The first Czech crazy Hollywood comedy was written by a 16-year-old high school student

Although it was created during the Protectorate, this film was already a huge success even then. And it still has viewers. In 1998, the readers of Týdeník televize declared it the best comedy of the 1930s, users gave it 85% on ČSFD, and it has a very positive response on YouTube, where you can see previews and even the entire film for the last three months. That it is a timeless matter is also proven by the fact that a production based on the film was created in 2008 at the Municipal Theater of Zlín, and six years later the play of the same name was also performed at the Na Fidlovičce Theater in Prague.

The first in Czech “crazy” a comedy called Eva is talking nonsense was filmed by director Martin Frič in 1939, and this November it will be 85 years since its premiere. The titular role of the crazy Eva Norová was played by Nataša Gollová, and Michal Nor, her brother – a prankster, was played by Oldřich Nový, who was extremely popular at the time. Gollová’s comedic talent was fully demonstrated in this film and brought her great popularity. Together with Novy, she then starred in several other protectorate films, where both of them also applied their talents for comedy acting (e.g. Blue Star Hotel or A cute person).

The successful crazy comedy was preceded by several previous attempts at this genre, for example Love is forbidden from 1938. It was only after the guidance of Martin Frič, who was a perfect connoisseur of American crazy comedies, that a work was created that reached the Hollywood parameters of the time, despite the fact that it was allegedly filmed in just a fortnight, mostly in film studios. At that time, filmmakers even transported cut flowers and trees there, which they replaced after they withered.

The plot mainly takes place in the house of Eva and Michal’s aunt Pa (Zdeňka Baldová), who is about to celebrate her 60th birthday, which is also the reason for Eva and Michal’s presence. Spontaneous Eva wants to surprise her aunt by getting instructions for growing the so-called Zahora rose, which will be grown by a factory owner of the same name who lives in the neighborhood. That’s why she sneaks into the neighbor’s house as a secretary. In the confusion that follows, Eva falls in love and at the same time prepares several complications for her brother Michal, who has been peeping into the neighbor’s daughter Eliška. Scenes full of gags progress in moments when, in addition to the fake secretary, other people pretending to be someone else, such as a fake count or secretary, appear on the scene.

The main role of Eva was originally supposed to be played by Adina Mandlová, but she left it to her friend Nataša Gollová, because she found in her a much more prominent comedic talent than in herself. Frič was said to be furious at the time, but Mandlová was not wrong. In the fast-paced crazy comedy, Gollová stood at number one, and the same applies to Nové. It’s hard to imagine anyone else in the title roles. Goll’s crazy comedy Eva tropes stupidity brought enormous popularity and launched her acting career, even though it happened during the protectorate. Charming, cute and extremely temperamental and crazy. Such was this movie star in most of the following roles.

Few people know that the script for the most successful Czech crazy comedy was written by sixteen-year-old grammar school student Věra Němotová, who later chose the pseudonym Fan Vavřincová. “Originally, my heroine, who was played by Nataša Gollová in the film, was not named Eva, but Patsy. The novel was published as a sequel in the magazine Ahoj and had such a response at the time that it did not escape the attention of director Martin Frič. He filmed it, which of course pleased me, especially since the movie was so successful and when such stars played in it. But I could hardly have guessed at the time that it would be one of the most popular film comedies,” Fan Vavřincová told years later. Two years later, her text was also published as a book, and after the successful filming, the author of the theme reworked it several more times. By the way, the original book edition has become a sought-after collector’s item today. It occasionally pops up in secondhand bookshops or other online used book stores, but it tends to sell out in no time. This is proof of the extraordinary popularity of both the book and the film.

Fan Vavřincová started writing her first short stories at around the age of fourteen, and from the age of sixteen they began to appear in several magazines. However, she did not dare to go to editorial offices and offer her work for publication. However, her talent was noticed by her husband Václav Němota, whom she married even before graduation. Among the most successful works were two humorous novels with titles Sweet girl and Better to be foolish. They were also supposed to be filmed, but in the end it didn’t happen for unknown reasons.

When you have a novel Patsy is talking nonsense Martin Frič noticed in Ahoj magazine, he did not believe that its author was really such a young girl. “He asked her if she could write a short story on any subject. When she said yes, he gave her the “ring in the curtain” theme and went out with daddy. When they came back, mom had finished the story,” her daughter Ivanka Kousalová said some time ago. The script for the comedy was finally written by the author of the draft together with Vladimír Peroutka, who was editing the magazine at the time Hello. Vavřincová continued to work with Frič. For example, she participated in the script of the film Blue Star Hotelbut was never mentioned in the credits.

After 1948, Vavřincová could not because “of bad origin” to publish and worked as a clerk and accountant in Nové Knín until the end of the 1960s. It was not until 1968 that her contributions began to appear again in magazines The world in pictures, Porcupine or in a diary Free speech. Shortly after that, she scored another first, as she is the author of the first Czech sitcom. His name was Such a normal family, it was directed by Jaroslav Dudek and enjoyed unprecedented success on television since its first broadcast in 1971 and 1972. The comedic short story for one evening, which dealt with a four-generation family, was such a success that the author finished seven more parts. The series was star-studded (e.g. Dana Medřická, Marie Rosůlková, Dana Kolářová, Jaromír Hanzlík and others played in it) and it all took place in the living room. Oldřich Nový also appeared in one of the episodes as the accountant Jan Koníček. Although at that time he was no longer filming due to health reasons, he made an exception because of the author of the script and acted in one of the parts. It was his penultimate role before the television screens, the very last one being the Bachelor short story The Traveler from 1974.

Thus, the first Czechoslovak sitcom was created without its authors having ever seen any American sitcom that would have inspired them to create such a work. But the series ended definitively with the eighth episode, despite the fact that viewers at the time wrote letters to Czechoslovak Television with a fervent wish for it to continue.

But official criticism dropped the popular series. For example, in the magazine Tvorba, the author expressed regret at the time “useless work by talented actors”because he didn’t have a series “a contribution neither to contemporary television hilarity nor social parody, let alone quality entertainment.” After pressure to adapt the plot to a political line, which was to be manifested, for example, by the fact that the twin boys invited in the series “robbers” are to become pioneers, and father Petr, played by Eduard Cupák, is to go to work in Cuba, which was among the friendly communist countries.

Writer Fan Vavřincová, who in 2012 left an indelible mark in Czech cinema with her two firsts. Her sense of humor and the timelessness of her works means that her crazy comedy has not aged even after 85 years, and the same is true of the first Czech sitcom, which came into the world at the beginning of normalization.

https://www.csfd.cz/tvurce/59186-fan-vavrincova/biografie/

https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Vav%C5%99incov%C3%A1

https://www.csfd.cz/film/3103-eva-tropi-hlouposti/prehled/

https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takov%C3%A1_norm%C3%A1ln%C3%AD_rodinka

https://vlasta.kafe.cz/clanky/zabava/4212-ivanka-kousalova-moje-maminka-fan-vavrincova/#

https://www.novinky.cz/clanek/vase-zpravy-hrdinka-nestarnouci-filmove-komedie-eva-tropi-hlouposti-se-puvodne-jmenovala-patsy-279403