Claim at the Deaf Creek

Screenwriter Jiří Křižan and director Zdenek Sirový in 1970-1971 realised three short films according to short stories by American fiction writer Jack London. These genre miniatures, which at the start of the “normalisation” era provided a means of subsistence for the rookie screenwriter with inopportune origins and the discomforting (for the regime) director of the forbidden drama Smuteční slavnost (Funeral Ceremonies, 1969), were shown in cinemas either individually or all together. In addition to Kaňon samé zlato (A Canyon Full of Gold, 1970) and Poslední výstřel Davida Sandela (David Sandel's Last Shot, 1971), they included Claim na Hluchém potoku (Claim at the Deaf Creek, 1971), a title that follows a pair of gold diggers who hope to get rich without any effort. Rudolf Hrušínský and Lubomír Kostelka burnish their acting prowess as the charlatans who sell an old gold prospector a worthless claim. The role of Hans Andersson, who hoodwinks the heroes in style, is played by Štefan Winkler.