The Ideas of a Detective-Story Reader

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production year

1966

Premiere

2 June 1967

Runtime

26 min

Category

film

Genre

detective, parody

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionshort

Original title

Nápady čtenáře detektivek

Czech title

Nápady čtenáře detektivek

English title

The Ideas of a Detective-Story Reader

Synopsis

One cold and damp day, a doctor visits the chateau of a noble family. The valet, named James, takes him to the library, which holds the family's most precious possession - a numerous collection of detective stories. The visitor, however, would not talk to Sir Arthur, for he was murdered like his brother Barrymore - the former by an axe-stroke to the head or by the latter stabbed with scissors? His relative Cavaleria in turn falls from a horse, poisoned by spikes inserted into her saddle. The murderer systematically and in alphabetical order kills the heirs to the immense property. The following victims are Diorama, Evergreen, Fiddlecase, Gingerale, Heretic, Illwill, Jitterbog, Knickerbocker, Levingston and Midnight. The causes of death indeed vary: an infected mosquito, an exotic spider, a cat with poisoned claws, a sand viper, poisoned toothpaste, a poisoned envelope, poison gas and poisoned candles. A detective is called for and discovers Arthur's missing daughters Ophtalmia, Patagonia, Represalia, Sinatra and Tularemia, whose bodies were craftily hidden. The detective gradually discovers other victims - Uppercut, Venerick, Waterproof, Xenophobe, Yellowstone and Zigzag, finding out that the culprit was Nevermore who himself committed suicide in a bathtub filled with acid. The library is inherited by James and the doctor. But they do not want to share, so arm themselves and kill each other. The detective has nothing to do any more and leaves.

Note

The members of the family – the victims of the crimes – are presented by figure dummies.

Cast

Zdeněk Procházka

komorník James

Dubbing

Josef Somr

hlas čtenáře

Crew and creators

Based on

Josef Škvorecký (Nápady čtenáře detektivek – esej)

Director of Photography

Josef Pešek

Production Designer

Leoš Karen

Production Manager

Josef Soukup

Music

Music Composed by

Wiliam Bukový

Selected Music

Petr Iljič Čajkovskij (Klavírní koncert b moll), Antonín Dvořák (Humoreska)

Production info

Original Title

Nápady čtenáře detektivek

Czech Title

Nápady čtenáře detektivek

English Title

The Ideas of a Detective-Story Reader

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

detective, parody

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production Year

1966

Production specifications

projection approval 8 February 1967

Premiere

premiere 2 June 1967 /suitable for youths/ (kina Hvězda /1 týden/, Družba /1 týden od 23. 6/, Mír /1 týden od 28. 7./ a Aero /1 týden od 11. 8./, Praha)

Distribution slogan

no caption

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Technical info

Duration typology

short film

Duration in minutes

26 min

Original length in metres

743 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