Murder in the Excelsior Hotel

Shanghai Express

February 1932 •English

A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.

Zvláštní případ

December 1971 •Czech

Lieutenant Vasátko is spending Christmas vacation in a mountain cabin where a diverse group of people have gathered. The painter Horác and two married couples, the director Skorkovský and his wife and his new discovery, the not very clever Jájinka and her husband. There is a murder and an unusual denouement.

Rashomon

August 1950 •Japanese

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Guys and Dolls

December 1955 •English

Gambler Nathan Detroit has few options for the location of his big craps game. Needing $1,000 to pay a garage owner to host the game, Nathan bets Sky Masterson that Sky cannot get virtuous Sarah Brown out on a date. Despite some resistance, Sky negotiates a date with her in exchange for bringing people into her mission. Meanwhile, Nathan's longtime fiancée, Adelaide, wants him to go legit and marry her.

Jindabyne

July 2006 •English

Outside the Australian town of Jindabyne, local man Stuart Kane is on a fishing trip with friends when they discover the body of a murdered girl.

Básník

September 1987 •Czech

Případy pana Janíka

September 1991 •Czech

Gun Crazy

January 1950 •English

Bart Tare is an ex-Army man who has a lifelong fixation with guns, he meets a kindred spirit in sharpshooter Annie Starr and goes to work at a carnival. After upsetting the carnival owner who lusts after Starr, they both get fired. Soon, on Starr's behest, they embark on a crime spree for cash.

Cohen and Tate

January 1989 •English

A boy kidnapped by two mismatched hitmen puts them at each other's throats while being driven to their employers, possibly to be killed. Cohen, an older professional becomes increasingly irritated with his partner Tate, a brutish killer, when their prisoner uses unnatural guile and resourcefulness to play them off against each other.

Burglar and Umbrella

April 1971 •Czech

In the morning twilight of Prague, the dead body of the safe-breaker Toufar is found floating on the river Vltava with a knife in his back. Police inspectors visit Toufar's lover, the prostitute Anna Kulatá (Jirina Bohdalová), nicknamed Umbrella, and it is apparent that the moment before she opened the door of her flat, someone fled through the window. Umbrella is summoned for examination to the head of the criminal police - Police Councilman Vacátko Jaroslav Marvan, but although shocked by the photograph of the dead man, she does not confess to anything. Before Toufar, Umbrella lived with the safe-breaker Penicka (Radoslav Brzobohatý), who loved her very much and made her quit her street trade. But when he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, Umbrella began to live with the brute Toufar, who chased her to street again. In the case of the murder, Penicka is therefore the prime suspect.

The Matches of a Beautiful Dragoon

August 1971 •Czech

In a suburban villa, a woman of means is murdered. Police Superintendent Zdychynec from the Prague Liben neighborhood reports the case to Police Councilman Vacátko, upon whose order an investigation is launched immediately. Zdychynec begins to suspect the wooer of his own daughter, a handsome dragoon named Rudi, of the crime. In Rudi's absence, Zdychynec searches his rented room in the apartment of the elegant Mrs Dragicová. All his findings - among others, sand left on Rudi's jackboots and a decent amount of money in his bedside table - convince the superintendent that he is following the right lead, especially when Rudi refuses to say where he was at the time of the murder.

The Death of Black King

March 1972 •Czech

Prague in the 1930s. A young, pretty girl gets on a crowded tram. She immediately catches the attention of a young man who not only appreciates the girl's charm, but also tries to steal her handbag discreetly. And so we meet one of the main characters of the film, a swindler, pickpocket and generally strange being Josef Kořínek alias Pépi. In addition to him, the story is populated by other characters from the Prague outskirts. Of course, the film also features the shrewd councilman Vacátko and his inseparable investigators Brůžek and Bouše. They have a sad duty - to track down the murderer of the collector Krále, who was found dead and who lost a sum of money on the way from the bank that could interest many people from his surroundings...

Mute

February 2012 •English

Monette, a middle-aged salesman, picks up a deaf/mute hitchhiker on the road. The hitchhiker falls asleep and Monette vents his problems knowing they fall on deaf ears. He rants about his wife’s infidelity and her embezzlement from her employer. Monette thinks nothing of this encounter until two days later his wife and her lover are found murdered.

Umney's Last Case

April 2006 •English

It’s just another ordinary day in 1930s Los Angeles for private investigator Clyde Umney, until a new client walks into his office. Umney soon learns that his client is the crime-fiction writer who not only created him, but now needs to switch places with him.

Borderline

March 2011 •French

An attorney stumbles upon a suitcase filled with cocaine.

Jak chutná smrt

November 1995 •Czech

A young promising Olympian, Robert, shoots two police officers in a fit of rage. Lieutenant Morton sets out on his trail with a single goal in mind: to catch the killer.

Duch soudce Pauknera

July 1983 •Czech

Der entwendete Brief

October 1988 •German

A letter is stolen from Her Majesty's chambers. The perpetrator is already known, but an official prosecution is impossible as the stolen material could be extremely compromising once it has been made public. A house search by the Paris police is unsuccessful. Master detective C. Auguste Dupin is assigned the task of using his ingenuity to recover the letters by other means.

Slečny přijdou později

May 1966 •Czech

This forgotten detective story starring Svatopluk Beneš focuses on those ills of the past regime that were allowed to be glossed over - mainly the theft of socialist-owned property and illegal business. Criminals here come across illegal machinations in the hospitality industry, foreign guests are even offered sexual services... But the youth-friendly story unfolds lazily, unimaginatively, emphasizing an excess of dully delivered dialogue that replaces action and suspense.

Six Black Girls

October 1969 •Czech

Detective Lieutenant Boruvka (Lubomír Lipský) is called to the State Scientific Library to investigate the loss of a precious manuscript, the Infernal Psalter of the Occult Sciences by Master Peregrinus from the eleventh century, written in a secret script which has only recently been deciphered by senior lecturer Zajíc (Josef Chvalina). Chaos is reigning in the labyrinth of passages and halls of the former monastery where the library is housed. In order to save space the director of the library has introduced a peculiar system. The books are arranged in the bookcases according to height and six girls dressed in black, the library assistants, are quite happy to cut volumes down to size in case of need. Boruvka refuses the case, since he is specialist in murders. He has to return to the investigation, however, when senior lecturer Zajíc disappears.