The Naked Shepherdess

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production year

1966

Premiere

30 December 1966

Runtime

91 min

Category

film

Genre

detective

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Nahá pastýřka

Czech title

Nahá pastýřka

English title

The Naked Shepherdess

Working title

Případ Anny II.

Summary

Director Jaroslav Mach shot this 1966 detective comedy in the attractive setting of the Ronov state chateau. The plot of Nahá pastýřka (The Naked Shepherdess) sees the start of a police investigation after art collection custodian Jůzlová is murdered. It becomes clear that this woman is not simply the innocent victim of a heinous crime: her activities included sales abroad of forgeries of acclaimed works of art, created and “legalised” with the help of accomplices. What’s more, Jůzlová was arranging to smuggle out the precious original of Fragonard’s Naked Shepherdess as part of a masterplan that would see her emigrate. Police captain Tronda, played by the experienced actor Vladimír Menšík, examines the alibis and motives of a number of suspects before discovering the complicated conspiracy centred on forgeries. Gradually, he works his way to the perpetrator of the murder. In 1968, Mach delivered a stand-alone sequel of this lighthearted detective story entitled „Rakev ve snu viděti...“ (Seeing a Coffin in a Dream...). The role of the swindler Pacínek is performed in both films by Bohumil Šmída.

Synopsis

At the Ronov castle, the archive-keeper professor Nykl is searching for the lost painting The Naked Shepherdess by the famous Fragonard. Nykl is just about to disassemble the mantelpiece in the knight's hall, convinced that the painting must be hidden somewhere inside. His efforts, however, meet the strong disapproval of the castle manager, Anna Jůzová, who knows very well where The Naked Shepherdess is. She wants to get hold of the painting herself, to emigrate and smuggle it along. In fact, Anna deals with forgeries of the most distinguished old masters, selling them abroad. The copies are made for her by the painter and restorer Maudr and the certificates of authenticity are issued by Anna's companion - expert Laburda. One day, Anna is found murdered in front of the castle's fireplace. The subsequent police investigation follows several leads and turns up several suspects: Jůzová's brother; the castle guide Zounar; Jůzová's lover; mortician Pacínek who had some conflicts with the law long ago, and the painter Maudr. Some castle paintings are being packed and shipped for a Vienna exhibition, but the investigators discover that searched-for Fragonard has been painted over and is underneath one of the modern works in the possession of expert Laburda. Shortly afterwards, another murder is committed - Maudr's corpse is found in the castle pond. The peculiar Captain Tronda, a enthusiastic amateur theatre actor, carries out the re-enactment of the events. First it seems that the culprit is Zounar, but Tronda eventually proves that the murderer was indeed Laburda, who wanted to get rid of his inconvenient companions.

Film online

Cast

Karel Höger

expert na umělecká díla PhDr. Laburda

Jiřina Petrovická

správkyně zámku Anna Jůzová

Bohumil Šmída

obstaravatel pohřbů Felix Pacínek

Vladimír Menšík

kapitán VB Josef Tronda

Jan Skopeček

kriminalista major Jaroslav Bergl

Oldřich Velen

kriminalista kapitán Roj

Zdeněk Řehoř

kriminalista nadporučík Patras

Martin Růžek

malíř Oskar Maudr

Jaroslav Mareš

Karel Šíp zvaný Kódl, bratr Jůzové

Eva Jandáčková

Voice by Gabriela Vránová
Judita, Maudrova neteř

Kateřina Klumparová

výčepní Květuška

Luděk Munzar

průvodce na zámku Rudolf Zounar

Eva Vlachová

servírka

Miloš Nedbal

archivář profesor Nykl

Zdeněk Procházka

příslušník VB

Klaudie Ferbrová

stará paní

Anny Freyová

zahraniční návštěvnice

Otto Kinský

číšník

Eduard Pavlíček

muž z Vídně

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Lada Vacková

Assistant Director

Eliška Štíbrová

Director of Photography

Jiří Tarantík

Second Unit Photography

Jan Kváča

Camera Operator

Bohumil Paris

Production Designer

Bohuslav Kulič

Assistent Production Designer

Věra Líznerová

Art Director

Quido Fojtík

Set Designer

Miloš Osvald, Jiří Rulík

Costume Designer

Karel Postřehovský

Film Editor

Zdeněk Stehlík

Assistant Film Editor

Miloslava Vojnová

Sound Designer

Roman Hloch

Production Manager

Miloš Stejskal

Unit Production Manager

Jaroslav Koucký, Renée Lavecká

Unit Production Manager

Antonín Navrátil

Consultant

PhDr. František Dvořák, mjr. Miloš Vlasák

Music

Music Composed by

Štěpán Lucký

Songs

Tam kam chodí vítr spát

Song Composer Ivan Kotrč
Writer of Lyrics Zbyněk Vavřín
Singer Karel Gott

Production info

Original Title

Nahá pastýřka

Czech Title

Nahá pastýřka

English Title

The Naked Shepherdess

Working Title

Případ Anny II.

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

detective

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production Year

1966

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 3 December 1965
technical Screenplay approved 11 March 1966
start of filming 31 March 1966
end of filming 22 June 1966
projection approval 16 September 1966
withdrawal from distribution 1 September 1974

Premiere

premiere 23 December 1966 /suitable for youths/ (kina Sevastopol /2 týdny/, Jalta /3 týdny od 6. 1. 1967/ a Flora /1 týden od 13. 1. 1967/, Praha)
premiere 30 December 1966 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

91 min

Original length in metres

2 578 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