Ninety in the Shade

Country

Czechoslovakia, Great Britain

Copyright

1965

Production year

1964

Premiere

1 October 1965

Runtime

78 min

Director

Jiří Weiss

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Třicet jedna ve stínu

Czech title

Třicet jedna ve stínu

English title

Ninety in the Shade

Co-production title

Ninety Degrees in the Shade

Working title

Manko

Summary

In 1965, director Jiří Weiss embarked upon an unusually ambitious project: the psychological drama Třicet jedna ve stínu (Ninety in the Shade). As a British co-production, which primarily uses English actors, it is based on a screenplay by noted playwright David Mercer. Among this playwright’s films adapted for the big screen we find Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment (dir. Karl Reiss, 1962, UK) and Providence (dir. Alain Resnais, 1977, Fr./Switz.). However, Weiss’s story of the theft of socialist property is very much attuned to the contemporary Czechoslovak environment. Set in a grocery store, the story sees manager Vorel (James Booth) forcing his lover Alena (Anne Heywood), to partake in the theft of costly alcoholic beverages in the shop. The young woman then commits suicide, and the honest stock controller Kurka (excellently portrayed by Rudolf Hrušínský) is well aware that the truth of this affair will never come to light. This interesting film was nominated for a Golden Globe in the non-English film category.

Synopsis

An surprise inspection turns up in a grocery store, headed by the incorruptible Doctor Kurka. The shop manager, Vorel, is absent and his deputy, Alena, who is his lover, tries to get him on the phone in vain, knowing that there are twelve bottles of expensive alcohol missing in the stock. Fortunately, the electricity goes off and the inventory is laid off to the next day. Alena has no idea that the electric conduit was intentionally damaged by Vorel. They both, however, make use of the laid-off inventory and in the evening manage to buy and replace the missing bottles. The next day, the inventory continues. Everything seems to be just fine until Kurka's assistant breaks one of the bottles and it comes out that instead of the expensive distillate, it contains only tea. The same holds for the rest of the bottles except those Alena and Vorel bought the evening before. The suspicion of the fraud falls on Alena who was responsible for the stock. The culprit, however, is Vorel, who fears for his family and begs Alena to take the guilt upon herself. Alena cannot bear the weight of disappointment and suspicion and poisons herself with gas. Kurka senses that she was not the actual thief, but cannot prove anything against Vorel - he can just helplessly stare into the shop where Vorel flirts with Alena's successor.

Cast

James Booth

Voice by Otakar Brousek
vedoucí prodejny Milan Vorel

Anne Heywood

Voice by Alena Kreuzmannová
zástupce vedoucího Alena Burdová

Rudolf Hrušínský

inventurník JUDr. Rudolf Kurka

Ann Todd

Voice by Zdenka Procházková
Kurkova žena

Donald Wolfit

Voice by Čestmír Řanda
inventurník Bažant

Jiřina Jirásková

Věra, Alenina sestra

Vladimír Menšík

kadeřník Emil Slavík, Věřin manžel

Jorga Kotrbová

mladá prodavačka Jana

Jiří Sovák

ředitel podniku

Valtr Taub

lékař

Věra Tichánková

prodavačka Marie Vávrová

Věra Uzelacová

prodavačka Marková

Taťána Vavřincová

sekretářka Helena

Vlasta Jelínková

žena na schodech

Eva Svobodová

žena na schodech

Jiří Šašek

Emilův kamarád

Jan Libíček

muž v telefonní budce

Jan Skopeček

výčepní Lojza

Karel Pavlík

prodavač v gastronomu

Ladislav Potměšil

Jirka, syn Kurkových

Oldřich Velen

kriminální úředník

Mirko Musil

muž v restauraci

Josef Burda

řezník

Jiřina Hautová

žena se psem

Ivo Němeček

soused

Jarmila Orlová

prodavačka

Jiří Sedlmayer

chlapec na plovárně

Milada Štekrová

pokladní

Dagmar Zikánová

žena na schodech

Miroslav Nohýnek

kriminální úředník

Crew and creators

Director

Jiří Weiss

Second Unit Director

Miloš Kohout, Hynek Bočan

Assistant Director

Stanislava Hutková

Screenstory

Jiří Weiss

Shooting Script

Jiří Weiss

Director of Photography

Bedřich Baťka

Camera Operator

Jiří Knotek

Production Designer

Bohuslav Kulič

Assistent Production Designer

Věra Líznerová

Set Designer

Bedřich Čermák, Karel Kytka, František Straka

Costume Designer

Marta Bártová

Film Editor

Jan Chaloupek

Assistant Film Editor

Jana Kulhánková

Sound Designer

Miloslav Hůrka, Milan R. Novotný, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Ladislav Hanuš

Unit Production Manager

Jaromír Lukáš, Vlastimil Maršálek

Unit Production Manager

Dagmar Rašilovová, Eva Hrubá

Cooperation

Luďka Žáková (klapka), Josef Vítek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Luděk Hulan

Songs

Mezipatro

Song Composer Luděk Hulan
Singer Marta Kubišová

Production info

Original Title

Třicet jedna ve stínu

Czech Title

Třicet jedna ve stínu

English Title

Ninety in the Shade

Co-production Title

Ninety Degrees in the Shade

Working Title

Manko

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Great Britain

Copyright

1965

Production Year

1964

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 15 February 1964
technical Screenplay approved 20 February 1964
start of filming 23 July 1964
end of filming 30 October 1964
projection approval 5 May 1965
withdrawal from distribution 31 May 1973

Premiere

premiere 1 October 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 29 October 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /1 týden/, Světozor /2 týdny od 12. 11./ a Aero /1 týden od 26. 11./, 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

78 min

Original length in metres

2 224 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66, 1:2,35

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Nominace

Event: 23. ročník Výročních cen Sdružení zahraničního tisku v Hollywoodu Zlaté glóby 1965

1966
Los Angeles / United States of America

Vítěz

Festival: 15. mezinárodní filmový festival Berlinale Berlín

1965
Západní Berlín / Federal Republic of Germany

Vítěz

Festival: 15. mezinárodní filmový festival Berlinale Berlín

1965
Západní Berlín / Federal Republic of Germany