Summary
The 1951 theatrical play Bedtime Story by Irish playwright Seán O’Casey inspired Czech director Jiří Krejčík to such a degree that after adapting the project for the small screen in 1965 he then brought it to the stage in Prague’s Činoherní klub. In 1967, yet another transformation was made; this time it was produced as a colour, widescreen, feature film, which to some degree compensated for the theatrical nature of the material. While Pension pro svobodné pány (Bed Time Story) is a situational farce, it also has much in common with the concept of the dramatic unity of time and place. It takes place during a single night in a London lodging house run by the old maid Mossie, whose strict rules ban lodgers from entertaining female guests. Despite Mossie’s eagle-eyed oversight, Bernard Mulligan manages to sneak a woman, Anděla, into his room. A whirlwind of comic dialogue and situations ensue between the lovers. Mulligan’s aim is to get Anděla out of his room before his roommate Halibut returns from the ball. But the exasperated, and later vengeful, Anděla wants to make the most out of the situation for herself – which, given Mulligan’s fears of being found out by the strict landlady, goes rather well (including the painful handing over of a twenty-pound cheque, and a jewel-encrusted ring as compensation)… This adeptly staged comedy remains boldly conservative, only slightly departing from its original theatrical form (thanks to cinematographer Rudolf Milič, even the location of the “London” suburbs, found by Krejčík in Prague’s Liboc, are reliably drawn from a mere vivified backdrop). Well-crafted dialogue and countless comical situations enable the two main stars, namely Josef Abrhám and Iva Janžurová, to display their comedic talents to the full. A number of actors in smaller roles also hit the mark – Věra Ferbasová, as the maid Mossie, and Jiří Hrzán as Halibut (a last-minute replacement for actor Vladimír Pucholt). Despite outwardly appearing to be little more than a light-hearted romp, Pension pro svobodné pány (Bed Time Story) finds strong solidarity with Czech cinema through the character of the bored and terrified Mulligan – a pitiful and willing victim of female domination, against which he tries to rebel in an infantile manner. The film shines for its allegorical reflection on the behind-the-scenes absurdity of bureaucratic institutions, and hypocritical social rules, which, with the advent of a full moon, even Halibut and Mossie eventually break too.
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