''Dinner for Adele'' ( cs, Adéla ještě nevečeřela) is a 1977 Czech parody comedy film directed by

Oldřich Lipský Oldřich Lipský (4 July 1924 – 19 October 1986) was a Czechs, Czech film director and screenwriter, brother of actor Lubomír Lipský. All his films were comedies, frequently employing themes of Dadaism, farce and magical realism. He was a fr ...

. Alternative titles were ''Adele Hasn't Had Her Dinner Yet'', ''Nick Carter in Prague'' and ''Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet''.

Production

The main character is a parody of the detective Nick Carter from American

dime novels The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...

. Most exterior scenes were shot around

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, including Prague main railway station, Hotel Paris,

Hradčany Hradčany (; german: Hradschin), the Castle District, is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history ...

Letná Park Letná Park (in Czech ''Letenské sady'') is a large park on Letná hill, built on a plateau above steep embankments along the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic. Letná's elevation and location afford commanding views of the Prague Old Tow ...

and

Konopiště Konopiště Castle (; german: Schloss Konopischt) is a four-winged, three-storey castle located in Konopiště, now a part of the town of Benešov in Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It has become famous as the last residence of Archduke F ...

. The carnivorous plant and animated sequences were created by Czech surrealist artist

Jan Švankmajer Jan Švankmajer (; born 4 September 1934) is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his stop-motion animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Ter ...

Plot

It is the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Countess Thun asked the famous New York detective Nick Carter to travel to Prague, for assistance to solve the strange case of a missing dog. Carter is assisted by Prague police commissar Ledvina. Mysterious murder cases happen during the investigations, done by the malicious botanist Baron von Kratzmar and his carnivorous plant Adela. Von Kratzmar kidnapped his victims, bound them and whenever he played a gramophone with the melody "

Schlafe, mein Prinzchen "Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, schlaf ein" ("Sleep, my little prince, fall asleep") is perhaps the most famous '' Wiegenlied'' (German for 'lullaby'), dating from the 18th century. History The words are by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter. For many years, the c ...

" (a

lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowledg ...

by Bernhard Flies but previously associated with

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

) it is the time for Adela to awaken and eat her victims for dinner. Baron von Kratzmar considered himself a misjudged genius and wanted to take revenge on one of his former professors. He called himself "the Gardener" a notorious criminal, who Nick Carter thought had died in the swamps years ago. With the help of bizarre inventions, Ledvina and Carter succeed in catching von Kratzmar and delivering him to the legal authorities.

Cast

Michal Dočolomanský Michal Dočolomanský (25 March 1942 in Niedzica – 26 August 2008 in Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is abo ...

as Nick Carter *

Rudolf Hrušínský Rudolf Hrušínský (17 October 1920 – 13 April 1994) was a Czech actor. He was one of the most popular Czech actors. Many of his movies such as ''The Good Soldier Švejk'', ''The Cremator'' or '' Capricious Summer'' are considered classics of ...

as Commissar Josef Ledvina *

Miloš Kopecký Miloš Kopecký (22 August 1922 in Prague – 16 February 1996 in Prague) was a Czech actor, active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. Biography He was born into the family of a furrier; his mother was a hatter. From childhoo ...

as Baron Ruppert von Kratzmar * Ladislav Pešek as Biology professor Albín Boček * Naďa Konvalinková as Květuška, Boček's granddaughter *

Václav Lohniský Václav Lohniský (5 November 1920 – 18 February 1980) was a Czech film actor. He appeared in 120 films and television shows between 1950 and 1980. Selected filmography * '' Případ dr. Kováře'' (1950) * ''September Nights'' (1957) * ...

as Kratzmar's butler * Květa Fialová as Countess Thun * Olga Schoberová as Karin *

Martin Růžek Martin Růžek, born Erhard Martin (23 September 1918 – 18 December 1995) was a Czech actor. He starred in the film '' Poslední propadne peklu'' under director Ludvík Ráža in 1982. Personal life Růžek was born on 23 September 1918 in ...

as Police director Franz von Kaunitz *

Karel Effa Karel Effa (born Karel Effenberger; 23 May 1922 – 11 June 1993) was a Czechoslovak character actor who appeared in some 65 films. Selected filmography * ''Uloupená hranice'' (1947) - Závodcí * ''Poslední mohykán'' (1947) * ''Parohy'' ...

as Criminal * František Němec as Nick Carter (voice) * Libuše Švormová as Karin (voice) * Gene Deitch as Larry Matejka (voice)

Reception

The film was positively received by both domestic and foreign critics.

Sheila Benson Sheila Benson (December 4, 1930February 23, 2022) was an American journalist and film critic. She served as film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1981 to 1991. Early life and education Benson was born in New York City on December 4, 193 ...

wrote in

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

: "This spoof on detective Nick Carter is crammed with invention, wit of the highest order, exquisite tongue-in-cheek performances and all the art noveau wonders in Prague." '' Seattle Times'' favorably compared Lipský to

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

Awards and nominations

*1980: Saturn Award for Best Foreign Film *1980: Saturn Award Nomination for Best Fantasy Film The film was also selected as the Czechoslovak entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

References

External links

Pictures from the film
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinner For Adele 1977 films Czechoslovak comedy films Czech comedy films 1970s Czech-language films Films about plants Films directed by Oldřich Lipský 1970s black comedy films 1970s parody films Films set in the 1900s Films set in Prague Nick Carter (literary character) Jan Švankmajer 1970s police comedy films Films with screenplays by Jiří Brdečka 1977 comedy films Czech parody films