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Life Is a Dog

Original title: Zivot je pes
  • 19331933
  • 1h 24m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
86
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Zivot je pes (1933)
  • Comedy
Young music composer Viktor Honzl in vain looks for work. He is prevented from committing suicide by a technician of the gasworks who shortly beforehand has disconnected his gas due to past ... Read allYoung music composer Viktor Honzl in vain looks for work. He is prevented from committing suicide by a technician of the gasworks who shortly beforehand has disconnected his gas due to past due bills. In the disguise of an older, serious, musical scholar Viktor obtains work in a ... Read allYoung music composer Viktor Honzl in vain looks for work. He is prevented from committing suicide by a technician of the gasworks who shortly beforehand has disconnected his gas due to past due bills. In the disguise of an older, serious, musical scholar Viktor obtains work in a music publishing house. So he may court Eva, publisher Durdys's daughter, who he likes qui... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
86
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Martin Fric
  • Writer
    • Martin Fric
  • Stars
    • Hugo Haas
    • Theodor Pistek
    • Adina Mandlová
Top credits
  • Director
    • Martin Fric
  • Writer
    • Martin Fric
  • Stars
    • Hugo Haas
    • Theodor Pistek
    • Adina Mandlová
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Zivot je pes (1933)
    Zivot je pes (1933)
    Zivot je pes (1933)
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    Top cast

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    Hugo Haas
    Hugo Haas
    • Skladatel Viktor Honzlas Skladatel Viktor Honzl…
    Theodor Pistek
    Theodor Pistek
    • Hynek Durdysas Hynek Durdys
    Adina Mandlová
    Adina Mandlová
    • Eva Durdysováas Eva Durdysová
    Svetla Svozilová
    • Helena Durdysováas Helena Durdysová
    Ferdinand Hart
    Ferdinand Hart
    • Ralph Morrisonas Ralph Morrison
    Alois Dvorský
    • Pan domácías Pan domácí
    Jára Kohout
    Jára Kohout
    • Pán kupující gramodeskuas Pán kupující gramodesku
    Frantisek Jerhot
    • Strázníkas Strázník
    Karel Ceský
    • Zákazníkas Zákazník
    Gustav Cech
    • Zákazníkas Zákazník
    Josef Bunzl
    Robert Ford
    Hermína Fordová
    Jan Hodr
    • majitel konfekce Netusilas majitel konfekce Netusil
    Marie Hodrová
    Bela Horská
    • Guestas Guest
    Jirí Hron
    Ada Karlovský
    • Director
      • Martin Fric
    • Writer
      • Martin Fric
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

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    Young music composer Viktor Honzl in vain looks for work. He is prevented from committing suicide by a technician of the gasworks who shortly beforehand has disconnected his gas due to past due bills. In the disguise of an older, serious, musical scholar Viktor obtains work in a music publishing house. So he may court Eva, publisher Durdys's daughter, who he likes quite a bit, he recommends to the owner that he also employ his nephew. Understandably, this is he himself, in his every-day form. For Viktor, however, this becomes an extremely complicated situation as he switches in the place of business from the clothes of the uncle and then back again from the clothes of Viktor the nephew. —NFA.cz
    • Plot summary
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    • Genre
      • Comedy
    • Parents guide
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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Connections
      Alternate-language version of The Double Fiance (1934)
    • Soundtracks
      Symfonie No.3 Eroica
      Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

    User reviews2

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Ingenious situation comedy, delightful and amusing
    This film listed on IMDb only as LIFE IS A DOG is a delightful early Czech sound film entitled ZI VOTA JE PES, aka in English as A DOG'S LIFE. It has no dogs in it, and the title refers instead to the common phrase 'it's a dog's life' as applied to humans. It stars the Czech comedian Hugo Haas and the beautiful Czech starlet of that period, appearing in only her second film, Adina Mandlová. The script is extraordinarily ingenious, and should be seriously studied by comedians hoping for ideas. It was written by Martin Fric, who also directed the film. (The surname Fric is the Czech spelling of the Austrian surname better known as Fritsch in the German spelling.) The film is especially interesting for having been shot largely on location in the Prague of 1932, letting us see what a highly sophisticated and glamourous city it was before the Nazis and the Communists got hold of it and nearly destroyed it in the many decades of Prague's enforced decline. Although this film is a situation comedy and not a slapstick comedy, one is tempted to coin a new phrase and label it as a 'slapstick situation comedy'. This is because of the witty device of Hugo Haas playing both himself as a young man and his imaginary older uncle, with rapid costume changes, addition of wig, spectacles and false moustache, done in such lightning fashion that his timing is almost as split-second as Buster Keaton's. The comedic situations pile up at dizzying speed as he tries to be two people at once at the same time in the same place, including even a double wedding. Really, this film is from the point of view of ingenuity a comedic masterpiece. Haas was extremely talented and also very funny. It really does deserve serious study and analysis by all serious students of comedy, and should be a standard classic for that purpose. And anyone interesting in seeing pre-War Prague should also see it, as the street scenes are very vivid, the cars are sublime, the shops bulging, and a vanished world is shown. This was the period when one of my favourite authors, Karel Capek, was thriving there. It comes as no surprise to learn that Martin Fric was a friend and collaborator of Capek, and that he directed the film HORDUBALOVÉ (1938) based upon Capek's novel HORDUBAL, scripted by Capek himself just before Capek's death in 1938, and he later scripted and directed CAPEK'S TALES (1947), based upon Capek's hilarious short stories. And for those who don't already know, I should add that it was Capek who introduced the word 'robot' into the English language, as he wrote a play about robots entitled R.U.R., which became a roaring success in English translation.
    helpful•1
    0
    • robert-temple-1
    • Feb 5, 2020

    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 1, 1933 (Czechoslovakia)
    • Country of origin
      • Czechoslovakia
    • Language
      • Czech
    • Also known as
      • Život je pes
    • Production company
      • Moldavia Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 24 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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