The King of Kings
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1963Production year
1962—1963Premiere
12 July 1963Runtime
91 minDirector
Martin FričCategory
filmGenre
comedyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Král KrálůCzech title
Král KrálůEnglish title
The King of KingsSynopsis
A solitary man riding a donkey in the middle of a desert comes across an old man lying unconscious in the shadow of a luxury car. The rider loads the man on the donkey and takes him to an oasis, thus saving his life. On the doctor's request, he leaves his name and address. Two years later, the assembler Lojza Králů has already returned to Prague, to the flat he shares with his forever drowsy friend Eda. Lojza receives an offer of a very cheap car by post. The next day, Lojza is not surprised to hear that a man in a car has come to look for him in the factory. But instead of Mr Pšenička with the old Prague car, Lojza sees an exotic looking Ismail el-Sharif with a large limousine. As the envoy of the Tamanian island kingdom, the man has brought official credentials from the recently deceased king of Tamania, the old man whose life Lojza had saved, which declare Lojza to be the king's successor. Lojza refuses the offer, but then learns that he could help his factory by securing a contract for pumping equipment, and that he could also be of assistance to this faraway country, as the king's relative prince Abdullah is selling the country's vast oil fields to the United Oil Company. Lojza's fiancée Lenka already sees herself as the queen. Lojza gets the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to leave for Tamania, and even has a villa placed at his disposal. He is lured to come to a hotel where he is nearly killed by Poupard, a paid killer and Abdullah's secret agent. In the end Lojza doesn't go to the island. The people of Tamania have rebelled and declared their country a republic.
Note
The opening credits state the 1962 copyright. The shooting, however, took place between the 27th September 1962 and the 20th March 1963.
Photos
Cast
Jiří Sovák
montér Lojza Králů
Miloš Kopecký
vyslanec Izmail el Šarif ben Šerfi
Vlastimil Brodský
Eda Brabec, Lojzův spolubydlící
Jiřina Bohdalová
kadeřnice Lenka, Lojzova snoubenka
Valtr Taub
nájemný vrah Poupard
Jiří Němeček
ředitel podniku
Ilja Prachař
vedoucí osobního oddělení ministerstva zahraničních věcí Novák
Zdeněk Řehoř
úředník ministerstva zahraničních věcí Pantůček
Josef Kemr
Pšenička, majitel staré pragovky
Eduard Kohout
náměstek ministra zahraničních věcí
Jan Skopeček
komorník
Ota Motyčka
vrátný v továrně
Lubomír Kostelka
učitel řečí
Zdeněk Braunschläger
konstruktér
Josef Bartůněk
strážný
Jitka Frantová
lehká dívka
Gustav Heverle
dělník Smíšek, předseda dílenského výboru
Ilona Kubásková
Voice by Věra Kalendová
babička s kozou
Vladimír Klemens
soudruh
Radoslav Brzobohatý
soudruh
Vladimír Leraus
soudruh
Ota Sklenčka
soudruh
Emil Rohan
soudruh
František Vandas
soudruh
Miloš Vavruška
knihovník
Jana Werichová
kadeřnice Stáňa
Vladimír Navrátil
lékař
Eva Schoberová
sekretářka na ministerstvu zahraničních věcí
Miroslav Abrahám
strážmistr SNB
Vladimír Čech
referent osobního oddělení
František Miroslav Doubrava
vrátný v rozhlase
Emanuel Kovařík
fotograf
Vladimír Linka
taxikář
Zdeněk Jelínek
pohraničník
Karel Kocourek
otec
Mirko Musil
vedoucí provozu
Josef Příhoda
starší dělník
Ferdinand Šafránek
krejčí
Helena Štvánová
ošetřovatelka
Josef Šulc
knihkupec
František Svačina
rezident
Ela Šilarová
listonoška
Josef Steigl
kamelot
Václav Wasserman
muž v knihovně
E. Solničková
dáma
F. Franěk
listonoš
J. Tomášková
sekretářka
R. Holas
taneční mistr
Commentary
Dubbing
Jiří Šrámek
hlas agenta skrytého na toaletách
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Radim Cvrček, Mojmír Ticháček
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Dramaturg
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Vladimír Zajíc
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Josef Calta, Ludmila Sovová, Miloš Sršeň
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Special Effects
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Vlasta Synkulová, Jaroslav Jaroš
Unit Production Manager
Cooperation
R. Černá (klapka)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Production info
Original Title
Král Králů
Czech Title
Král Králů
English Title
The King of Kings
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
comedy
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1963
Production Year
1962—1963
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 21 May 1962
technical Screenplay approved 20 August 1962
start of filming 27 September 1962
end of filming 20 March 1963
projection approval 25 April 1963
withdrawal from distribution 31 January 1975
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1992
Premiere
preview 28 June 1963 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 5 July 1963 /suitable for youths/ (kina Jalta /4 týdny/, Arbes /1 týden/, Dukla /1 týden/, Flora /1 týden/, Oko /1 týden/, Praha /1 týden/, Revoluce /1 týden/, Kyjev /1 týden od 12. 7./, Odboj /1 týden od 19. 7./, Radost /1 týden od 26. 7./ a Mír /1 týden od 2. 8./, Praha)
premiere 12 July 1963 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 1 April 1987 /suitable for youths/
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Distribution
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1963 a obnovená 1987)
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
91 min
Original length in metres
2 592 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
