Einstein contra Babinský

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1963

Production year

1963

Premiere

5 June 1964

Runtime

85 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy, satire

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Einstein kontra Babinský

Czech title

Einstein kontra Babinský

English title

Einstein contra Babinský

Summary

Starting in 1957, screenwriter Jaroslav Dietl began to gain considerable experience in television – and this medium remained his chief domain. But Dietl’s ambitions to make a silver screen breakthrough surfaced in his collectivisation-themed drama Cesta hlubokým lesem (Passing Through a Thick Forest, 1963), followed one year later by Einstein kontra Babinský (Einstein contra Babinský), another Dietl opus ill-suited to a small screen adaptation. In this satirical comedy, director Zdeněk Podskalský accommodated Dietl’s emphatic wish to pursue a more experimental form of storytelling. A group of friends from varying backgrounds are joined together through common experiences; the film playfully combines elements of silent film slapstick, civilism, and a piece of political agitprop. Josef Bek and Lubomír Lipský – actors with highly contrasting backgrounds – star as an honest inventor and a cunning crook.

Synopsis

Josef Košťál tells his fellow prisoners about the events that led to his sentence. He has been a friend with František Koloušek since their early childhood. Despite growing up in identical circumstances, one is fated to become a talented inventor and other a villain. When they were young, they were punished many times for František's inventions, which they together were making "alive", was only considered as a wrongdoing. As young men, they found themselves positions at an office where they spent several idle years thanks to an invention able to imitate work. After they were exposed, František left to study and Josef became the head of a department and later on director of a small factory. Fifteen years later, they met again. František took up work in the development unit of Josef's factory. He immediately discovered that Josef and the entire factory management claimed to have developed an automatic machine for which they intended to take financial reward and honours. In reality, there were people hidden in the machine. He was shocked but nonetheless constructed a genuine, operational machine to help his friend. At the ceremonial launch, the machine, never tested, failed and began to burn. The management accused Koloušek, but Košťál also went to prison because of broken fire safety equipment. After they are released from prison, the two friends meet again and together head towards a new beginning in life.

Cast

Josef Bek

vězeň Josef Košťál/Josefův otec

Lubomír Lipský

Ing. František Koloušek/Františkův otec

Rudolf Deyl ml.

hlavní inženýr Sojka

Čestmír Řanda

ekonomický náměstek Hais

Jiřina Jirásková

písařka Dáša, později Josefova žena

Karel Máj

vězeň Cmíral

Jaroslav Heyduk

Voice by Vlastimil Brodský
vězeň Dáreček

Karel Tomášek

Voice by Josef Hlinomaz
vězeň Karlík

Václav Trégl

vedoucí úřadu Eichler

Josef Beyvl

náměstek z kraje

Mirko Musil

úředník z kraje

Hanuš Bor

Josef Košťál jako dítě

František Burda

František Koloušek jako dítě

Květa Fialová

sekretářka Zdenička

Josef Hlinomaz

pan řídící

Ilona Kubásková

svačinářka

Dagmar Dvořáčková

dívka u stroje

Bohuš Hradil

prokurátor

Zdeněk Jelínek

velitel věznice

Jaroslav Mareš

reportér rozhlasu

Antonín Novotný

mikrofonista

Jaroslav Marvan

ředitel Vorlíček

Milan Neděla

mistr v továrně

Stanislav Neumann

starý dělník

Jiřina Steimarová

Josefova matka

Dagmar Zikánová

Františkova matka

Světla Svozilová

Houšková, předsedkyně svazu žen

Stella Zázvorková

ministerská úřednice

Jaroslav Štercl

ministerský úředník

Rudolf Princ

ministerský úředník

Jiří Štuchal

ministerský úředník

Václav Štekl

ministerský úředník

Antonín Šůra

předseda dílenského výboru

Gabriela Kaulfusová

babička s kozou

Václav Wasserman

dědeček v okně

Jiřina Kottová

uklízečka

Míla Myslíková

panička, Josefova milenka

Otto Tutter

vedoucí oddělení

Karel Hovorka

úředník

Josef Steigl

úředník

Marian Cingroš

úředník

Heda Škrdlantová

tančící dívka

Crew and creators

Assistant Director

Petr Ruttner, Jindřich Mastik

Screenstory

Jaroslav Dietl

Shooting Script

Zdeněk Podskalský

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Tuzar

Camera Operator

Jiří Polák, Milan Duda

Production Designer

Boris Moravec

Assistent Production Designer

Zbyněk Hloch

Set Designer

Jiří Čermák, Bedřich Čermák, František Straka

Costume Designer

Libuše Hozová

Film Editor

Zdeněk Stehlík

Assistant Film Editor

Ludmila Náprstková

Sound Designer

František Černý, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Jiří Zika, Jaromír Lukáš, Jan Šubrt

Unit Production Manager

Ctibor Jeřábek

Cooperation

Emanuela Peterová (klapka), Karel Šebík (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Evžen Illín

Music Performed by

Orchestr Karla Vlacha (Music Conducted by Karel Vlach), FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

V Hodoníně za vojáčka mňa vzali

Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer Josef BekLubomír Lipský

Na kopečku v Africe

Singer sbor

Před vejtoňskou hospodou

Song Composer Karel Hašler
Writer of Lyrics Karel Hašler
Singer mužský hlas

První měsíc, první tři závady

Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer Josef BekLubomír Lipský

Závada, závada

Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer sbor

Riviéra, Riviéra

Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk PodskalskýJaroslav Dietl
Singer Jiřina JiráskováLubomír Lipský

Slunko jasné za černými lesy

Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer Lubomír Lipský

My stále radostněji budujeme

Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer dětský sborJosef Bek

Production info

Original Title

Einstein kontra Babinský

Czech Title

Einstein kontra Babinský

English Title

Einstein contra Babinský

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy, satire

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1963

Production Year

1963

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 14 January 1963
technical Screenplay approved 12 April 1963
start of filming 9 July 1963
end of filming 11 November 1963
projection approval 12/1963
withdrawal from distribution 1 September 1974

Premiere

preview 22 May 1964 (kino Sevastopol /½ týdne/, Praha)
premiere 25 May 1964 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Lucerna /5½ týdne/, Mír /1 týden od 5. 6./, Flora /1 týden od 12. 6./, Oko /1 týden od 19. 6./ a Arbes /1 týden od 26. 6./, Praha)
premiere 5 June 1964 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

85 min

Original length in metres

2 434 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech