Josef Císař

Hell on Earth

From Steven Spielberg and Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation comes Broken Silence, a series of five films about human courage, heroism, and triumph over intense adversities during World War II. Hell on Earth: Renowned Czech filmmaker Vojtech Jasny directed this Czech-language documentary, a look at Theresienstadt, the "model" Czech ghetto set up by the Nazis to deceive the world about how well the Jews were treated.

Don't Take the Sweater Off

A young Czech couple are terrorized by their funny family.

That Instant, That While

Autumn 1944. A doctor is accused in the collaboration with the Nazis and found guilty...

Murder in the Excelsior Hotel

In Vražda v hotelu Excelsior, the interwar period homicide detective squad from Prague investigates the murder of a wealthy woman, Mrs Matoušová, which threatens the reputation of the eponymous luxury hotel popular with Prague’s elite. Even the retired police inspector Mrázek (František Filipovský), who works at the Excelsior as a hotel detective, is unable to help at first. Although the investigation inevitably uncovers the hotel staff’s scheming, Vacátko and his team unerringly follow the trail that leads them to the murderer…

The Matches of a Beautiful Dragoon

In a suburban villa, a woman of means is murdered. Police Superintendent Zdychynec from the Prague Liben neighborhood reports the case to Police Councilman Vacátko, upon whose order an investigation is launched immediately. Zdychynec begins to suspect the wooer of his own daughter, a handsome dragoon named Rudi, of the crime. In Rudi's absence, Zdychynec searches his rented room in the apartment of the elegant Mrs Dragicová. All his findings - among others, sand left on Rudi's jackboots and a decent amount of money in his bedside table - convince the superintendent that he is following the right lead, especially when Rudi refuses to say where he was at the time of the murder.

Burglar and Umbrella

In the morning twilight of Prague, the dead body of the safe-breaker Toufar is found floating on the river Vltava with a knife in his back. Police inspectors visit Toufar's lover, the prostitute Anna Kulatá (Jirina Bohdalová), nicknamed Umbrella, and it is apparent that the moment before she opened the door of her flat, someone fled through the window. Umbrella is summoned for examination to the head of the criminal police - Police Councilman Vacátko Jaroslav Marvan, but although shocked by the photograph of the dead man, she does not confess to anything. Before Toufar, Umbrella lived with the safe-breaker Penicka (Radoslav Brzobohatý), who loved her very much and made her quit her street trade. But when he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, Umbrella began to live with the brute Toufar, who chased her to street again. In the case of the murder, Penicka is therefore the prime suspect.

Stud

The drama offers Arnošt Pánek, chairman of the National Committee, as the protagonist of the story. Pánek is disturbed by news of the arrest of his protégé Kvasil – chairman of a JZD agricultural cooperative in the nearby village of Spádová. He is responsible for the revival of a neglected village, but is now accused of theft, fraud, and – on top of that – the rape of an under-aged girl.

Private Torment

A worker steals bits and pieces of building materials from work to construct a new home for himself and his girlfriend. When he discovers that she’s having an affair with his boss, he devises one elaborate plot after another to murder the rival, each time with pathetic results.

The Angel of Blissful Death

Czechoslovak counter-espionage intercepts a coded message from the West German secret service ordering death for an unknown person on Czech territory.

Do You Keep a Lion at Home?

“And what did you do at school today?” In Pavel Hobl’s Czech fairytale, when Pepik and Honzik learn that school has been canceled they embark on an amazing odyssey around Prague that has them directing traffic, following the lead of a talking dog, breaking the spell an evil sorcerer has placed on a group of local musicians, rollerskating through a museum, and winning a magical car race. (University of Chicago Doc Films)

A Place in the Crowd

A film in five episodes, all based on an attempt to show the life of young people today, their feelings and relationships, their behaviour in public and private life.

A 105 p.c. Alibi

On an early Sunday evening, people of the small town are reading lottery results that are hung on a board. Young man Karel Antos is annoyed that his lottery-ticket missed the main prize, a car, by only one number. Karel is going to the pub to drink away his bad luck with his friend Jirka Broz. The old accountant auditor Zelinka drops a wallet. Karel picks it up and before he gives it back he notices the winning lottery-ticket in it. Both young men accompany the old drunk man. Karel steals the ticket and exchanges it with his own. Next day, Zelinka is found dead. Investigators, Captain Tuma and the Lieutenant Líbal, soon discover that this is a murder case covered up as an accident.