The Death of a Talented Shoemaker

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production year

1982

Premiere

1 April 1983

Runtime

81 min

Director

Jan Schmidt

Category

film

Genre

detective

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Smrt talentovaného ševce

Czech title

Smrt talentovaného ševce

English title

The Death of a Talented Shoemaker

Summary

Seasoned director Jan Schmidt helms this 1982 crime drama, based on a detective novel by writer Václav Erben. Dapper Prague criminologist Michal Exner, played by Jiří Kodet, tries in vain to spend a peaceful holiday in the town of Opolná. On the day of Exner’s arrival, someone murders shoemaker Rambousek – also a successful, and thus rich, local artist. Exner is dragged into investigating the case, which also leads to a love affair with beautiful castle guide Lída (Jana Boušková)… The central character of Erben’s novels was previously portrayed by Jiří Vala in Poklad byzantského kupce (The Treasure of a Byzantine Merchant, 1966). In the crime drama Čas pracuje pro vraha (Time Works for the Murderer, 1979) – an adaptation of the novel Efektivně mrtvá žena (The Efficiently Dead Woman) – Exner’s hero, renamed Captain Marha, was played by František Němec.

Synopsis

A local shoemaker, Boleslav Rambousek – a naive painter and woodcarver – is murdered with an axe one night in the château park in Opolná. A couple of lovers – the married physician Hauser and the château guide Olga – are hiding in a niche under the stairs and hear somebody entering Rambousek's flat. They, however, fail to notice that someone also took a tablecloth, drying on a balustrade. The same night, the elegant police captain, Michal Exner, arrives in Opolná by coincidence to spend his holiday in the village. He barely manages to get acquainted with the second guide, Lída, in the park, and his holiday is over. He is entrusted to investigate the case, with the colleagues Beránek and Vlček. Lieutenant Šlajner from the local police station is well familiar with the village conditions. Rambousek used to be a big provocateur and made many people angry. But art historian Medek revealed his enormous artistic talents and rendered him famous. The shoemaker's works sold well and he turned into a very wealthy man. Lída, who started a love affair with Exner, is one of the few who had no personal disputes with the shoemaker. After the murder, someone destroyed all the paintings in his flat. The police search along the only road where the culprit could have got rid of his blood-stained clothes. Exner fishes out a package covered in the stolen tablecloth from the château pond. He then easily convicts the local academic painter Matějka, consumed by his jealousy of the successful amateur who, true, had no art education – but had great talent. Exner quickly parts with Lída; he is summoned to the next investigation.

Note

The naive paintings were created by Vlasta Dlouhá – an interpreter and the wife of the academic painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Bedřich Rambousek. The art restorer Jan Vachuda collaborated on the other paintings.

Film online

Cast

Jiří Kodet

kapitán JUDr. Michal Exner

Antonín Hardt

poručík VB Beránek

Karel Chromík

nadporučík VB Vlček

Jana Boušková

průvodkyně Lída Muršová

Miroslav Zounar

poručík VB Václav Šlajner

Karel Augusta

kunsthistorik PhDr. Medek

Bohuslav Čáp

akademický malíř Vojtěch Matějka

Milena Steinmasslová

průvodkyně Olga Domkářová

Vladimír Kratina

MUDr. Hauser, Šlajnerův švagr

Zdeněk Dušek

kastelán Kaláb

Jana Gýrová

Kalábova manželka

Václav Mareš

PhDr. Černoch

Luba Skořepová

Alena Šustrová

Oldřich Velen

vrchní číšník Václav Karlík

Nina Divíšková

Medková, historikova manželka

Jana Smrčková

Marie, Rambouskova žena

Otto Lackovič

rváč Josef Kolář

Marie Tardy

Kolářova žena

Viktor Vrabec

vedoucí Antikvy Průšek

Zdeněk Kutil

výpravčí Vondráček

Bohumil Vávra

starý mlynář Haml

Jan Novotný

praporčík VB

Miroslav Suchý

nadrotmistr VB

Karel Habart

lesní dělník

Miroslav Švejda

starý hajný

Jaromír Fišar

hudebník

Josef Ježek

pojišťovák Ježek

Petr Hochman

Josef Wydra

Crew and creators

Director

Jan Schmidt

Second Unit Director

Jan Kubišta

Assistant Director

Martin Faltýn

Continuity

Jana Goetzová

Based on

Václav Erben (Smrt talentovaného ševce – kniha)

Dramaturg

Vladimír Bor

Director of Photography

Jiří Macák

Second Unit Photography

Jan Hanzal

Camera Operator

Lubomír Moravec

Production Designer

Jindřich Goetz

Assistent Production Designer

Jaromír Švarc

Art Director

Vlasta Dlouhá, Jan Vachuda

Set Designer

Bedřich Čermák, Rudolf Beneš, Jaroslav Lehman

Costume Designer

Šárka Hejnová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková, Alena Chvojková

Sound Designer

František Fabián

Production Manager

Ladislav Novotný

Unit Production Manager

Miroslav Dousek, Ulrich Jiří ml.

Unit Production Manager

Irena Koucká

Consultant

pplk. Jaroslav Svoboda, Ladislav Ježdík

Cooperation

Zuzana Plecerová (klapka), Jitka Bylinská (fotografka)

Music

Music Composed by

Otakar Petřina

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

Je téměř půlnoc

Song Composer Otakar Petřina
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Žák
Singer Petra Janů

Production info

Original Title

Smrt talentovaného ševce

Czech Title

Smrt talentovaného ševce

English Title

The Death of a Talented Shoemaker

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

detective

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production Year

1982

Production specifications

withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1988

Premiere

premiere 1 April 1983 /suitable for youths/

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

1. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Jiří Blažek (vedoucí 1. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

81 min

Original length in metres

2 350 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Exhibition: 3. soutěžní přehlídka filmů a televizních pořadů s bezpečnostní tematikou Terezín

1984
Terezín / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Kodet