Summary
Prague public transport ticket inspector Gustav Anděl is one of the most popular characters of post-war Czechoslovak cinema – regardless of the fact that Bořivoj Zeman’s two comedy features centred on the character bear the stamp of the ideological bias of their era. In particular, the first feature film from 1952 tells the story of the “socialisation” of the grumpy, ageing Anděl, who involves himself with a collective during a vacation organised by a trade union. Instead of relaxing, the holidaymakers decide to spend their two weeks rebuilding a former pub into a harvest retreat for children of the trade union members… Besides the phenomenal Jaroslav Marvan who plays the lead, Josef Kemr (carpenter Vyhlídka) and František Dibarbora (Slovak welder Palko) star. This popular comedy set amid a socialist collective was followed by the 1955 sequel Anděl na horách (Angel in the Mountains), in which several characters from the original film reunite during a vacation in the snow-covered Tatra Mountains.
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