Murderer Waits on the Rails

Novelist Jiří Marek contributed as screenwriter to numerous crime films and television series. Among his most enduring works is director Josef Macha’s 1970 drama Na kolejích čeká vrah (The Murderer Waits on the Rails). Marek based the film on a book by one of the founders of the Czech school of crime fiction, Eduard Fiker. The author’s experienced detective Kalaš returns after appearing in three previous movies, all by Petr Schulhoff: Strach (Fear) (1963), Vrah skrývá tvář (The Murderer Waits on the Rails) (1966) and Po stopách krve (On the Trail of Blood) (1969). In The Murderer Waits on the Rails the dependable Rudolf Hrušínský was replaced in the lead role by Jiří Sovák. In Mach’s picture Sovák is a sagacious Public Security (then police) investigator on the trail of a gang who have robbed millions from a train carrying state bank cash. The robbers have blown the train up and shot dead a random witness. Kalaš, the inexperienced young sub lieutenant Karlíček (Jaromír Hanzlík) and other members of his team gradually identify the members of the gang, among whom is, surprisingly, a bank employee. However, Kalaš must first prove the innocence of his colleague Lenk, a member of the team escorting the valuable railway cargo. (Lenk was played by Radoslav Brzobohatý, who in the first two movies in the series portrayed Kalaš’s close colleague Varga)… By contrast with Fiker’s original book Série C-L (Series C-L) (1958) and Schulhoff’s dark crime films corresponding to the atmosphere of the 1960s, Mach employs a lighter approach. The casting of Sovák in the lead role and the character of the novice Karlíček allow for a humorous distance and verbal wit. Alongside the dialogue and solid performances the picture – like every classically constructed crime movie – is naturally based on the ratcheting up of the atmosphere and gradual revelation of the truth.