"Mareček, Please Pass Me a Pen!"
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1976Production year
1976Premiere
8 October 1976Runtime
95 minDirector
Oldřich LipskýCategory
filmGenre
comedyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
„Marečku, podejte mi pero!“Czech title
„Marečku, podejte mi pero!“English title
"Mareček, Please Pass Me a Pen!"Summary
In 1976 the screenwriters Zdeněk Svěrák and Ladislav Smoljak built on the tradition of Martin Frič’s secondary school comedies. With Jáchyme, hoď ho do stroje! (Joachim, Put Him into the Machine!) (1974) they demonstrated that their distinctive humour was the perfect match for the precise, playful approach of director Oldřich Lipský. Like Joachim, Put Him into the Machine!, the comedy „Marečku, podejte mi pero!“ (“Mareček, Please Pass Me a Pen!”) is a casual contemporary story that fulfils the demands of society in a subtle, cultivated manner. As part of moves to boost the qualifications of the working professions, Jiří Kroupa, an aging foreman at an agricultural machinery factory, has to finish technical school. He thus unwillingly spends his evenings at the same desk where his teenage son sits during the day. His distaste for learning, which moreover he finds difficult, has a disastrous impact on his results. Kroupa Sr. has to marshal all his forces in order to prevent the pedantic sycophant Hujer (Václav Lohniský) from acquiring the boss’s job at a modern plant… However, the essence of the comedic plot filled with verbal gags and situational humour is not Kroupa’s study problems but the very situation of adults being forced to experience the stumbling blocks of everyday school life. The heterogeneous classmates are quickly transformed into a typical school class in which alongside the swot Hujer the infantile flirt Týfová (Iva Janžurová), naive striver Plha (Josef Kemr) and inseparable provocateurs Tuček and Šlajs (Smoljak and Svěrák) stand out. Clashes between the “dim-witted” overage students and the demands of secondary education are another source of comic situations. Dozens of humorous lines in Lipský’s most loved film caught on and have become part of the culture. An outstanding cast is dominated by Jiří Sovák and his (then 27-year-old) son Jiří Schmitzer as Kroupa senior and junior. However, the titular Mareček does not exist – the pupil lives only in the memory of the senile Professor Hrbolek.
Synopsis
A factory producing agricultural machines is about to be thoroughly modernized. If he wants to keep his job, master craftsman Kroupa is going to have to improve his qualifications through further training and completing his school-leaving exams. Kroupa is persuaded to go back to school by his subordinates who fear that the unbearable Hujer, who has already signed on for schooling, may get promoted and take Kroupa's place. The students at the evening classes of the technical college are all middle-aged people. Even so, there are go-getters, shirkers and slobs among them just like in any other school. The elderly Czech language professor Hrbolek keeps calling the unruly Tuček by the name of Mareček, and refuses to excuse the absence of Hliník, who has moved to Humpolec. Master Kroupa is trying hard. He just about manages to grind through the poetry, but unlike his son Jirka who is studying at the same school, he is hopeless at mathematics. Kroupa rejects the amorous advances of his eccentric fellow student Eva Týfová. A billet-doux with an invitation for a date at the cemetery causes Kroupa problems. Týfová is convinced that the note is intended for her and insists on an apology. Kroupa's marriage almost collapses but then it becomes clear that it was Jirka who wrote the letter to his girlfriend Eva Tůmová. Relatives in ample numbers join the parents' association meeting, with fourteen people representing the crawler Hujer alone. Kroupa suppresses his pride, agrees to take mathematics classes from his son Jirka and greatly improves his grades. They finally both receive pretty good school degrees. After a while, in the modern assembly shop, master Kroupa is running production automatically from a glassed-in cabin.
Film online
Photos
Cast
Jiří Sovák
mistr Jiří Kroupa st., večerní student
Míla Myslíková
manželka Jiřího Kroupy st.
Jiří Schmitzer
student Jiří, syn Kroupových
Václav Lohniský
kontrolor Viktor Hujer/Robert, Hujerův bratr
Iva Janžurová
Eva Týfová, spolužačka Kroupy st.
Josef Kemr
skladník šroubárny Plha, večerní student
Ladislav Smoljak
večerní student Tuček zvaný Mareček
Zdeněk Svěrák
večerní student Šlajs zvaný Hustoles
František Kovářík
profesor češtiny Hrbolek
Josef Abrhám
třídní profesor Čeněk Janda, matikář
Taťjana Medvecká
Eva Tůmová, přítelkyně Kroupy ml.
Jan Skopeček
náměstek Kalivoda
Milena Dvorská
Outratová, Kroupova spolupracovnice
Marie Motlová
svačinářka Zuzanka
Jaroslava Obermaierová
profesorka fyziky Zíková
František Filipovský
profesor chemie Lapáček
Jiří Hálek
ředitel školy
Petr Nárožný
Ing. Emil Týfa
Jaroslav Weigel
Rousek, Kroupův spolupracovník
Petr Brukner
Famfula, Kroupův spolupracovník
Vladimír Hrabánek
Hora, Kroupův spolupracovník
Pavel Vondruška
pracovník odbytu Svátek, večerní student
Jiří Lír
večerní student Dudek
Zdeněk Srstka
mistr v lakovně Mužík, večerní student
Libuše Švormová
večerní studentka Ječná
Vladimír Hrubý
vrátný u vlečky
Václav Trégl
Plhův stařičký otec
Oldřich Velen
Hujerův strýc
Darja Hajská
teta Máňa, Hujerova příbuzná
Roman Čada
Hujerův synovec
Markéta Čaňková
Hujerova neteř
Václav Kotva
přednosta stanice
Tomáš Holý
žák Matula
Jaroslav Vozáb
tlumočník
Eduard Pavlíček
tavič
Miloš Drahota
učeň
Milan Bouška
student
Jan Dvořák (3)
student
Lydie Havláková
studentka
Daniela Kopecká
studentka
Jiří Kosek
student
Gabriela Osvaldová
studentka Knittlová
Miluše Pěnkavová
studentka
Leoš Slavkovský
student
David Smoljak
student
Martin Učík
student
Marcel Vašinka
student
Vlasta Žehrová
studentka
Václav David
večerní student
Karel Fiala
zámečník Březina, večerní student
Jiří Flíček
večerní student
Marie Petrová
večerní studentka
Naděžda Slavkovská
večerní studentka
Eva Strychová
večerní studentka
Václav Špidla
večerní student
Miloš Švarc
večerní student
Jaromír Vogel
večerní student
František Zeman
večerní student
Soňa Vlčková
kolegyně
Otto Hudrlík
mladší profesor
Viktor Rindler
Voice by Martin Mahdal
montér
Libuše Štědrá
Tučkova dcera
Markéta Procházková (2)
Šlajsova žena
Olga Michálková
Hujerova švagrová
Milada Kadeřábková
Hujerova žena
Erich Fichtner
Hujerův bratranec
Květuše Zemanová
Zelenková, Hujerova sestra
Josef Střecha
příbuzný Hujera
Jiřina Bílá
příbuzná Hujera
Karel Bodnár
měřič s pásmem
Miloš Větvička
starší profesor
Miroslav Vrba
Svátkův syn
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Dramaturg
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Bohumír Schwarzer
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Jan Petrů, Václav Pošta, Jan Jindra
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Consultant
Josef Vysoký
Cooperation
Jaroslava Frančová (klapka), Pavel Brodil (vrchní osvětlovač), Jan Kuděla (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Songs
Prší, prší
Singer sbor
Production info
Original Title
„Marečku, podejte mi pero!“
Czech Title
„Marečku, podejte mi pero!“
English Title
"Mareček, Please Pass Me a Pen!"
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
comedy
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1976
Production Year
1976
Production specifications
withdrawal from distribution 1 October 1993
Premiere
festival premiere 17 June 1976 (27. filmový festival pracujících – léto ´76 /kino Blaník, Praha/)
premiere 1 July 1976 /suitable for youths/ (kino Sevastopol, Praha)
premiere 8 October 1976 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 6 October 2022 /suitable for all ages without limit/
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Laboratories
Distribution
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1976), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2022)
Creative Group
Dramaturgická skupina Miloše Brože, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
95 min
Original length in metres
2 590 meters
Distribution carrier
16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD
Aspect ratio
1:1,66
Colour
colour
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
mono
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
Awards
Vítěz
Festival: 15. festival českých a slovenských filmů Bratislava
1977
Bratislava / Czechoslovakia
Oldřich Lipský
Vítěz
Festival: 27. filmový festival pracujících – léto '76
1976
48 měst / Czechoslovakia
