Summary
Václav Vorlíček graduated from film school in the beginning of 1950s, but started as a director in the 1960s. He dedicated his career to genre film, making popular films appealing to a wide audience. He managed to succeed in doing so particularly thanks to smart scripts and a fresh, even timeless approach. Who Wants to Kill Jessie? is a great example of this strategy. It was inspired by the art of comics, which were not accessible in Czechoslovakia at the time, so the filmmakers chose to make a crazy parody of this “trashy” American medium, inventing a fusion of the real world and the world of comics. Three characters of the comic book are suddenly present in the world, continuing with their fights and action scenes, but also affecting the life of the couple of scientists. The film was an instant hit and its poster was a desired collectible. Main female comic character, a talented inventor, was played by the beautiful Olga Schoberová, who became a sex symbol and the first Czech woman ever to be photographed for the cover of Playboy.
