
Acting
Jaroslav Průcha
Born — Died
1898-04-24 — 1963-04-25
Place of birth
Skvrnany, Plzen, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]
Known for
Acting
Credits
60 titles
Known for
6.5In Czechoslovakia, in the early 20th century, a seriously ill chemist recalls how he discovered a powerful explosive and how it ended up in the hands of anarchists.
Krakatit
1948
8.0Military doctor Katz loses to his servant Josef Švejk at cards. Švejk steals a dog for his new superior, Lieutenant Lukáš. While walking his dog, Lukáš meets Colonel Kraus, who is displeased to discover that Lukáš is taking his dog with him. As punishment, he sends Lukáš to a marching company in Budějovice. Lukáš is accompanied by Švejk, who first insults a general who is travelling in civilian clothes in the same compartment. Then Švejk unexpectedly stops the train by pulling the emergency brake. For this act, he is brought to Tábor for questioning. Before the questioning is over, Švejk's train leaves and he has to walk to Budějovice...
The Last Bohemian
1932
5.6An orphaned young woman named Jana moves into the household of Robert and his older, possessive wife, Klára. While Klára maintains a strict and manipulative control over the home, a mutual attraction develops between Robert and Jana. The three characters continue to live together as their domestic tensions increase.
Wolf Trap
1958
No synopsis available yet.
Chvála révy
1941
A young farmer, Jan Aleš, is drafted from his native Pošumaví to join the army. Since he likes his new environment, he stays with the army as a long-term serviceman. He even successfully passes the exams for the military academy. There he becomes friends with his Slovak colleague Milan Jurčík. He studies diligently, but thanks to Milan he sometimes finds time to go out into the city. That is how he meets the factory owner's daughter, Zdenka, with whom he falls in love. However, her father is not very happy about the promising relationship.
Neporažená armáda
1938
7.0A sometimes humorous, sometimes more serious look at the hustle and bustle of a house in Lesser Town with a diverse array of tenants living there, and often petty quarrels that break out between them. Behind the facade of the house in Lesser Town "U dvou slunců" (Two Suns) there is life. The Bavors live here, eternal slaves to the grocery store. The Ebros, who need to marry their daughter off at a good price. The bachelor Dr. Loukota and other interesting Nerudov characters.
A Week in the Quiet House
1947
Film credits
1960s · 3 titles
No synopsis available yet.
Tvrdohlavá žena a zamilovaný školní mládenec
1962
No synopsis available yet.
Hrdinové okamžiku
1961
7.0In the Hussite times, religious truth was sifted even on the tips of weapons. When in 1430 the Hussites set out on a raid to Nuremberg, the so-called Spanila Cavalry, to defend their doctrine, the young commander of the cavalry, the landowner Keřský, whose bride had once been kidnapped by a vicious crusader, saw it as an opportunity for personal revenge. Although Oldřich Daněk has tried to establish a distinctive interpretation of historical events, he reflects on where the blinded desire to punish a bad deed with further cruelty leads, but his version seems too thesis-like and lifeless, it does not rise above the descriptively illustrated scenes from old Czech chronicles...
Spanilá jízda
1963
1950s · 11 titles
5.6An orphaned young woman named Jana moves into the household of Robert and his older, possessive wife, Klára. While Klára maintains a strict and manipulative control over the home, a mutual attraction develops between Robert and Jana. The three characters continue to live together as their domestic tensions increase.
Wolf Trap
1958
No synopsis available yet.
Maryša
1954
No synopsis available yet.
Samota
1955
No synopsis available yet.
Samota
1954
5.0The year is 1918. Toník returns home from the front. In Kladno, where he arrives, things are seething with discontent. The Social Democrats are in government, but nothing has changed. Socialization has not been implemented, there is hunger and food is still being skimped on. The first news about a socialist state arrives from Russia. On May 1st, the workers' Kladno manifests its loyalty to the ideals of the Great October Socialist Revolution. In December 1920, a general strike is declared in Kladno as well. The workers arm themselves, workers' councils take over the administration of the city and are also established in the surrounding villages. An armed uprising is being prepared. However, the right-wing leadership of the Social Democratic Party attacks the workers in the back. The army is sent to Kladno...
A red glow over Kladno
1956
No synopsis available yet.
Fučík
1956
7.0The story of the piper Švanda, who went abroad for money and fame, but whose love for his homeland ultimately wins.
Strakonický dudák
1955
No synopsis available yet.
Labutí píseň
1954
7.0František Brych, a principled lawyer, refuses to back the new Communist regime at his factory and grows increasingly alienated, even as his former love Irena, unhappily married to factory owner Ondřej Ráž, seeks his understanding. When he helps plan an escape over the Šumava border, the group’s panic and violence lead to murder, prompting Brych to abandon the scheme and return home with Irena.
Občan Brych
1959
6.7American agents hijack a plane on the Ostrava-Prague route to launch a campaign against the People's Democratic Czechoslovakia. The plane lands in West Germany, but the Americans have an unexpected problem convincing the hijackers to stay in the West. Based on a true story.
Kidnapped
1953
"The Rally" is based on a communist writer Vaclav Řezáč's well-written novel of the same name
Nástup
1953
1940s · 22 titles
6.5In Czechoslovakia, in the early 20th century, a seriously ill chemist recalls how he discovered a powerful explosive and how it ended up in the hands of anarchists.
Krakatit
1948
No synopsis available yet.
Chvála révy
1941
7.0A sometimes humorous, sometimes more serious look at the hustle and bustle of a house in Lesser Town with a diverse array of tenants living there, and often petty quarrels that break out between them. Behind the facade of the house in Lesser Town "U dvou slunců" (Two Suns) there is life. The Bavors live here, eternal slaves to the grocery store. The Ebros, who need to marry their daughter off at a good price. The bachelor Dr. Loukota and other interesting Nerudov characters.
A Week in the Quiet House
1947
8.0The generally respected director of a small-town savings bank, Hlavsa, commits embezzlement because of his wasteful and spoiled wife, and when the situation cannot be saved, he shoots himself. His mother, a simple village woman, takes in her widowed daughter-in-law and teenage grandson on the condition that they both help her to compensate for all the damage. For the city lady, the hard village work is suffering. The same goes for young Bořík, a gifted pianist who finds it difficult to give up his dreams of an artistic career...
Barbora Hlavsová
1943
5.0The revolutionary year of 1848 brought great hopes among the hitherto silent classes, awakening social and national hopes. The response also penetrated the remote countryside, even as far as the Podkrkonoše Mountains. The young shoemaker there began to take an interest in social and political events, and he also experienced disappointment in later developments.
O ševci Matoušovi
1948
No synopsis available yet.
Píseň léta
1940
Two good friends return from long-term military service: Jan Cimbura from Semic and Josef Piksa from Putim. Piksa farms on his own, Cimbura accepts service with the Hradiště farmer and mayor of Kovanda. The farmhand Cimbura is a real treasure for the farm. He is strong and hardworking, he doesn't drink or smoke. He can keep his eyes on the girl Marjánka, and Cimbura likes her too. However, Cimbura doesn't want to and cannot marry. First, he wants to become independent, and that may take years....
Jan Cimbura
1941
7.0A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.
Silent Barricade
1949
7.5Ríša, a student of law, neglects his studies in favour of parties and pranks. His angry father refuses to continue helping him out of his debts. Ríša, however, is not entirely beyond hope. He decides to go and stay for a while with his uncle, a priest, who lives in Moravia, in order to prepare for his exams. He meets Helenka, the timid daughter of the local gamekeeper, at a village ball and is enchanted by her. The days pass and their idyllic relationship begins to tire Ríša. He begins to tell Helenka about his former debauched life the about the broken hearts of beautiful women. Helenka is hurt and refuses to see Ríša anymore. His uncle, the priest, is incensed at his behaviour and orders his nephew out of the house. Ríša tries desperately to find Helenka so he can make it up to her.
May Fairy Tale
1940
6.5Pharmacist Janota's daughter, Karla, is about to get married to wealthy lawyer Jaroslav Kříž. On the day of the wedding, however, instead of the ceremony, she will have an appendectomy. After the successful procedure, the weakened Karla also develops severe pneumonia and even has a heart attack. Fortunately, she is under the care of Prague's best surgeon, MUDr. Hegl, who saves the young woman from certain death. Karla falls in love with the attractive doctor and begins seeing him. Hegl's resigned wife suffers silently from her husband's affairs in order to preserve the family. Karla's fiancé, on the other hand, cannot cope with the situation and commits suicide. When Karla becomes pregnant with Hegl, the doctor turns away from her. After all, he already has a new "patient". The girl is nevertheless determined to keep the child...
Pacientka dr. Hegla
1940
7.7Five crime stories connected by the narration of police superintendent Bartosek.
Capek's Tales
1947
7.2A very hardworking but also very naive insurance company clerk, Valentin Plavec, becomes the target of endless pranks, jokes and recessions from his colleagues Bejšovec and Voborník. However, their last successful trick somewhat gets out of hand. They add a one to the winning number 8456 and convince Valentin that he has won a million in the lottery. However, since Valentin cannot collect his winnings immediately, he withdraws twenty thousand, which is all the savings he has saved together with his fiancée Helena, and starts shopping for a deposit. However, the truth soon comes out and when his colleagues reveal to him that it was just a joke, they all leave him, only the faithful Helena stays and even helps the unfortunate fiancé cancel all the deposits and agreed deals. When the newspaper reports that there has been a mistake and the winning ticket is number 18456, Valentin decides to take revenge on the two pranksters...
Valentin Dobrotivý
1942
No synopsis available yet.
Návrat presidenta dr. Edvarda Beneše do Prahy 16. května 1945
1945
5.8Folk song collector Dr. Šerk arrives in the remote village of Lesov. He is enchanted by the singing of sixteen-year-old Madla Satranová and he records her songs for radio broadcast. Šerk's friend, composer Jaroslav Klán, takes care of a group of orphans, from whom he has formed a choir. Šerk brings the orphaned Madla to him. The teenage girl begins to help the housewife Nána with the care of the children.
Madla zpívá Evropě
1940
6.6A highly romanticized autobiographical novel by a Czech 19th century writer, Bozena Nemcova. It's a classical, compulsory reading in Czech schools, about a wise, working-class woman, happier in her simplicity and good heart than the nobles whom she serves.
Grandmother
1940
6.2Tragicomic events in the idyllic town of Rukapán reveal both the prejudices of the local residents and their solidarity. The chronicle of the town of Rukapán captures the funny and tragic fates of its inhabitants at the end of the nineteenth century. Poacher Matěj saves the council of Zimmerheier in a buried mine, mayor Buzek is warned by an angel to stop drinking, and other events form a mosaic of the small town.
Městečko na dlani
1942
Mist on the Moors examines fates of just about a few people. Their stories are outlined in a short space of time and are a symbolic representation of the drama of life, struggle for justice, human cognizance and the healing power of love. One of the most important components of the film is the nature, which ceases to be a mere stage for its plot—it serves almost as an autonomous plot agent. The movie landscape is a precisely defined and localized one. Only the South Bohemian ponds can serve as the right environment for development of such earthy and typically human stories as we encounter in the Mist on the Moors.
Mist on the Moors
1944
No synopsis available yet.
Skalní plemeno
1944
6.0Young engineer Petr Pavelec works on a dam plan on the Loučnica River. He meets Irena, the daughter of an unscrupulous construction entrepreneur Berka, and falls in love with her. When Petr's project wins the tender, Berka and Irena take him on as a partner, and the company is awarded the contract to build the dam. Petr, in love, does not see how sloppy the construction is being carried out. He only sees it when a worker is killed on the construction site...
Velká přehrada
1942
7.2Josef Houbička, the owner of the U pěti veverek apartment building in Malostran, is a kind and forgiving good man who allows himself to be ruthlessly oppressed by his proud wife, Filoména, and secretly fixes her problems with the tenants. He lends rent money to two poor painters and bribes offended maids just to keep the house quiet. He would like to restore the old soap factory in the house, but Filoména promotes more profitable garages. And since neither of them wants to back down, Houbička eventually leaves the house after one of the arguments. He makes friends with the innkeeper Pulec, who runs the not-so-prosperous inn At the Leaky Jug...
The House of the Five Squirrels
1944
Shortly before the end of World War II, a small town is home to a portly miller who bears an uncanny resemblance to the tall Nazi leader. Of course, the two men will be confused, especially when the Czech patriot dresses up in an enemy uniform - he will cause confusion not only among the Germans, but also among the Czech collaborators.
Velký případ
1946
5.7An ambitious and selfish lawyer confesses to the murder of his first wife. Some of the scenes were filmed in the last weeks of the war.
The Avalanche
1946
1930s · 24 titles
8.0Military doctor Katz loses to his servant Josef Švejk at cards. Švejk steals a dog for his new superior, Lieutenant Lukáš. While walking his dog, Lukáš meets Colonel Kraus, who is displeased to discover that Lukáš is taking his dog with him. As punishment, he sends Lukáš to a marching company in Budějovice. Lukáš is accompanied by Švejk, who first insults a general who is travelling in civilian clothes in the same compartment. Then Švejk unexpectedly stops the train by pulling the emergency brake. For this act, he is brought to Tábor for questioning. Before the questioning is over, Švejk's train leaves and he has to walk to Budějovice...
The Last Bohemian
1932
A young farmer, Jan Aleš, is drafted from his native Pošumaví to join the army. Since he likes his new environment, he stays with the army as a long-term serviceman. He even successfully passes the exams for the military academy. There he becomes friends with his Slovak colleague Milan Jurčík. He studies diligently, but thanks to Milan he sometimes finds time to go out into the city. That is how he meets the factory owner's daughter, Zdenka, with whom he falls in love. However, her father is not very happy about the promising relationship.
Neporažená armáda
1938
8.5No synopsis available yet.
Pozdní láska
1935
7.4Curious citizens await the arrival of an important guest, the son of poacher, who became famous abroad. Begins celebration in his honor, but nobody knows that instead of the hero arrived cursory prisoner number 1313. He quickly understand how things are and decides to take the opportunity and very quickly gets into a new role.
Here in Kocourkov
1934
7.2One of the few European films of the 30s to criticize the Nazis, even if they couldn't be directly named due to censorship: Gangsters with gray hats stir up trouble in what is obviously the Sudetenland.
The World Belongs to Us
1937
8.0Dvořák's well-known composition reappears again and again in the serious moments of the lives of the father and son Hupeks - talented non-professional musicians for whom music gives them the opportunity to rise above difficulties and problems...
Humoreska
1939
6.8A Milk-Cannery baron, Jakub Simonides, is broken by the Canned Milk-Trust and, in his wanderings with a worker, Filip Kornet, he discovers he still owns a half-finished apartment-house. They rally the workers and complete the building for use as a collectivist dairy. The cooperative flourishes and after a chase/pursuit with the police, pratfalls, slapstick and various crashes, the workers buy out the Milk-Trust.
Heave-Ho!
1934
6.7Film about famous poet Karel Hynek Mácha
Karel Hynek Mácha
1937
6.9In a country whose people have just been successfully persuaded of their superiority and the justification for military expansion by the fiery speeches of a dictator, the bacillus of a highly destructive form of leprosy has spread. It is called morbus Tshengi, or popularly „white disease“. The only one who has developed an effective cure for it is a physician of the poor named Galén. But he refuses to reveal the secret of his cure as long as the powerful destroy human lives through wars.
The White Disease
1937
8.2Seventh form pupils at a grammar school in Přívlaky are preparing for a secondary school sports competition. Class creep Krhounek gives the class teacher Lejsal a copy of the seventh form’s magazine Roar. Most of the teachers insist on severe punishing the culprit. The author does not own up and consequently the whole class is punished by being banned from taking part in the schools competition. The most gifted pupil, Benetka, rather sharply criticises the school in a homework essay on a subject of his choice. The strict Czech language teacher is convinced Benetka is the author of the school magazine. Benetka denies the charge but his expulsion from school is proposed anyway on account the views he expounded in his essay. Eventually, Boukal, the author of the school magazine comes forward and admits to writing it. The pupils are allowed to take part in the contest and thanks to Benetka they win. In the meantime however the teachers vote to expell him.
School Is the Foundation of Life
1938
7.6Small stories from a grammar school.
Journey Into the Depth of the Student's Soul
1939
7.0A student rebellion precedes revolutionary events in Prague.
History of Philosophy
1937
10.0Orphan Petr lives with his dog Puntja with his aunt. His uncle Gustav wants to get rid of Peter and puts him in an orphanage. Peter escapes from there and looks for his Punt. He finds him with the cool Tobias, but he doesn't want to give him back to Peter. Only when he sees how much the boy and the dog love each other does he let them both stay with him...
Passage in the Paradise
1936
5.8The doomed love of a city girl caught in the vise of poverty is detailed in Vavra’s fluid, romantic work, one of the most elegant creations of the Czech Modernist era... The film lingers over its characters’ habitats and haunts, finding psychological truths in what each owns or desires, and countering every Hollywood-ready scene of gleaming restaurants and dazzling penthouses with realist moments of employment lines and crammed flats. Vavra’s classical camerawork and aura of romantic defeatism give Virginity a force comparable to the master of this genre, Hollywood’s Frank Borzage. (BAM/PFA)
Virginity
1937
7.5A young village shopkeeper, Ferda Zuska, wants to jump in front of a train because his girlfriend has married someone else. At the last moment, he is saved by the railway guard Douša and his wife Anna. Ferda soon forgets his sadness and starts courting Anna. The unsuspecting Douša is the laughing stock of the whole village. Moreover, during Ferda's rescue, he slipped on the embankment, injured himself, and has had difficulty hearing since then. One day, he even discovers with horror that he has gone completely deaf and that he must therefore leave his job...
Hlídač č. 47
1937
6.7When Vilem appears in the road with an unconscious young woman, it disturbs the peaceful life of three generations of the Balvínova family.
The Magic House
1939
No synopsis available yet.
Láska a lidé
1937
9.0Attorney František Uher is known for his patriotic mindset and active assistance in disputes between the Czechs and the Austrian justice system. One of his clients is the poet Šulc, who, while staying with Uhry, discovers that the lawyer's wife Anna is flirting with Uhry's cousin Hojer. When Anna does not respond to Šulc's warning, the poet draws attention to Anna's relationship with Uhra. Uher wants to know the truth, so he returns early from a business trip and actually catches Anna cheating. Disappointment brings him to the "Batalion" pub in Old Prague, where Šulc also used to go some time ago. Here, Uher becomes a mentor to the poorest, but gradually falls into alcoholism. He once again finds strength and stands on the side of justice when he accuses the police in court of murdering poor Lojzík, who wanted to marry the unfortunate waitress from "Battalion" Mimi. After appearing in court, Uher is arrested and "Battalion" is closed. After his release, Uher becomes an organist...
Battalion
1937
7.5A czech film that focuses on an unfaithful husband who married in to money, as well as an impoverished man who is turns to theft.
Your Money or Your Life
1932
6.6A morally questionable lord comes to the aid of a working class man who is to be executed for speaking out about thieving rich scoundrels sticking it to the poor.
The Merry Wives
1938
While in Bohemia, an American industrialist named Craigs goes missing. In Prague, the police have arrested a man without identification, who bears a striking resemblance to Craigs. The doctor, the secretary, and the hotel staff all claim that he is the industrialist. The man denies this claim. When he learns how harsh and despotic the man he is believed to be is, he agrees to go to London and adopts his new identity.
Man from the Unknown
1939
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Vzdušné torpédo 48
1937
No synopsis available yet.
Pan otec Karafiát
1935
No synopsis available yet.
Hudba srdcí
1934
