A Bet on Thirteen

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1977

Production year

1977

Premiere

26 May 1978

Runtime

86 min

Director

Dušan Klein

Category

film

Genre

drama, crime

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Sázka na třináctku

Czech title

Sázka na třináctku

English title

A Bet on Thirteen

Summary

This adaptation of Antonín Winter’s novel Sázka na třináctku is one of several crime features with which accomplished director Dušan Klein extended his filmography in the 1970s. Young criminal investigator Václav Charvát (portrayed by Jaroslav Satoranský) investigates a mail car robbery that has taken place near the town of Kostelec. The armed culprits have helped themselves to two million crowns before disappearing. Charvát´s superiors clearly had little option but to assign the clever young expert to do the fieldwork. Besides being involved in the police inquiries, Charvát unexpectedly grows close to Květa (Zuzana Cigánová), the married daughter of the lodging house caretaker. Thanks to the investigator’s efforts, the circle of suspects rapidly narrows – and Charvát is dutybound to expose the gang leader who has stashed away the stolen loot… Among the cast in the motion picture, released in 1977, is the skilful actor Rudolf Hrušínský. He shines in the role of Květa’s father Weiss.

Synopsis

On the road near Kostelec there is an unconscious woman lying on the road. She had an accident on her bike. A mail van transporting over two million crowns stops. Masked and equipped men step out of from a hiding place and the seemingly wounded woman has a gun, too. The driver and the escort from the van survive the robbery fortunately but the offender cannot be traced for a long time. A young criminalist Charvát from Prague is invited as help by the commander Sitenský. He finds a room in a hostel and soon he becomes close friend with the beautiful Květa, who is a daughter of the caretaker. She is a married woman who does not have a good reputation in the small city. Despite that Charvát decides to marry her, as soon as she is divorced. Sitenský suspects the post office employees from the robbery, but they have to be released from the custody due to lack of evidence. Charvát checks the facts and he finds new evidence. Květa's husband, one of the suspects is murdered. As the offenders wanted to legalize their loot they bought winning betting coupons on the black market. Another suspect is murdered - the railman Zahn. A participation in the crime from the post office staff is affirmed. The convicted office worker discloses other members of the gang too. Charvát is not satisfied with this and he also finds the person who made it up and has the loot - it is the caretaker. Květa does not know that her father wanted to get money for her in such an illegal way. It should have compensated her mucked-up life. She leaves Kostelec. For Charvát she just leaves a congratulation card for his promotion which he surely will get.

Film online

Cast

Jaroslav Satoranský

kriminalista poručík Vašek Charvát

Rudolf Hrušínský

správce ubytovny Weisse, Květin otec

Dušan Blaškovič

náčelník VB major Jan Sitenský

Zdeněk Řehoř

kriminalista kapitán Trčka

Milan Stehlík

kriminalista nadstrážmistr Standa

Bohumil Šmída

spisovatel Vítek

Marcela Martínková

úřednice pošty Božena Čurdová, Vítkova sestra

René Přibil

hlídač Jaroslav Malásek, Květin manžel

Bronislav Poloczek

železničář Zahn

Lubomír Kostelka

Alois Krejza, Maláskův kolega

Viktor Maurer

majitel chryslera Blahoš

Karel Augusta

vrchní číšník Václav Bína

Otto Budín

vedoucí pošty

Miroslav Nohýnek

matematik Sazky Formánek

Milan Riehs

právník JUDr. Liebknecht

Karel Urbánek

policejní lékař

Jan Cmíral

náměstek ředitele Sazky

Zdeněk Kopal

příslušník VB

Jan Kotva

strážmistr VB

Marek Eben

Řivnáč

Zdeněk Hess

daktyloskop

Petr Jákl

příslušník VB

Miroslav Pešan

fotograf VB

Vladimír Pospíšil

studnař Šícha

Bohumír Procházka

studnař Vacín

Václav Syřiště

řidič poštovního vozu

Pavel Jiras

průvodce poštovního vozu

Crew and creators

Director

Dušan Klein

Second Unit Director

Helena Rohanová

Assistant Director

Jan Křížek

Based on

Antonín Winter (Sázka na třináctku – román)

Shooting Script

Dušan Klein

Director of Photography

Andrej Barla

Second Unit Photography

Pavel Dosoudil

Camera Operator

Jiří Knotek

Production Designer

Karel Lier

Assistent Production Designer

Libuše Jahodová

Set Designer

Eva Slívová, Vladimír Schejbal, Karel Vaňásek

Costume Designer

Zdena Kadrnožková

Film Editor

Jiří Brožek

Assistant Film Editor

Eva Horázná, Eva Lackingerová

Sound Designer

František Černý

Production Manager

Ludmila Tikovská

Unit Production Manager

Ctibor Novotný, František Jaderník, Augustin Valko

Unit Production Manager

Ivana Kvapilová

Consultant

kpt. Zdislav Huml, Karel Dvořák

Music

Music Composed by

Zdeněk Marat

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

Můj malý zázrak

Song Composer Zdeněk Marat
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Poštulka
Singer Helena Vondráčková

Kniha lásky

Song Composer Zdeněk Marat
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Borovec
Singer Eva Pilarová

Slunce pálí

Song Composer Zdeněk Marat
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Poštulka
Singer Eva Pilarová

Production info

Original Title

Sázka na třináctku

Czech Title

Sázka na třináctku

English Title

A Bet on Thirteen

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama, crime

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1977

Production Year

1977

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 24 February 1977
start of filming 24 March 1977
technical Screenplay approved 2 May 1977
end of filming 17 October 1977
projection approval 4 November 1977

Premiere

premiere 26 May 1978 /suitable for youths/

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Karla Copa, Karel Cop (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

86 min

Original length in metres

2 488 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech