Home Czechoslovakia WHO WANTS TO KILL JESSIE? Czech DVD
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WHO WANTS TO KILL JESSIE? Czech DVD

WHO WANTS TO KILL JESSIE? Czech DVD

$9.00 USD
$9.00 USD
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Original Czech dvd release.
Czech spoken language,
Subtitles in ENGLISH and Czech.
Regionfree all region Pal dvd comes in popular cardboard sleeve as pictured.
Please check your dvd player compability.

In 1960's America, millions tuned in to the 'BIFF!' 'BAM!' 'POW!' action of the Batman television series. But this 'pop art' phenomenon was not limited to the North American shores. A continent away, another comic book hero, or in this case heroine, was quite literally springing to life in the Czech film 'Who Wants to Kill Jessie?'.

'Who Wants to Kill Jessie?' is a nonsensical film, which begins with a fantastical premise and then madly and unapologetically dashes from one ridiculous situation to another. Which, in the case of a film of this type, is not necessarily a bad thing.

Dana Medrická as Dr. Rose Beránková is the catalyst for all events in the film. Dr. Beránková has just invented a serum that allows dreams to be altered so that undesirable elements can be removed. The effectiveness of this invention can be tested via a dream scanner which allows observers to monitor a person's drams on a TV screen. This remarkable device is seemingly so commonplace that the good doctor keeps one next to her own bed.

The trouble begins when the jealous Rose catches her husband, Henry (Jirí Sovák) dreaming about the gorgeous blonde comic book heroine, Jessie, though in fact he is dreaming about her anti-gravity gloves, and decides to eliminate her dream girl rival by injecting Henry with the new serum.

The next morning however, Rose discovers that subjects removed from dreams, rather simply disappearing, are brought into the real world, and now not only Jessie (the beautiful Olga Schoberová) but her two adversaries, an evil cowboy and a villainous superman, have come to life. Jessie quickly escapes her two foes and begins to track Henry to the University where he is lecturing, pursued by the destructive superman and cowboy, who are in turn being pursued by the police.

When the police finally catch up with the dream trio, Henry is arrested as well. Rose is perfectly willing to let her husband take the blame for the whole mess, testifying at his trial that if he had dreamed about his wife instead of Jessie, none of this would have happened. In the end, while Rose plots a way to dispose of the dream characters, it is up to an imprisoned Henry to save the day, by actually creating the anti-gravity gloves from the comic book.

Interestingly, the film's two comic book villains are not really very evil. They are greedy and destructive, but not cruel or vicious. While the Cowboy is constantly threatening people with his six shooter, he never actually shoots anyone. No one is hurt and no one is killed. Likely this is because these manifestations are not the villains from the Jessie comic, but Henry's interpretation of them from his dreams. Since Henry's dreams are not violent, neither are the realized dream villains. In the same way, while the comic book Jessie has never heard of Henry, the dream Jessie is attracted to him and so the manifested Jessie professes her love for him – which does nothing to improve Henry's standing with Rose.

The closest thing to a true villain the film has is Rose. It is her petty jealously that leads her to first create the problem, then allow her befuddled husband to be jailed for it, and finally to attempt, futilely, to destroy the dream people in quite horrible and savage ways. The viciousness of Rose's actions is muted only by the film's consistently light tone, and the fact that her attempts are completely ineffectual against the seemingly indestructible manifestations.

Undoubtedly the most remarkable thing about this film is that it exists at all. While comic book style films were all the rage in Italy, France and America, in the 1960's Czechoslovakia was still an Iron Curtain country, albeit one experiencing a period of cultural freedom. A film as utterly and delightfully frivolous as 'Who Wants to Kill Jessie?' is as a bold departure from the popular stereotype of the bleak, somber, pathos drenched film of the Soviet Bloc era as one could imagine. This is a film that has no political agenda, aside from a very few light jabs at rigid bureaucracy, tosses away logic and simply delights in being silly.

Long a difficult film to see, usually available for viewing only at film festivals, 'Who Wants to Kill Jessie?' has at last been released on DVD in a very nice 2.35:1 widescreen edition by Centrum Video in Europe, complete with English subtitles.

 

FAQ

FAQ

Why should I get the poster from Czechoslovakia?

Czech poster art represents an important, unique contribution to the world of film graphic designs. Artists were creating very different concepts for foreign movies. Some of the posters might appear as misleading to the movie script to the western fans. It is because artists were often not allowed to see the movie from ideological and political reasons. Usually artists were graduates of prestige design schools in Prague and were using their own imagination rather than just a scene from the film as we know it from Western posters. Many Czech posters became very famous and precious, some of them unreachable. Together with Polish film posters, they are a testimony of artists creating in hard times of Communism, behind the Iron curtain.

Who is Czech Poster Gallery?

We are small, family run business. We collect Czechoslovakian posters for a long period of time. Czech Poster Gallery are passionate about collecting stunning original vintage film posters from Czechoslovakia. For more info, check out our About Us page.

Am I getting original or a copy?

We only collect and sell 100% original posters. They were printed for cinemas in Czechoslovakia in the year of the film projection in Czechoslovakia or Czech republic. Original posters have their own smell, pattern, paper type and soul. 

What kind of condition will my poster be in?

Most of our posters are unique, hard-to find used vintage posters, some of them around 70 years old. It is very important for us that you know what condition the poster is so we pay extra attention to poster description. To make it easier for you to see the Condition Grade, we created special page for it on the top right side of the main menu.

However, if you are not sure about the poster condition or simply want to know more about it, just contact us and we will do our best to provide you with more information or additional pictures of the poster.

Please note, that we are very harsh condition graders and usually give the poster lower grade just to make sure you are satisfied with your poster!

What sizes the posters are?

Czechoslovakian movie poster sizes are:

Lobby cards (mini posters): A4 12″x8″/30×21 cm (approximate). These posters were used in the cinema entrances or small village cinemas. They were using similar artwork as on “main” posters, or they could be designed by a different author using completely different artwork from the “main” poster. Please note, that these posters are not printed or thick paper.

Small: A3 11″x 16″ / 42×30 cm (approximate)

Large: A1 23″x 33″ / 84×60 cm (approximate).

“Nudle” (pronounced as “Noodle”) 12”X36” (approximate). These posters are more typical for 1930’s-1950’s.

How are your posters packaged for shipping?

We care about every poster as if it was a treasure, no matter what the value is. Our priority is that the poster will get to you safely  and in the same condition it left our home.

We are sending the posters rolled, packed in protective paper and in most cases covered with the foil bag, in hardcover tubes.

You can make your purchase using your credit/debit card via Stripe - a secure and safe payment getaways.

Postage

We guarantee the dispatch of your item within 5 working days from the cleared payment, but usually we ship all items within 1-3 working days.

We made it really easy for you to know, how much will you pay for the postage.

EU postage:

All Posters: £13

DVD & Blu-ray & regular books: £4.00

Heavy books up to 3kg: £25

 

United Kingdom:

All Posters: £13

DVD & Blu-ray & regular books: £5.00

Heavy books up to 3kg: £30

 

Overseas (incl. USA, Canada, Australia, Japan)

All Posters: £18

DVD & Blu-ray & regular books: £6.00

Heavy books up to 3kg: £45*

 

Rest of the World:

All Posters: £30

DVD & Blu-ray: £10.00

Books up to 3kg: £65*

 

CUSTOMS FEES: Czech Poster Gallery is only responsible for shipping the product, while the customer has to absorb any import costs if applicable.

Your items will be shipped from Poland. Posters shipped wordlwide are always sent by trackable, signed-for service.

*We reserve the right to change the shipping prices for heavy and extra heavy items to certain areas of the world as they can easily extend our prices. For example, sending a 3kg book to Japan may cost over £80!

If you are not sure what the costs to your country will be, please contact us before your purchase via our Contact page and we will send you the quotes to your country.

Return Instructions

Czech Poster Gallery is committed to quality products and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.

We have “no fuss” return policy. However, there are few rules we would like you to follow:

If for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return it within 30 Days of receipt and receive a full refund for the price of the product. Shipping charges will not be refunded. Please, always contact us first before you send us your items back! We will be not able to refund you without contacting us first.

We strongly recommend that you to send us the items back via trackable service as we cannot be responsible for any loss by the currier.

The item we receive from you must be in the same condition as it was when we send it to you. We cannot refund you if there is any damage or change on the item.

Remember, you can always talk to us, if you are not happy with your purchase, we are humans, not machines!

Privacy Policy

Czech Poster Gallery respect your privacy. We will treat any information you send us with the utmost privacy. We will not pass your information onto anyone else and use it for nothing more than it was originally intended.

For our Privacy policy in detail, please visit our Privacy Policy Page

Will we buy Czech posters from you?

Yes, we are interested in your posters or collections. Please send us your offer. Vykoupíme Vaše filmové plakáty.

We welcome help, advice or information exchange from all artists and film enthusiasts.

If you have any other question, please contact us via our Contact page

or email directly to: info@czechpostergallery.com

 

Condition grading

Condition grading

What kind of condition will my poster be in?

Most of our posters are unique, hard-to find used vintage posters, some of them around 70 years old. It is very important for us that you to know what condition the poster is so we pay extra attention to poster description.

However, if you are not sure about the poster condition or simply want to know more about it, just contact us and we will do our best to provide you with more information or additional pictures of the poster via our Contact page

Please note, that we are very harsh condition graders and usually give the poster lower grade just to make sure you are satisfied with your poster.

CONDITION GRADE:

Near mint: (Other sellers usually rate those posters as “MINT”). Never used and almost like new poster. No holes, no tears, no signs of wear, perfectly preserved. These posters may only have imperfections occurred during the printing process. Printing registration should be perfect.

Fine: Superb. Generally unused, never folded poster with fresh, saturated colours. Has no tears, holes, no paper loss, no pinholes. May have very slight folds in corners caused by storage.

Very good: A poster with bright colours, clean, with general signs of use. May have very minor tears at folds with minor paper loss, may have fine pin holes or fingerprints. May be folded or have creases. These posters are still very presentable and look great if framed and mounted.

Good: An average poster with overall fresh colour. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in a unobtrusive place.  May have medium or major restoration.

Fair: A poster with faded colours and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had one.

Poor: A poster that is worn, torn and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

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Movie Poster magazine

MY POSTER AFFAIR - Vol. 1. Czech Movie Poster Magazine (English) - Limited edition
$24.00
MY POSTER AFFAIR - Vol. 1. Czech Movie Poster Magazine (English) - Limited edition