Jiří Vršťala
Birthday: Born in 1920-07-31 in Liberec, Czechoslovakia
Deathday: 1999-06-10
TV Credits
Clown Ferdinand
Character: Clown Ferdinand
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Schatten über Notre Dame
Character: Jacques Batissier
One evening, crime reporter Jaques Batissier makes the acquaintance of a drunken stranger who tells him his version of the murder of the anti-fascist publisher Sonelli. When Detective Inspector Rochambeaux investigates the case, the stranger's account turns out to be an exact description of the circumstances of the crime, which only the murderer could have known. On the hunt for a good story, Batissier gets on the trail of the powerful fascist secret organization "Cagoulard"....
Movie Credits
The Story of a Murder
Character: Dr. Hoffmann
In the mid-1950s, mayor Zwischenzahl is killed on the day of his inauguration in a West German town. The killer is Ruth Bodenheim, a Jewish woman, who wanted to avenge the death of her parents. Zwischenzahl, a former SA member, was apparently involved in the deportation of her parents to a concentration camp during the war. Ruth cannot bear the horrible events and the death of her parents and wants to open the eyes of the town′s residents....
Just a Joke
Character: Zdenef Huba, Czech clown
The grey hero of grey workdays, the divorced cashier of a cinema who is always willing to sacrifice herself for others, Etelka, is awarded a two-week-holiday at Lake Balaton. Following the advice of her female friend, she tries to live life at full speed....
Transport from Paradise
Character: Binde
Czechoslovakian Zbynek Brynych directs this psychological drama set in World War II Terezin ghetto. A dark, visual portrayal of the trials and tribulations the Theresienstadt people faced on a daily basis presented in a series of memorable stories. Their hopes and dreams unfold against the perpetual threat of deportation (or worse) by the Nazis. Based on the novel "Night and Hope" by Arnost Lustig....
Fortress on the Rhine
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During the Second World War, an old fortress is transformed into a detention camp for arrested allied generals who the Germans provide with every possible comfort. In the nearby garrison camp, however, hundreds of captured private soldiers try to survive hunger and cold....
Assassination
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In autumn 1941, Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich’s brutal rule in occupied Bohemia and Moravia fuels Czech resistance. In spring 1942, the government-in-exile sends trained paratroopers led by Lt. Král on a mission to assassinate him. Masters Strnad and Vyskočil ambush Heydrich’s open Mercedes in Prague’s Libeň district, mortally wounding him despite a jammed submachine gun. Their success triggers harsh Nazi reprisals, mass executions, and an intense manhunt for the operatives....
Bubny
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An anthology in three jazz-infused tales: an idealistic student’s romance with a pragmatic trumpeter; a vibraphonist’s urgent journey ending in tragedy; and drummer Honza’s moral dilemma as he confronts how far he’ll go to obtain his dream kit....
The Five Sinners
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The short story explores the often tragic impact of prejudice or suspicion that relies on the appearance of the human face. Guests in a remote pub recount their own experiences of such cases, furthermore influenced by their experiences in the First World War......
The Sons of Great Bear
Character: Red Fox
As American settlers encroach on the lands of the Lakota people, Tokei-ihto witnesses the murder of his father at the hands of Red Fox, who wanted information on where the tribe finds its gold. Two years later, at the height of the Great Sioux War, Tokei-ihto and Red Fox meet again....
Der kleine und der große Klaus
Character: Bauer Preben
The clever but poor farmer Klaus infuriates the rich big Klaus with his mischief. But little Klaus always manages to get out of the most difficult situations and emerge victorious in the end. But one day, big Klaus has a fit and wants to drown little Klaus. Now he once again has to rely on his intuition and his wit ......
Dialogue 20-40-60
Character: Fabián (segment "The Twenty-Year-Olds")
"Using the same, three times repeating dialogue – dramatic conversation between man and woman – Jerzy Skolimowski from Poland, Slovak director Peter Solan and Czech director Zbynìk Brynych shot three different stories. The result was an extraordinary experiment in the world cinema, which we can call an insight in the relationships of men and women of different age groups, an analysis of love and marriage of those who are at the beginning, in the middle or going towards the end of their life."...
The Fifth Horseman Is Fear
Character: Police Inspector
In Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, a doctor-turned-warehouse employee reluctantly agrees to treat a gravely wounded political fugitive, putting himself and everyone living in his building complex in danger....
Clown Ferdinand and the Rocket
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When Clown Ferdinand enters an abandoned city in his wagon he ends up on a space rocket where he meets a robot that can turn invisible. This film reuses sets from Polák's Ikarie XB 1 (1963)....
I, Justice
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At the year 1946, the time of the Nuremberg Process. One of the main actors of the Second World War, who reportedly committed suicide, Adolf Hitler is, however, missing. The Czech doctor Herman (Karel Höger) is kidnapped from Prague and driven to the sanatorium of Professor Rolf Harting (Jirí Vrstála). The sanatorium is a disguised military stronghold, most probably occupied by a Nazi garrison, with prison cells and an execution chamber in the basement. At night, Herman is taken to a patient in ...
Ants Bring Death
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The biggest threat to a successful crackdown on drug traffickers and consumers is the international hitman Barták, sent to the Czech Republic to eliminate all his collaborators......
Frozen Flashes
Character: Professor Rahn
In November of 1939, the British consulate in Norway receives documents saying that the Nazis are conducting secret rocket research in Peenemünde. But the British doubt the authenticity of the so called "Oslo report". Thus, the Germans continue their experiments unimpeded. At the same time, resistance groups from France, England, Poland, and Germany try to find and to sabotage the secret Nazi research base. When the first "V 2" rocket is successfully launched, the Allied commanders finally becom...
Clown Ferdinand will schlafen
Character: Clown Ferdinand
Clown Ferdinand travels to Berlin under adventurous conditions. Unfortunately, he has forgotten to book a hotel room in time. And so he puts himself and the group of children up in a completely unsuitable room in the children's department store. But as always, he solves all the problems that arise with a lot of charm and fun....
A Face of an Angel
Character: Augustin
Story of 11-year old Tadeusz, a prisoner in a children's concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland....
The Criminal on Vacation
Character: Max Scheffler
The plot takes place in a picturesque Montenegrin islet of Sveti Stefan. The local authorities investigate the murder of a tourist, which background turns out to be connected with the Nazi crimes....
Der Weihnachtsmann heißt Willi
Character: Clown Ferdinand
Five-year-old Peter and his older brother Hans drop the Christmas present for their parents in the middle of the road and it gets flattened by a car. Deeply distressed, they go to a Christmas fair and buy a lottery ticket with their remaining money. To their delight, they win a washing machine! Peter is especially excited when Santa Claus shows up and promises to transport the machine for him, but the old man instead vanishes with the boys' gift. Hans is convinced that Peter has been conned and ...
Plavecký mariáš
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In the past, most of the wood from the mountain forests was transported to the sawmills by river. The rafters were gradually replaced by trucks and railways, but they still remember the days of their glory and the romance of water travel. Two experienced old swimmers, Váň and Šindelář, managed to push for a return to the old way, at least for one trip. They got a group of like-minded enthusiasts and rafts made of logs can set off down the river......
Death Behind a Curtain
Character: pašerák Filip Lavedan
Members of an organised group smuggling heroin from France to Italy send a new shipment of the drug via Sweden, the GDR and Czechoslovakia. A new ballet is about to premiere at the Fibich Theatre in Prague. However, the situation is complicated by a horrific event: prima ballerina Milada Havlová is found dead in her dressing room. The autopsy and the first analyses reveal that she died of a heroin overdose. Captain Chrástek is in charge of the investigation and believes that it is not an acciden...
Die Nacht im Grenzwald
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1936 in a small town near the Czechoslovakian border. Albert and Fritz are close friends. Albert lives with his aunt, who is loyal to the Nazis. His father, an anti-fascist, is in hiding, and Albert only sees him secretly from time to time. His mother is in prison. Fritz's father, a member of the Social Democratic Party, has officially withdrawn from politics. Fritz also does not know that his father is working illegally and is disappointed by his apparent inaction. Together with Albert, he trie...
Flucht ins Schweigen
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During construction work in a small town in Thuringia, the burial of an unidentified man in an SS uniform with gunshot wounds is discovered. Taking into account that there were no military operations in this place and an ancient gold coin was found near the body, two police inspectors, Captain Stetter and Lieutenant Hoffmann, arrive to investigate the unusual incident. Soon they manage to get on the trail of a mysterious crime that took place twenty years ago, but it is cut short with the murder...
The Devil's Trap
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A small town is one day visited by a priest who is there on a secret mission. He is a member of the Inquisition sent to investigate the activities of a local miller. The miller and his son are the descendants of an old family whose ancestral home burned down a century ago, but was rebuilt from scratch. The miller inherited much of his knowledge about the land, water, and a building's stability from generations of family experience. His reputation for finding water and predicting when a structure...
Anna the Proletarian
Character: Young Man from Stromovce
The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I....
Severní přístav
Character: porucík Patera
A spy film about how saboteurs obtain important data about the activities of a key company, while also trying to thwart the plan and undermine work morale. But vigilant security agencies intervene in time and stop their heinous raids....
The Best Man of All
Character: Divák
A Czech satirical comedy set around 1900. The inhabitants of the small town of Pětice are excited by a mysterious package that is to be delivered to the best person in the village. Of course, all members of the town council claim the title of best person. In the end, it turns out that it was a cleverly thought-out prank intended to reveal the true character of the "better people" of the town....
From My Life
Character: Karel Purkyně
The film, in individual episodes, captures the fate of Bedřich Smetana from 1856 until the end of his life, from his young years until the moment when, exhausted by human and artistic hardship, he sees the fulfillment of his great dream, the opening of the National Theatre....
Ikarie XB 1
Character: Erik Svenson, Pilot
The year is 2163. Starship Ikaria XB 1 embarks on a mission deep into space in search of alien life. During their perilous journey the crew confront the effects of a malignant dark star, the destructive legacy of the 20th century and, ultimately, the limits of their own sanity....
Mordová rokle
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A new owner of the estate, Konrád Ritter von Schiess, arrives in the Czech village of Sluky. On his orders, the inhabitants of the village are to be evicted and only 30 families are allowed to remain, who volunteer to work on the estate. However, the inhabitants refuse to work for the lords, and their solidarity only strengthens when one of them is murdered by the Gestapo based on a report by the estate manager Prokeš......
Na konci města
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Captain Jirák of the SNB is searching for the perpetrator of the murder of the former owner of an apartment building on the outskirts of town, which took place more than twenty years ago....
Můj přítel Fabián
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The story of a gypsy named Fabian, who came to work in Kunčice, and his son. Their lives change fundamentally on the great construction site of socialism. They both learn to read and write; Fabian becomes a skilled welder, and little Fabian is accepted into the pioneer organization. However, their transformation is not easy, it is not without many encounters, just like the transformation of Fabian's co-workers, many of whom have not yet overcome their racist prejudices....
Muž v povětří
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Mr. Čap is an inventor who disturbs the peace of the town of Krásnov with his experiments. During his attempts to discover the eternal match, smoke and a stench pour out of the window, accompanied by detonations. Some people are amused by it, others fear for their lives....
Punta and the Four-Leaf Clover
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A film about a boy who is protective of a runaway dog and the dog, who is protective of the boy....
Páté oddělení
Character: Karlík
An American spy agency located in West Germany is interested in information concerning Czechoslovak commercial activities in the Middle East. Agent Rudolf Karlik creates a network of associates in Prague......