Ninety Degrees in the Shade

Ninety Degrees in the Shade
Ninety Degrees in the Shade
	Film poster
Directed by	Jiří Weiss
Written by	Jiří Weiss; David Mercer; Jiří Mucha;
Produced by	Raymond Stross
Starring	James Booth; Anne Heywood;
Cinematography	Bedřich Baťka
Edited by	Jan Chaloupek; Russell Lloyd;
Music by	Luděk Hulan
Production; companies	Filmové studio Barrandov; Raymond Stross Productions;
Distributed by	Unger Films (US)
Release date	1 October 1965 (Czechoslovakia);
Running time	78 minutes (Czech cut); 90 minutes (English cut);
Countries	United Kingdom; Czech Republic;
Languages	English; Czech;

Ninety Degrees in the Shade (Czech: Třicet jedna ve stínu) is a 1965 British-Czech drama film directed by Jiří Weiss.^[1]^[2] It was written by Weiss, David Mercer and Jiří Mucha.

Plot

It's very hot, putting a strain on everyone. A beautiful woman works in a shop in Czechoslovakia during the Communist era. She is in the late, disillusioned stages of an affair with a married man. Two government inspectors arrive to carry out an audit. The shop sells expensive alcoholic drinks. One inspector is relaxed, an old hand, but the other is a newcomer and meticulous. The heroine's boyfriend has stolen some bottles with her compliance. She manages to hide this from the meticulous inspector during the first day of the inspection. That night she and her boyfriend raise money and buy bottles to replace those he stole. That night also, we see the unhappy home life of the meticulous inspector – his alcoholic wife and lazy son. We are led to wonder if he has feelings for the heroine (the shop worker). On the second day of the inspection, the relaxed inspector of the pair drops a bottle and it breaks, leading to the discovery that almost all the bottles have had their contents stolen and are filled with tea. The film ends with an ambiguous act by the heroine, her motives unclear.

Cast

James Booth as Milan Vorel
Anne Heywood as Alena Burdová
Rudolf Hrušínský as JUDr. Rudolf Kurka
Ann Todd as Mrs. Kurková
Donald Wolfit as Bažant
Ladislav Potměšil as Jirka Kurka
Jiřina Jirásková as Věra
Vladimír Menšík as Emil, Věra's husband
Jiří Sovák as Director
Věra Tichánková as Marie Vávrová
Otakar Brousek as Milan Vorel (Czech voice)
Alena Kreuzmannová as Alena Burdová (Czech voice)
Zdenka Procházková as Mrs. Kurková (Czech voice)
Čestmír Řanda as Bažant (Czech voice)

Reception

Variety wrote that the film: "has has quality, mainly because of the shrewd and observant direction by Jiri Weiss, who is probably the most internationally known and respected of all Czech directors. It is largely thanks to this thoughtful direction that the film does not wind up as a trite, cliche-ridden piece of celluloid, but as a meaningful drama, in which emotion plays a larger role than reason in the life of a young and attractive woman. In less competent hands, this might well have been just a novelettish yarn, though some recognition is also due to David Mercer's sensitive seript."^[3]

Awards and nominations

Berlin International Film Festival: Won, "UNICRIT Award" – Jiří Weiss.^{[citation needed]}

Golden Globe Award: Nominated, "Best English-Language Foreign Film".^[4]

References

^ "Ninety Degrees in the Shade". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
^ BFI.org
^ "Ninety Degrees in the Shade". Variety. Vol. 239, no. 7. 7 July 1965. p. 6 – via ProQuest.
^ "Ninety Degrees in the Shade". Golden Globes. Retrieved 13 January 2025.

External links

[BFIsearch-1] "Ninety Degrees in the Shade". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 January 2025.

[2] BFI.org

[3] "Ninety Degrees in the Shade". Variety. Vol. 239, no. 7. 7 July 1965. p. 6 – via ProQuest.

[4] "Ninety Degrees in the Shade". Golden Globes. Retrieved 13 January 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]