Summary
In 1965, director Jiří Weiss embarked upon an unusually ambitious project: the psychological drama Třicet jedna ve stínu (Ninety in the Shade). As a British co-production, which primarily uses English actors, it is based on a screenplay by noted playwright David Mercer. Among this playwright’s films adapted for the big screen we find Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment (dir. Karl Reiss, 1962, UK) and Providence (dir. Alain Resnais, 1977, Fr./Switz.). However, Weiss’s story of the theft of socialist property is very much attuned to the contemporary Czechoslovak environment. Set in a grocery store, the story sees manager Vorel (James Booth) forcing his lover Alena (Anne Heywood), to partake in the theft of costly alcoholic beverages in the shop. The young woman then commits suicide, and the honest stock controller Kurka (excellently portrayed by Rudolf Hrušínský) is well aware that the truth of this affair will never come to light. This interesting film was nominated for a Golden Globe in the non-English film category.
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