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Limonádovy Joe aneb Konská Opera
Lemonade Joe or The Horse Opera
Czechoslovakia 1964
produced by
Jaroslav Jílovec for Filmové Studio Barrandov
directed by Oldrich Lipský
starring Karel Fiala, Milos Kopecká, Kveta Fialová, Olga Schoberová, Rudolf Deyl, Karel Effa, Waldemar Matuska, Josef Hlinomaz, Bohus Záhorský, Jirí Steimar, Oldrich Lukes, Alois Dvorský , Vlastimil Bedrna, Ludomír Bryg, Rudolf Cortés, Eman Fiala, Ladislav Gzela, Viktor Ocásek, Vladimír Mensík, Jirí Lír, Stanislav Litera, Jaroslav Mares, Stanislaw Navratil, Milos Nedbal, Jan Pohan, Ruda Princ, Jaroslav Stercl, Andonin Sura, Milos Vavruska, Stella Zázvorkova
written by Jirí Brdecka, Oldrich Lipský, music by Vlastimil Hála, Jan Rychlík
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Local badman Doug Badman (Rudolf Deyl) runs the only saloon in Stetson
City, and thanks to him, everyone in town is drunk as a skunk, everyone
but Winnefred Goodman (Olga Schoberová) and her dad (Bohus Záhorský),
who try to keep the townsfolks away from alcohol but earn nothing but
ridicule ... until Lemonade Joe (Karel Fiala) hits the town, a gunman who
drinks nothing but Kolaloka (a popular lemonade in Czechoslovakia at the
time), saves abstinent Winnefred and dad from those who tease her, and
thanks to his expert marksmanship persuades the whole town to go to
Winnefred's lemonade bar next door - and before he leaves town again he
wins the hearts of both Winnefred and saloon singer Tornado Lou (Kveta
Fialová) ...
Eventually though, Doug Badman's brother, the wanted criminal Hogo Fogo
(Milos Kopecký) hits town, and he agrees to help his brother to get the
saloon going again ... and shoots the local Sheriff (Oldrich Lukes) just
to prove everyone how good alcohol can be for you. So it's back to the
saloon for everybody.
Eventually, Joe - who turns out to be not a lone lawman but a lone
lemonade salesman working for, you guessed it, Kolaloka - returns to
Stetson City, and he soon goes one on one with Hogo Fogo ... and is
defeated when Hogo Fogo realizes Joe is allergic to alcohol ... and only
Tornado Lou's admiration for him can save Joe from certain death. Then
though, Joe spurns Lou's avances, and suddenly she wants him dead too.
Eventually, the baddies use Winnefred as bait and alcohol as trap to
capture Joe, and once they have him in their clutches they torture and
humiliate him ... until Lou has another change of hearts and sets Joe and
Winnefred free again.
It's time for the final showdown between Joe and Hogo Fogo - and
because Hogo Fogo knows and uses every dirty trick in the book, he defeats
Joe and pumps him full of lead, quite obviously killing him.
Then Hogo Fogo, Doug Badman and Lou want to have their way with
Winnefred, but have a fall-out and all kill each other. With his dieing
breath, Hogo Fogo wants to kill Winnefred too ... but in the last moment
is shot by ... Joe, because Kolaloka is so healthy it cures everything,
even death.
When Joe examines the bodies of Hogo Fogo, Doug and Lou though he
realizes they all have the same birthmark as he has and are thus his long
lost siblings - so he revives them all with Kolaloka, then by mere chance
Joe's daddy Mr Kolalok (Jirí Steimair) - yup, the boss of Kolaloka -
arrives and welcomes all of his newfound children to join him in the
Kolaloka company ... and because the world needs good as well as bad
people, Whisloka is created, the first alcoholic Kolaloka ...
Lemonade Joe is nothing as much as a loving hommage to the
American B-Western from the 1930's and 40's, from costumes and sets to
actors, songs and plottwists, and it's even filmed in monochrome but with
several scenes tinted to fit the mood. In all, the film is just as naive
as the films it's an hommage to, but still it shows a satirical edge that
makes the film hilarious even nowadays. Sure, at times the film is rather
childish, but taken as a whole it's lots of fun , and especially for
B-Western fans it's not to be missed.
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