Two Tigers

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production year

1965

Premiere

3 June 1966

Runtime

86 min

Category

film

Genre

detective, comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Dva tygři

Czech title

Dva tygři

English title

Two Tigers

Summary

Lubomír Lipský plays Lebeda, a member of the police force, in this 1966 comedy. The traffic cop enjoys making sure everything runs smoothly in his small town. But one day, he unwittingly becomes entangled in a burglary when he helps two men load up a truck with stolen goods. Lebeda decides to rectify his mistake and tries to seek out the criminals on his own time – but such initiative only creates fresh headaches. Director Pavel Blumenfeld’s final feature film is a rare 1960s crime comedy. Alongside the much-loved star Lubomír Lipský, the director also gives much room to the First Republic-era comic Věřa Ferbasová. Blumenfeld’s film seeks to parody certain contemporary filmmaking techniques (for example those seen in 1964’s Démanty noci – Diamonds of the Night, by director Jan Němec). The film’s title is inspired by an unusual label on a box of matches owned by the lead character’s son (13 year-old Jan Kraus).

Synopsis

Eduard Lebeda works at the dispatch department of a costume jewellery factory, but first and foremost, he is an enthusiastic member of the voluntary auxiliary police guards. In the evening, as usual, he heads for the streets of the little town to direct the traffic with his police control disk. Before he leaves, he confiscates his small son's matches. The matches have a label with two tigers on it. In front of the self-service store, two men load cases onto a lorry with the German trademark Garant. Lebeda fails to notice their nervousness and helps them with their work. He lends the matches to the driver. The roaring of a departing motorbike diverts his attention and the lorry drives off. The next day a rumour spreads about a robbery in the self-service store and Lebeda realizes that he has been an accomplice. He fears arrest but is instead instructed to search for the lorry, which has also been stolen. Lebeda accidentally discovers the car hidden in bushes. He returns the matches, which he finds on its seat, to his son. The boy's rare label proves a success at the exhibition. Encouraged by praise, Lebeda starts pursuing the thieves on his own initiative, causing more and more problems to the police. He thinks that two West German ladies, tourists who want to buy his son's label, are spies, and almost causes an international scandal. The police track down the perpetrators of the theft among the employees of the Panorama hotel. Lebeda is expelled from the voluntary police guards for his unsolicited activity.

Cast

Lubomír Lipský

vedoucí expedice Eduard Lebeda, PS

Blažena Holišová

Helena, Lebedova žena

Ilja Prachař

poručík VB Mrákota

Věra Ferbasová

svědkyně Mourková

Josef Beyvl

trafikant Vichtrle

Jiří Dohnal

řídící učitel

Helga Göring

německá turistka

Karla Runkehl

německá turistka

Alena Procházková

prodavačka Lída Melková

Jaroslav Mareš

praporčík VB Vacek

Miloš Willig

major VB Panc

Gustav Heverle

Josef Pitrásek, majitel ukradeného auta

Vladimír Ptáček

vedoucí hotelu Emil Brotánek

Ota Žebrák

hotelový uklizeč, zloděj

Jaroslav Cmíral

číšník, zloděj

Oto Ševčík

německý řidič Anton

Vladimír Salač

podporučík VB Augustin

Jan Kraus

Edík, syn Lebedových

Bohumil Pavlíček

barman

Ota Motyčka

vrátný

Jaroslav Horan

nadstrážmistr VB na motocyklu

Věra Kalendová

prodavačka Kroupová

Oldřich Velen

ředitel Melek, Lídin otec

Jitka Zelenohorská

Fukalová, Lebedova kolegyně

Karel Pavlík

vedoucí vykradené samoobsluhy

Božena Böhmová

toaletářka Marie

Václav Wasserman

muž smekající klobouk

Alex Jandouš

žlučníkář

Aleš Voleman

žlučníkář

Karel Svoboda

recepční

L. Pilař

Vašulka

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

František Sádek

Assistant Director

Helena Rohanová

Shooting Script

Pavel Blumenfeld

Director of Photography

Jaromír Holpuch

Second Unit Photography

Eduard Kadeřábek

Camera Operator

Jiří Polák

Production Designer

Vladimír Labský

Assistent Production Designer

Aleš Voleman

Set Designer

Jiří Drégr, Josef Dvořák, Josef Veselý

Costume Designer

Olga Dimitrovová

Assistant Film Editor

Eva Horázná

Sound Designer

Adam Kajzar

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Artur Stacha, Luděk Marold

Unit Production Manager

Vladimír Tišer

Consultant

kpt. Jaroslav Hlaváček

Cooperation

Jitka Hůlková (klapka), Ladislav Postupa (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Šust

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Co vám brání, páni, dámy

Song Composer Jiří Šust
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Vokální soubor Lubomíra Pánka

Všechno, co je podezřelé

Song Composer Jiří Šust
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Vokální soubor Lubomíra Pánka

Production info

Original Title

Dva tygři

Czech Title

Dva tygři

English Title

Two Tigers

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

detective, comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production Year

1965

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 23 June 1965
technical Screenplay approved 31 August 1965
start of filming 7 September 1965
end of filming 18 December 1965
projection approval 10 March 1966
withdrawal from distribution 30 September 1976

Premiere

premiere 3 June 1966 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 17 June 1966 /suitable for youths/ (kino Jalta /4 týdny/, Praha)

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Feix – Brož, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Karel Feix (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

86 min

Original length in metres

2 450 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