Josef Mach

Directing

Josef Mach

Born 1909-02-25 · Prostejov, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]

Josef Mach (25 February 1909, in Prostějov – 7 July 1987, in Prague) was a Czech actor, screenwriter and film director. Josef Mach worked as a journalist and stage performer at the beginning of his career, then in 1938 was appointed assistant director of short films at Grafo Film Studio working with director Václav Kubásek. From 1946 Mach directed many feature films for Barrandov Studios in Prague. He is best known for The Sons of Great Bear, a 1966 Red Western film that he directed for the East German DEFA film studio.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Homeland poster
7.4

The first Slovakian colour film. A celebration of traditional Slovakian folklore and creativity expressed through a story of young love .

Homeland

1954

Homeland poster
7.4

The first Slovakian colour film. A celebration of traditional Slovakian folklore and creativity expressed through a story of young love .

Homeland

1954

Městečko na dlani poster
6.3

Tragicomic 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

Okénko do nebe poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Okénko do nebe

1940

A Killer on the Tracks poster
5.8

An escort composed of three people transports a huge amount of new one-hundred crown banknotes in a special railway car. At the 196th kilometer, a village girl is waiting at the railway crossing and spots two men removing some packages from the track. The scene is immediately followed by the report of a gun and the unwanted witness is shot dead. Soon afterwards, on the 201st kilometer, the train explodes. Only one of the escorts Lenk (Radoslav Brzobohatý) survives the explosion, taken to hospital with serious injuries. Criminologist Major Kalas (Jirí Sovák) and the very young Second Lieutenant Karlícek (Jaromír Hanzlík) patiently gather facts, leads and testimonies.

A Killer on the Tracks

1970

A Killer on the Tracks poster
5.8

An escort composed of three people transports a huge amount of new one-hundred crown banknotes in a special railway car. At the 196th kilometer, a village girl is waiting at the railway crossing and spots two men removing some packages from the track. The scene is immediately followed by the report of a gun and the unwanted witness is shot dead. Soon afterwards, on the 201st kilometer, the train explodes. Only one of the escorts Lenk (Radoslav Brzobohatý) survives the explosion, taken to hospital with serious injuries. Criminologist Major Kalas (Jirí Sovák) and the very young Second Lieutenant Karlícek (Jaromír Hanzlík) patiently gather facts, leads and testimonies.

A Killer on the Tracks

1970

No artwork available
6.0

A war drama about the anti-Nazi resistance in the early spring of the last year of the war. German villains are furiously searching for their opponents, threatening the villagers who helped a downed pilot sent from England. But suspicions are also growing in the Czech environment, as someone has stooped to being an informer.

V horách duní

1946

No artwork available
6.0

A war drama about the anti-Nazi resistance in the early spring of the last year of the war. German villains are furiously searching for their opponents, threatening the villagers who helped a downed pilot sent from England. But suspicions are also growing in the Czech environment, as someone has stooped to being an informer.

V horách duní

1946

Paleta lásky poster
4.3

The years of Mánes' studies at art schools and on the period when the mature and distinctive artist was already promoting his concept of a new decoration of the Old Town Clock.

Paleta lásky

1976

Paleta lásky poster
4.3

The years of Mánes' studies at art schools and on the period when the mature and distinctive artist was already promoting his concept of a new decoration of the Old Town Clock.

Paleta lásky

1976

Ženy u benzinu poster
6.2

Milada Dvořáková is about to get married to her business partner Dub, a gas station owner. When she catches him hugging his secretary, she breaks up with him. She sets up a rival company, ŽUB (Women at Gas Stations), and employs only single women. Dub also gets into the competitive fight...

Ženy u benzinu

1939

Florián poster
7.0

A mobile chapel of St. Florian is moved every week between the villages of Zbořov and Spáňovice. The farmer Florian Jírovec, who has to provide his horses for this event, is tired of it and therefore supports the proposal to build a proper brick chapel in Zbořov. The saint himself visits him at night and is rewarded for his efforts with a miracle. He sends him a golden cord from the sky, which can regulate the weather...

Florián

1961

Florián poster
7.0

A mobile chapel of St. Florian is moved every week between the villages of Zbořov and Spáňovice. The farmer Florian Jírovec, who has to provide his horses for this event, is tired of it and therefore supports the proposal to build a proper brick chapel in Zbořov. The saint himself visits him at night and is rewarded for his efforts with a miracle. He sends him a golden cord from the sky, which can regulate the weather...

Florián

1961

Dceruška k pohledání poster
6.3

Czech-American professor Johny Novák takes over his father's inheritance. The estate reveals that Johny is the father of a girl who lives with her mother Helena Strnadová in Prague, where Johny had stayed eighteen years earlier. Johny's father did not approve of his love and so he withheld Helen's letters, but he sent money to Helen's aunt for the child. Johny intends to visit Helen and her daughter with his friend Jimmy Sládek and informs his aunt about it by telegraph...

Dceruška k pohledání

1940

Racek Is Late poster
7.0

Baker Jan Racek (Vladimír Repa) is a very hard-working and sensible man. His great passion is pigeon-keeping and also, for many years, Ruzenka (Ludmila Vostrcilová). They are going to get married but Racek is busy waiting for the pigeons' return and misses the wedding. The engaged couple is already getting a little older so the otherwise kind Ruzenka gets very angry at this and gives Racek an ultimatum - it's going to be her or the pigeons.

Racek Is Late

1950

The Sons of Great Bear poster
5.1

As American settlers encroach on the lands of the Lakota people, Tokei-ihto witnesses the murder of his father at the hands of Red Fox, who wanted information on where the tribe finds its gold. Two years later, at the height of the Great Sioux War, Tokei-ihto and Red Fox meet again.

The Sons of Great Bear

1966

Nobody Knows Anything poster
8.5

Martin Plechatý and Petr Nový roam occupied Prague with their trams. Times are hard and sometimes survival is not easy - especially when, in an attempt to help a threatened (and charming) neighbor, you get involved with an SS man, hit him on the head and kill him. At least that's how the two friends explained the situation to each other when their opponent collapsed to the ground. What to do with the body now? An endless anabasis begins, in which even a baby stroller comes into play...

Nobody Knows Anything

1947

Nobody Knows Anything poster
8.5

Martin Plechatý and Petr Nový roam occupied Prague with their trams. Times are hard and sometimes survival is not easy - especially when, in an attempt to help a threatened (and charming) neighbor, you get involved with an SS man, hit him on the head and kill him. At least that's how the two friends explained the situation to each other when their opponent collapsed to the ground. What to do with the body now? An endless anabasis begins, in which even a baby stroller comes into play...

Nobody Knows Anything

1947

Na dobré stopě poster
8.5

An adventure story for young people set in a summer camp for boaters in Juná. Eda, marked by a tragic experience of occupation, has difficulty getting along with the other boys. He only gains their trust and friendship when he helps to uncover German saboteurs.

Na dobré stopě

1949

Playing with the Devil poster
7.8

Two marriageable girls, Princess Disperanda and her maid Káča, sign a betrothal with their own blood in exchange for fairy-tale grooms. Although both devilish betrothals accidentally fall into the hands of the brave retired soldier Martin Kabát, the cunning devil Solfernus takes possession of them through cunning, and Martin has no choice but to go to the burning hell.

Playing with the Devil

1957

Playing with the Devil poster
7.8

Two marriageable girls, Princess Disperanda and her maid Káča, sign a betrothal with their own blood in exchange for fairy-tale grooms. Although both devilish betrothals accidentally fall into the hands of the brave retired soldier Martin Kabát, the cunning devil Solfernus takes possession of them through cunning, and Martin has no choice but to go to the burning hell.

Playing with the Devil

1957

Quiet American in Prague poster
8.0

In the era of normalization, even seemingly buried agent stories came back. This one takes place in the immediate post-war years and tells the story of the discovery of a spy network that an American diplomat was spinning on Czech territory. He was unsuccessful: first, a close associate, who was proven to have collaborated with the Nazis during the war, committed suicide, followed by the intervention of the vigilant Security Service. However, the fleeing Americans were joined "in return" by a Czechoslovak agent... This naive adventure story could hardly be taken seriously. The book, which served as the basis for the film, was written based on actual events that took place in 1948.

Quiet American in Prague

1978

Quiet American in Prague poster
8.0

In the era of normalization, even seemingly buried agent stories came back. This one takes place in the immediate post-war years and tells the story of the discovery of a spy network that an American diplomat was spinning on Czech territory. He was unsuccessful: first, a close associate, who was proven to have collaborated with the Nazis during the war, committed suicide, followed by the intervention of the vigilant Security Service. However, the fleeing Americans were joined "in return" by a Czechoslovak agent... This naive adventure story could hardly be taken seriously. The book, which served as the basis for the film, was written based on actual events that took place in 1948.

Quiet American in Prague

1978

Bitter Love poster
8.0

The elder son of the farmer Marunáč dies of a work accident. His wife and younger brother fall in love and try to break free from their despotic father.

Bitter Love

1958