How About a Plate of Spinach?

After their film about water sprites, How to Drown Dr. Mracek, the Lawyer, Václav Vorlíček and Miloš Macourek received an offer they could hardly refuse: at the request of the state film industry, they were asked to replace fairy-tale motifs with more contemporary themes. This, however, did not diminish the appeal of their next collaboration, How About a Plate of Spinach?.

The starting point for this crazy “spinach” comedy is the invention of a device designed to regenerate dairy cows. A certain Associate Professor Mlejnek and the owner of a beauty salon decide to steal the device and use it to rejuvenate wealthy foreign clients. To carry out their plan, they enlist the help of repeat offenders Zemánek and Liška. The problem is that the device still has minor flaws: eating spinach dramatically increases the effects of the radiation. As if that were not enough, the wealthy South American cattle breeder Doña Isabela also enters the scene, having come to Prague to see the invention for herself and to marry her fiancé. With great flair, the Vorlíček–Macourek duo develops a wildly convoluted plot full of mistakes and coincidences, gleefully exploring one of their favorite themes: botched transformations and scientific experiments gone wrong.

Petr Vlček

Václav Vorlíček (1930–2019) – film director and screenwriter renowned for his distinctive blend of fantasy, humor, and imaginative storytelling. His films are marked by inventive plots, playful confrontations between the real and the imaginary, and a deep fascination with magic, science fiction, and eccentric scientific experiments. He began his career at Barrandov Studios as an assistant set designer. He later studied directing at FAMU (1951–1956) and returned to Barrandov as an assistant director. In the early 1960s, he started directing independently, focusing mainly on children’s films and comedies. Many of his works went on to achieve cult status, and in the Czech Republic he is often affectionately referred to as the king of fairy tales and comedy.

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