The most popular picture in Ivo Novák’s filmography was the holiday comedy Léto s kovbojem (Summer Spent with a Cowboy), which the experienced director made in 1976 on the basis of a book and screenplay by novelist Jaromíra Kolárová (1919–2006). She had previously worked on an adaptation of her book Holky z porcelánu (Girls from a Porcelain Factory) directed in 1974 by Juraj Herz and later collaborated with him on Zastihla mě noc (Caught by Night) (1985), a biographical drama about communist journalist Jožka Jabůrková. Within the framework of Kolárová’s three screenplays, the romance between young psychologist Doubravka and co-op cowherd Honza naturally has more in common with the narrative about the joys and sorrows of female employees at a porcelain warehouse. The screenwriter succeeded in combining the demands of Barrandov’s dramaturges for an engaged romance with a pure genre spectacle, giving rise to one of the few 1970s romantic comedies that still finds an audience today thanks to its intelligent hyperbole, laid-back summer atmosphere and impeccable casting. Unlike in later comedies of the style of Troška’s Slunce, seno… (Sun, Hay…) series, the Czech countryside did not serve Kolárová and Novák as a source of populist humour and bizarrely singular “bumpkin” characters. If anything, rather than the young man Honza (demoted from tractor driver to cowherd due to a drunken lapse), it is the visitors from the city who are subject to ironic distancing: the stiff, bespectacled Doubravka, her conservative family and her erratic, weak boyfriend Boba. Director Novák laconically comes to terms with the normalisation-era summer house syndrome, of necessity presenting the socialist countryside as a kind of flawless idyll. Honza’s vivacious directness and positivity thus come across as values that revive normal, ordinary relationships. Novák boosted the quality of his picture by cultivating the comedic potential of the duo of Jaromír Hanzlík and Daniela Kolářová. In other roles Oldřich Vízner impresses as Boba, as do Slávka Budínová as Honza’s peculiar mother and Marie Rosůlková and Dana Medřická as slightly dotty grandmothers.
A young psychologist Doubravka swimming in a pool meets Honza Macháček who summers co-op cows nearby. Honza likes the racy girl at the first sight and his directness imposes on Doubravka too. They start to date. Honza comes from a big family, he was degraded to a cowboy when he had a tractor accident caused by alcohol and lost his driving licence. In the summer cabin, Doubravka takes care of Bobo - a student of medicine who prepares for an one exam for the third time. He is selfish and in his uncertainty he behaves to Doubravka uninterestedly and outrageously. Honza supposes Doubravka looks after a crazy person, yet soon he learns that Bobo is Doubravka's boy-friend. On the other hand, Doubravka finds a girl's name tattooed on Honza's arm and troubles come. Bobo does not pass the exam again, but his manipulating mother makes friend with the family of the professor Bobo failed with. She invites them to the cabin and Bobo starts to flirt with the professor's daughter. Doubravka goes home; Honza sets out to follow her. In her family where there are a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and a father, Honza pops the question. He is rejected by all the women, though. They, however, do not count on Honza's persistence and Doubravka's love. In the village, a wedding of Honza's brother and Honza's ex-girlfriend is celebrated and on the Honza's cottage roof Honza and Doubravka are standing in a hug.
psycholožka Doubravka zvaná Dorka
traktorista Honza Macháček
medik Boba Karásek
Doubravčina prababička
Doubravčina babička
Doubravčina matka
Doubravčin otec
Honzův děda
Honzova matka
Karásková, Bobova matka
profesor Studnička
Studničkova manželka
Klára, dcera Studničkových
Jitka, Honzova bývalá dívka
Koutná, Jitčina matka
kosmetička
Honzova nevlastní matka
Honzův nevlastní otec
řezník
prodavačka Smolková
předseda MNV
stařík-pacient
kosmetik
Mirek, Honzův bratr
Andula, Honzova sestra
Míša, Honzův bratr
Láďa, Honzův bratr
Mařka, Honzova sestra
Lenka, Honzova nevlastní sestra
Roman, Honzův nevlastní bratr
Pepík, Honzův nevlastní bratr
chlapec Standa
zákazník
zákaznice
zákaznice
zákazník
zákaznice
zákaznice
zákaznice
zákaznice
zdravotní sestra
kombajnér
kombajnérka
Josef Calta (vedoucí výpravy), Rudolf Beneš, Jaroslav Chytrý
Eva Lackingerová (vedoucí kostymérka), Eva Vacková
Jan Milič, Vlasta Synkulová
Jaroslava Semrádová
Stanislava Kadlecová (klapka), Josef Janoušek (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)
Song Composer Petr Hapka
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Rytíř
Singer Marie Rottrová
Song Composer Petr Hapka
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Rytíř
Singer Karel ČernochOlga BlechováValerie Čižmárová
Léto s kovbojem
Léto s kovbojem
Summer Spent with a Cowboy
film
featuretheatrical distribution
comedy, romantic
Czechoslovakia
1976
1975
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1991
festival premiere 24 June 1976 (27. filmový festival pracujících – léto ´76 /kino Kotva, Praha/)
premiere 1 July 1976 /suitable for youths/ (kino Flóra, Praha)
premiere 15 October 1976 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Dramaturgická skupina Karla Copa, Karel Cop (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)
feature film
89 min
2 490 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,66
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Festival: 15. festival českých a slovenských filmů Bratislava
1977
Bratislava / Czechoslovakia
Daniela Kolářová
Festival: 27. filmový festival pracujících – léto '76
1976
48 měst / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 14. filmový festival mladých Banská Bystrica
1976
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Jaromír Hanzlík
Festival: 27. filmový festival pracujících – léto '76
1976
48 měst / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 14. filmový festival mladých Banská Bystrica
1976
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 14. filmový festival mladých Banská Bystrica
1976
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Petr Hapka
Festival: 14. filmový festival mladých Banská Bystrica
1976
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 27. filmový festival pracujících – léto '76
1976
48 měst / Czechoslovakia
Daniela Kolářová
Festival: 14. filmový festival mladých Banská Bystrica
1976
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Daniela Kolářová