''Dinner for Adele'' ( cs, Adéla ještě nevečeřela) is a 1977 Czech parody comedy film directed by Oldřich Lipský. Alternative titles were ''Adele Hasn't Had Her Dinner Yet'', ''Nick Carter in Prague'' and ''Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet''.

Production

The main character is a parody of the detective Nick Carter from American dime novels. Most exterior scenes were shot around

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, including

Prague main railway station Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...

, Hotel Paris,

Hradčany Hradčany (; german: Hradschin), the Castle District, is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history ...

, Letná Park and

Konopiště Konopiště Castle (; german: Schloss Konopischt) is a four-winged, three-storey castle located in Konopiště, now a part of the town of Benešov in Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It has become famous as the last residence of Archduke F ...

. The carnivorous plant and animated sequences were created by Czech surrealist artist

Jan Švankmajer Jan Švankmajer (; born 4 September 1934) is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his stop-motion animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Terr ...

Plot

It is the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Countess Thun asked the famous New York detective Nick Carter to travel to Prague, for assistance to solve the strange case of a missing dog. Carter is assisted by Prague police commissar Ledvina. Mysterious murder cases happen during the investigations, done by the malicious botanist Baron von Kratzmar and his

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

Adela. Von Kratzmar kidnapped his victims, bound them and whenever he played a

gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

with the melody "

Schlafe, mein Prinzchen "Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, schlaf ein" ("Sleep, my little prince, fall asleep") is perhaps the most famous '' Wiegenlied'' (German for 'lullaby'), dating from the 18th century. History The words are by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter. For many years, the c ...

" (a lullaby by

Bernhard Flies Bernhard Flies (born about 1770 in Berlin) was a German amateur composer and a doctor of medicine. Little is known about Flies. He composed some piano pieces and songs. He is best known for the romantic music to the lullaby ''Schlafe, mein Prinz ...

but previously associated with

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

) it is the time for Adela to awaken and eat her victims for dinner. Baron von Kratzmar considered himself a misjudged genius and wanted to take revenge on one of his former professors. He called himself "the Gardener" a notorious criminal, who Nick Carter thought had died in the swamps years ago. With the help of bizarre inventions, Ledvina and Carter succeed in catching von Kratzmar and delivering him to the legal authorities.

Cast

Michal Dočolomanský Michal Dočolomanský (25 March 1942 in Niedzica – 26 August 2008 in Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of th ...

as Nick Carter * Rudolf Hrušínský as Commissar Josef Ledvina * Miloš Kopecký as Baron Ruppert von Kratzmar *

Ladislav Pešek Ladislav Pešek (4 October 1906 – 13 July 1986) was a Czechoslovak film actor.Naďa Konvalinková Naďa Konvalinková (''Naděžda Konvalinková''; born 18 April 1951 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech actress. After graduating from the Faculty of Theatre of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, she worked in the J. K. Tyl Theatre, Pl ...

as Květuška, Boček's granddaughter * Václav Lohniský as Kratzmar's butler *

Květa Fialová Květa Fialová (1 September 1929 – 26 September 2017) was a Czech actress. She was best known for her performance in ''Lemonade Joe ''Lemonade Joe, or the Horse Opera'' ( cs, Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera) is a 1964 Czechoslovak musi ...

as Countess Thun *

Olga Schoberová Olga Schoberová, also known as Olinka Bérová (born March 15, 1943), is a Czech-American actress. She acted in Czech, German, Italian, Austrian, Polish, English, and American movies. As "Olinka Berova", she appeared in ''The Vengeance of She'' ...

as Karin *

Martin Růžek Martin Růžek, born Erhard Martin (23 September 1918 – 18 December 1995) was a Czech actor. He starred in the film ''Poslední propadne peklu'' under director Ludvík Ráža in 1982. Personal life Růžek was born on 23 September 1918 in Če ...

as Police director Franz von Kaunitz * Karel Effa as Criminal *

František Němec František () is a masculine given name of Czech origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Frank Daniel (František Daniel) (1926–1996), Czech film director, producer, and screenwriter ...

as Nick Carter (voice) *

Libuše Švormová Libuše Švormová (born 23 August 1935) is a Czech actress. She has appeared in over 45 films and television shows since 1959. Selected filmography * ''Lovers in the Year One ''Lovers in the Year One'' ( cs, Milenci v roce jedna) is a 1973 ...

as Karin (voice) *

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

as Larry Matejka (voice)

Reception

The film was positively received by both domestic and foreign critics.

Sheila Benson Sheila Benson (December 4, 1930February 23, 2022) was an American journalist and film critic. She served as film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1981 to 1991. Early life and education Benson was born in New York City on December 4, 193 ...

wrote in

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

: "This spoof on detective Nick Carter is crammed with invention, wit of the highest order, exquisite tongue-in-cheek performances and all the art noveau wonders in Prague." ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

'' favorably compared Lipský to

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...

Awards and nominations

*1980:

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

for Best Foreign Film *1980: Saturn Award Nomination for Best Fantasy Film The film was also selected as the Czechoslovak entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

51st Academy Awards The 51st Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1978 and took place on April 9, 1979, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 7:00 p.m. ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

References

External links

Pictures from the film
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinner For Adele 1977 films Czechoslovak comedy films Czech comedy films 1970s Czech-language films Films about plants Films directed by Oldřich Lipský 1970s black comedy films 1970s parody films Films set in the 1900s Films set in Prague Nick Carter (literary character) Jan Švankmajer 1970s police comedy films Films with screenplays by Jiří Brdečka 1977 comedy films Czech parody films