Lemonade Joe
| Limonádový Joe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Oldřich Lipský |
| Produced by | Jaroslav Jílovec |
| Written by |
|
| Starring | |
| Music by |
|
| Distributed by | |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
99 minutes |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
Lemonade Joe, or the Horse Opera (Czech: Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera) is a 1964 Czechoslovak musical comedy film, directed by Oldřich Lipský and written by Jiří Brdečka, based on his novel and stage play.
A parody of the American Western, the film centers on a clean-living, soft-drink-selling gunfighter who takes on a town full of whiskey-drinking cowboys.
In the frontier town of Stetson City, Arizona, in 1885, business is booming at the Trigger Whisky Saloon. Tornado Lou, the local chanteuse, regales the saloon-goers with a sultry ballad ("Když v báru houstne dým"), while the saloon owner Doug Badman tries in vain to woo her. Two evangelists, Ezra Goodman and his daughter Winnifred, enter the bar attempting to drum up interest in their temperance movement, but the saloon's hard-drinking cowboys scorn them. Into the fracas steps a stranger: Lemonade Joe, a lone cowboy singing the praises of Kolaloka, a non-alcoholic soft drink (in Czech, limonáda, hence the name). His superior gunfighting skill quickly convinces the saloon-goers of the benefits of teetotalism. Before long, Joe and the Goodmans have joined forces, Joe has begun courting Winnifred, and all the cowboys in Stetson City have transferred their loyalty to the cathedral-like God Bless Kolaloka Saloon ("Arizóna, to je pravých mužů zóna").
Doug Badman's business is saved by the arrival of his brother Horace, alias "Hogofogo, the Master Criminal of the Wild West". In a dramatic public appearance, Hogofogo convinces the Kolaloka customers to go back to Trigger Whisky, and soon the old saloon is back in business ("Whisky to je moje gusto"). Joe, unaware of the developments, is riding on the prairie ("Sou fár tů jů áj méj") until, thanks to a mirage, he discovers that Hogofogo has his own designs on Winnifred. Joe saves Winnifred from his clutches, but in the ensuing fight, his account book falls to the ground. Reading it, Winnifred discovers the truth: Joe is not the selfless hero he appears, but rather a traveling salesman for Kolalok & Son, makers of Kolaloka. Delighted at the news, Winnifred pledges her love for Joe. However, the chanteuse Tornado Lou has also fallen for Joe, imagining him as the ideal lover who will make her "different, better."
...
Wikipedia