Jonáš and Melicharová

Summary

In 1986, writer-director Vladimír Sís – who specialised in musicals – created the sketch-filled number Jonáš a Melicharová. The film is comprised of scenes and songs taken from the theatrical musical Jonáš dejme tomu v úterý (Jonáš, Let’s go for Tuesday), whose events Sís, along with singer-songwriter and actor Jiří Suchý, link together via a very simple story. Within the confines of the reconstructed Semafor theatre, ageing comic Jonáš (Suchý) harks back to a famous past. He is aided in such nostalgia by music-loving cleaning lady Melicharová (Jitka Molavcová – following the death of musician Jiří Šlitr in 1969, Molavcová became Suchý’s permanent on-stage partner). The film also features clips from the military comedy Bylo nás deset (There Were Ten of Us, 1963) and also two Semafor television productions. Also utilised is the theatre’s archive. In 1988, Vladimír Sís filmed a sequel to this story entitled Jonáš II aneb Jak je důležité míti Melicharovou (Jonas 39,5 C, 1988).

Synopsis

Note

In this film parts from the film There Were Ten of Us (1963, directed by Antonín Kachlík), from the TV films Magnetic Waves Are Curing (1965, directed by Vojtěch Jasný), A Well-Paid Walk (1966, directed by Ján Roháč, Miloš Forman), Recital (1965, directed by Ján Roháč) and also archive recordings from the Semafor Theatre and TV songs are used.