Three Men in a Cottage

The eight-part television series based on Jaroslav Dietl’s original idea and screenplay Tři chlapi v chalupě (Three Men in a Cottage) was a big hit on the small screen (although only two episodes have been preserved). In 1963, the series was still fresh in audiences’ memories and this was used by the programmers at Barrandov Studios to make a film of the same name. The protagonists of Josef Bach’s rural comedy are also a grandfather, son, and grandson from the Potůček family, who jointly manage a cottage in Ouplavice. The engagingly conceived plot develops from the social activities of the family trio: Václav is chairman of the local farming collective and his son Venda runs the local youth association. Both of them face various difficulties (including the adroit grandfather, among other things). In the end, however, an honest approach to building a socialist village prevails … The main roles in the film were played by Lubomír Lipský, Jan Skopeček, and Ladislav Trojan, who were actually from the same generation, unlike their characters. When the film was made, they were aged 40, 38, and 31.