The Golem, or the Communist ‘What You Will’

Abstract

Two days before the Epiphany in 1952, a nationalized Czechoslovak film industry released its most expensive product so far, a historical comedy in two parts, Císařův pekař a Pekařův ćisǎr/The Emperor’s Baker and the Golem.¹ In the grim times of the Cold War, which were marked by compulsory manifestations of revolutionary élan, political show trials and a deepening economic crisis followed by the collapse of the currency in 1953, audiences enthusiastically welcomed this film, starring one of the most popular Czech comedians and a leading avant-garde artist, Jan Werich (1905–80).² Many spectators still remembered a play on which the communist blockbuster was based, the extravaganza, Golem, which was produced at the Osvobozené divadlo (Liberated Theatre) in Prague in November 1931 by Werich and his friends: Jiří Voskovec (1905–81), his fellow-actor and co-author; Jaroslav Jezek (1906–42), a leading Czech jazz composer; and Jindřich Honzl (1894–1953), a major Czech modernist theatre director.³ The impressive cast, which teemed with well-known actors and actresses of the pre-war period, and the film director, Martin Frič - the leading figure of pre-war Czechoslovak cinema - not only demonstrated the power of the regime but made forcefully apparent the dedication of Czech artists to the ideals of the communist revolution.⁴