''The Emperor and the Golem'' ( cs, Císařův pekař a pekařův císař) is a two-part

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

historical fantasy

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced in 1951. The film is set during the reign of

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...

and was filmed in

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

(not common for Czechoslovak films in that period), because of the international release. It is one of the best known films of

Jan Werich Jan Werich (; 6 February 1905 – 31 October 1980) was a Czech actor, playwright and writer. Early life Between 1916 and 1924, Werich attended "reálné gymnasium" (equivalent to high school) in Křemencova Street in Prague (where his future b ...

, who's performing a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

of Emperor Rudolf and baker Matěj.

Plot

Part I

Aging and eccentric Emperor Rudolf II, who is obsessed with finding the

Golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the l ...

, refuses to hear out ambassadors and falls into destructive fits. Later he welcomes Magister

Edward Kelley Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is best known for working with John Dee in his magical investigations. Besides the professed ability to ...

Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for king ...

and shows him his alchemist laboratory. All the alchemists are either charlatans or fools. Rudolf wants alchemist Scotta to make him an elixir of youth and pressures him into performing a magic ritual at night. While performing the ritual, they accidentally stumble upon the Golem. However the Golem can't be awakened without a little ball called

shem Shem (; he, שֵׁם ''Šēm''; ar, سَام, Sām) ''Sḗm''; Ge'ez: ሴም, ''Sēm'' was one of the sons of Noah in the book of Genesis and in the book of Chronicles, and the Quran. The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lu ...

. Meanwhile, a baker Matěj is confronted with angry mob which demands bread rolls but cannot receive them, because the bread rolls are baked only for the emperor. When the corrupt head of the bakery leaves the building, Matěj distributes the emperor's bread rolls to the poor and is imprisoned in the dungeons for this deed. Kelley reveals his

homunculus A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...

Sirael, whom the Emperor wishes to teach everything of our world, including love. Rudolf does not know that Sirael is a regular country girl, Kateřina, acting after coercion by Kelley. Kateřina and Matěj communicate through vents between Kelley's room and the dungeons and fall in love through conversation, although they cannot see each other. Alchemist Scotta concocts an elixir of youth for Rudolf (actually a mix of strong alcoholic drinks and morphium). Meanwhile, Matěj escapes the dungeons.

Part II

Rudolf drinks Scotta's concoction and falls asleep. Matěj ends up in the emperor's rooms. Servants of the Emperor find the fugitive Matěj, who bears a remarkable likeness to the Emperor in his young days, hiding in the bath and, believing the

rejuvenation Rejuvenation is a medical discipline focused on the practical reversal of the aging process. Rejuvenation is distinct from life extension. Life extension strategies often study the causes of aging and try to oppose those causes in order to slow ...

has worked, they take him for the emperor and dress him accordingly. After waking up, Rudolf sees Matěj and mistakes him for his younger self in the mirror. Elated by his supposed new vigor, Rudolf and his old loyal servant ride alone in a carriage to the countryside to remind themselves of the sins of their misspent youth. The emperor's mistress Countess Strada also believes the rejuvenation worked and drinks up the remnants of the concoction. She embarrasses Matěj by her advances and then falls asleep. The horrified and confused Matěj puts her on top of a double-decker bed. Matěj decides that he has to act as Rudolf because it is his best chance to find Kateřina. Matěj as the emperor dismisses Rudolf's astrologer, minimises the extravagant expenses and deals with all the waiting ambassadors. He attempts to rule fairly, all the while searching for Kateřina. He finds a helper in Scotta, who knows his elixir could not have worked, and therefore knows Matěj is not the real emperor. Meanwhile, intrigue abounds among the emperor's councillors and Kelley. They want to overthrow Rudolf and seize power for themselves. They all want to utilise the Golem and chase after the shem, which is eventually found by Matěj. Kelley then pressures Kateřina into killing the emperor, but Matěj reveals to her that he's not Rudolf. Matěj's identity is also revealed to the councillors. They all try to capture him and Kateřina, while also fighting among themselves. Kelley is killed and Matěj is captured. The Court Astrologer gets a shem from Matěj and awakens the Golem. Lang kills the astrologer and Russworm kills Lang. Then Russworm is killed by the Golem, who only obeys the person who put the shem in its head. The Emperor returns while the Golem is destroying the palace. Eventually, with the help of the townspeople, Matěj succeeds in stopping the Golem and removing the shem. Rudolf is reinstated, after Matěj convinces him to give the Golem to the people rather than use it for his own means. The Golem is installed in the bakery and its power is used to make more bread for everyone.

Cast

Emperor Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

/ Baker Matěj Kotrba * Marie Vášová as Countess Catherina Strada *

Nataša Gollová Nataša Gollová (27 February 1912 – 29 October 1988) was a Czechoslovak film and stage actress. Life She was born Nataša Hodáčová in Brno on 27 February 1912. Her father was a politician František Xaver Hodáč. She chose her art na ...

as Kateřina aka Sirael *

Bohuš Záhorský Bohumil "Bohuš" Záhorský (5 February 1906 – 22 September 1980) was a Czechoslovak actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1932 to 1980. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahorsky, Bohus ...

as Chamberlain Filip Lang * Jiří Plachý as

Zdeněk Štěpánek Zdeněk Štěpánek (22 September 1896 – 20 June 1968) was a Czech actor. He appeared in 65 films between 1922 and 1968. Selected filmography * '' St. Wenceslas'' (1930) * '' Paradise Road'' (1936) * '' The World Is Ours'' (1937) * '' Skelet ...

as Marshall Bernard Russworm *

František Filipovský František Filipovský (23 September 1907 – 26 October 1993) was a Czechoslovak stage, television, and film actor. Life and career Early life and theatre Filipovský was born on 23 September 1907 in the Czech town of Přelouč, then part of A ...

as Court Astrologer * František Černý as Alchemist Jeroným Alessandro Scotta *

Václav Trégl Václav Trégl (10 December 1902 – 11 February 1979) was a Czechoslovak film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1933 and 1977. Selected filmography * '' The Inspector General'' (1933) * '' Workers, Let's Go'' (1934) * ''Pos ...

as Emperor's personal servant * Vladimír Leraus as Hungarian Delegate *

Miloš Nedbal Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name Sportsmen * Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower * Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer * Miloš Budaković, Serbian ...

as Court Physician * Bohuš Hradil as

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...

* František Holar as Guard Commander

Production

and

Jiří Voskovec Jiří Voskovec (), born Jiří Wachsmann and known in the United States as George Voskovec (June 19, 1905 – July 1, 1981) was a Czech actor, writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in 1955. Throughout much of his career ...

were trying to make the film based on their play ''Golem'' in the 1930s. That film eventually became

Le Golem ''Le Golem'' ( cs, Golem) is a 1936 Czechoslovakian monster movie directed by Julien Duvivier in French language. Plot In a Prague ghetto, poor Jews find themselves oppressed by Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (Harry Baur) which leads to talk am ...

directed by Julien Duvivier, who significantly re-wrote the screenplay and changed it into a horror film. Werich returned to this theme in 1950s and co-wrote a screenplay with Jiří Brdečka. It was originally directed by

Jiří Krejčík Jiří Krejčík (; 26 June 1918 – 8 August 2013) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. Born in 1918 in Prague, he began his film career as an extra for Barrandov Studios, during World War II. He then began creating short films an ...

, but after disputes with the Werich, Krejčík was replaced by

Martin Frič Martin Frič (29 March 1902 – 26 August 1968) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He had more than 100 directing credits between 1929 and 1968, including feature films, shorts and documentary films. Throughout his life, F ...

. The whole film was shot in

Barrandov Studios Barrandov Studios is a set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe. Several major Hollywood productions have been made here, including '' Mission Impossible'', ' ...

. It was the third Czechoslovak full-length color film after ''

Warriors of Faith Warriors of Faith ( cs, Jan Roháč z Dubé) is a 1947 Czech historical film by Vladimír Borský, based on a play by Alois Jirásek. It was the first Czech film in colour. It premiered in Prague on 28 March 1947, and the premiere was attended by ...

'' and '' Temno''. It was shot on

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

and

Agfacolor An Agfacolor slide dated 1937 from café in Oslo, Norway. An Agfacolor slide dated 1937 from Paris, France. An Agfacolor slide dated 1938 from Hungary. An Agfacolor slide dated 1938 from Zakopane in Poland. An Agfacolor slide dated 1938 fr ...

material. Costumes were based on designs by

Jiří Trnka Jiří Trnka (; 24 February 1912 – 30 December 1969) was a Czech puppet-maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is best kn ...

Release

''The Emperor and the Golem'' had a premiere on 4 January 1952 as a two-part film, 155 minutes long.

International version

A 112-minute-long one-part international version was prepared, with most propaganda flavoured scenes cut out (e.g., songs). It was successfully distributed in many countries, including Italy, West Germany, East Germany, Sweden, USA, UK, Finland, France, Belgium or Argentina.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor And The Golem, The 1951 films 1950s historical comedy films 1950s fantasy comedy films Czechoslovak comedy films Czech historical films Czech fantasy films 1950s Czech-language films Films about lookalikes Films based on fairy tales Films directed by Martin Frič Films with screenplays by Jiří Brdečka Cultural depictions of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Golem films Films set in Prague Films set in the 16th century Films set in the Holy Roman Empire Tycho Brahe 1952 comedy films 1952 films 1951 comedy films Czech monster movies Czech comedy films Czechoslovak fantasy films