Summary
This film represents the sole – albeit accomplished – directorial effort of actor and occasional screenwriter Josef Gruss. Adapted by Otakar Vávra from a 1941 comedic novel by Karel Poláček, Hostinec „U kamenného stolu“ (The Stone Table Inn) was made in 1948, but only found its way into cinemas in September 1949 – by which time the recent communist putsch had begun to lead to the censorship of Czechoslovak cinema. The film is set during the easygoing (pre-Nazi occupation) days of the First Republic, taking place in a pub in the fictional spa town of Džbery. A feud between the married owners, Božena and Šimon Tatrmuž, is causing the regular guests a headache. Two brothers who haven’t spoken for years – Tomáš and Spytihněv (played by Rudolf Hrušínský and Svatopluk Beneš), who are nephews of Božena – take charge of the prosperous but now paralysed business.
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