Panenka

With regard to the fact that this is a studio television play, the result is more than good. Ed McBain guarantees high quality, so the script that came out of his original idea is worth it. Compared to the average detective genre at the time, represented by a long series of stereotypically filmed television movies about detectives watching over people in socialist Czechoslovakia, it is a true masterpiece. The production has a quality cast, in addition to the traditionally good Josef Abrhám, there is an interestingly cast Jana Šulcová, who played a sadistic psychopath. It is probably the only purely negative role that I remember her in. Also very good - and not surprisingly - is Miloš Kopecký as one of the detectives. Svatopluk Skopal played a labile, erring member of the police team who causes a serious problem for his colleague. And in a small role, Naďa Konvalinková appears as a coquettish nymphomaniac. The play stands up to comparison with today's productions from Kavčí hory, and in many ways surpasses them. Overall impression: 75%. (2009-05-26)