Elén, a girl living with her mother and stepfather in a secluded forest, has a great singing talent. On her twenty-first birthday, she runs away from home and on the train, millionaire René falls in love with her. Their paths soon diverge, only to be reunited soon after. Violinist Pavel Sedloň falls in love with Elén, and although Elén does not love him, she is determined to marry him. At that time, René dies, exhausted from working on the operetta Srdce v delirium. However, he is saved at the last moment and everything comes to a happy ending when Oldřich Nový explains how the authors actually meant it all.
Acting
Oldřich Nový playing himself explaining the plot he stars in.
Writing
The fourth-wall demolition that predates postmodernism by decades.
Direction
Frič treating melodrama like silly putty.
Director
Martin Frič
Oldřich Nový
René Skalský
Hana Vítová
Elén Hadrbolcová / Bětuška Hadrbolcová
Ella Nollová
Bětuška Hadrbolcová
Otomar Korbelář
Jan Dubský
Theodor Pištěk
Richard Skalský
Zdeněk Dítě
Pavel Sedloň
Vítězslav Vejražka
Malhorn
František Paul
MUDr. Lexa Otok
Marie Blažková
Anita Nováková
Eman Fiala
Leonardo Bianchini
Jan W. Speerger
Joe Pelíšek
Jarmila Smejkalová
Klára
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This film parodies the era's popular 'operetta films'—think of it as Czech cinema's answer to screaming at tropes before screaming at tropes was mainstream.
Oldřich Nový was already Czechoslovakia's biggest star; having him step out of character was the 1949 equivalent of Tom Cruise pausing Mission: Impossible to discuss rewrite notes.
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