jiřina Bílá

úřednice

Ivanka Devátá

Havlova sestra

Josef Chvalina

přítel, sběratel detektivek

Robert Vrchota

železničář

Helena Růžičková

informátorka ČSD

Dana Syslová

vedoucí knihkupectví

Kaplan

recepční hotelu

Olga Bušková

bardáma

Marian Cingroš

kolega

Adolf Široký

kolega

Pešta

kolega

Rudolf Jokl

kameraman

Jindřich Panáček

fotoreportér

Ela Šilarová

sekretářka

Petráčková

blondýnka

Kubíček

školník

Zeyerová

přejetá dívka

Crew and creators

Director

Pavel Hobl

Screenstory

Iva Hercíková

Based on

Iva Hercíková (Noc v hotelu ze sbírky Pavouk, který kulhal – povídka)

Dramaturg

Miloš Fiala

Director of Photography

Jaromír Šofr

Second Unit Photography

Petr Čech

Camera Operator

Jiří Kučera

Production Designer

Bohumil Pokorný

Set Designer

Josef Pavlík, Petr Misík, Ladislav Rada

Costume Designer

Jan Kropáček

Assistant Film Editor

Helena Lehovcová

Sound Designer

Jiří Hora

Production Manager

Ladislav Kalaš

Unit Production Manager

Adolf Široký, Ludmila Tikovská

Unit Production Manager

Karel Petrů

Cooperation

Jaroslava Sýkorová (klapka), Jindřich Panáček (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Luboš Fišer

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Production info

Original Title

Velká neznámá

Czech Title

Velká neznámá

English Title

The Great Unknown

Working Title

Cosi mezi nebem a zemí / Přízraky dne

Category

povídkový film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

short-story, mystery

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1970

Production Year

1969—1970

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 13 October 1969
technical Screenplay approved 24 November 1969
start of filming 8 December 1969
end of filming 26 February 1970
the first film copy approved 1 June 1970
projection approval 28 July 1970
withdrawal from distribution 1 September 1974

Premiere

premiere 23 October 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 29 October 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Hvězda /2 týdny/, Praha)

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Kunc, František Břetislav Kunc (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí výrobní skupiny), Výrobní skupina Bohumila Šmídy (dokončení)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

85 min

Original length in metres

2 408 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech