Euroregion Elbe/Labe

»U pokladny stál...« (He Stood at the Till...) on Czech Film Wednesday

04.06.2025 • 20:00 • Zentralkino Dresden

A beautifully old-fashioned but fast-paced comedy of mistaken identity in a hospital.

The health insurance company is at the center of this comedy of errors. Nurse Rozruch from St. Jacob's Hospital has been given artificial teeth instead of the expected healing sludge and wants to sort this out, but the officials are unhelpful. Councillor Pěna comes to the office to arrange a trip with his secret lover and also announces a visit from the head doctor Marek from St. Jacob's Hospital. When Rozruch mentions in passing that he is from there, the officers assume he is Marek, and their behavior changes abruptly. The head physician prescribes a cure for him, to which he personally takes him the next day. The real Marek arrives at the spa with the councilor's daughter Heda, whom he has introduced as Rozruch, to convince himself that her feelings are genuine. Councillor Pěna and his lover also arrive, unaware that her mother is present. Finally, they all meet at a small spa town...

This film is a classic comedy of mistaken identity, which was not uncommon at the time. It deals with class differences in a humorous way, takes a slightly critical look at the corresponding human behavior and, in the end, resolves everything in a pleasant way. This film is therefore a nice insight into Czechoslovak society in the First Republic.

We must warn you a little in advance: There is a lot of fast talking in the movie, so reading and understanding the subtitles is definitely a challenge. On the other hand, you can follow the plot without understanding every sentence.

 

This film will be shown as part of the "Czech Film Wednesday" series, as always in the original version with German subtitles.

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(This is an automatic translation by DeepL Translator.)

This old movie is one of the most popular films in the Czech Republic. However, we have no idea why that is. But since we promised to show the most popular films in the Czech Republic on Film Wednesday, and not necessarily the most artistically valuable ones, we have included it in our program.

It is similar to various films of the time in which mistaken identities are used to highlight class differences and show how people behave towards those they perceive to be above or below them in society. In this respect, this film is no different from dozens of others.

(This is an automatic translation by DeepL Translator.)

Czechoslovakia, 1939, 99 min, OmU

Director: Karel Lamač

Starring: Vlasta Burian, Jaroslav Marvan, Ladislav Hemmer, Adina Mandlová, Marie Blažková, Čeněk Šlégl, Anna Gabrielová, Antonín Streit, Karel Postranecký

(This is an automatic translation by DeepL Translator.)

Address

Zentralkino Dresden
Kraftwerk Mitte 16
01067 Dresden

Contact

Tel: +49 351 3107375
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Arrival

The Zentralkino is located on the grounds of the (Kultur-) Kraftwerk Mitte (see site plan, no. 16). There are entrances at Wettiner Platz, from Könneritzstraße and from Ehrlichstraße.

From "Bahnhof Mitte" directions_railway directions_bus it is about 350 m, from "Haltepunkt Freiberger Straße" directions_railway directions_bus about 500 m walk to the cinema. Various tram lines also stop at both stations. From the stop "Schweriner Straße" directions_railway directions_bus it is 400 m.

The large car park for Kraftwerk Mitte is located behind the railway embankment. Access is from Löbtauer Straße. From the car park you can get to the cinema through a passageway and via Könneritzstraße.

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