Jindřich Polák
Jindřich Polák was a Czech film and television director. He is known for his science fiction productions, but worked in many different genres.
Works
Grimme Award
Annual awarding of the Grimme Awards.
Release Date1964-01-16
Charactersd Self
Episode Count2
Pan Tau
Pan Tau always had a gentle expression and a friendly smile, he was elegantly dressed in a stroller, with an umbrella and a white carnation in the lapel. Foremost, he was famous for his magic bowler hat. By tapping on his hat, Pan Tau was able to change his appearance into a puppet, to conjure up miscellaneous objects or to do other magic. His most characteristically behavior is that he would help children who were experiencing some sort of difficulties in-between their dreams and reality, like finding a place for skiing, settling family problems on Christmas, and even give a boy a good time at a fair when he is supposed to have piano lessons. To adults, he usually remained invisible.
Release Date1970-12-13
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count33
Vote Count17
The Visitors
It's the year 2484 and the Earth is threatened by a rogue comet which could fatally change its orbit. The solution is surprising - Adam Bernau, the greatest genius of 20th century developed 500 years ago an ingenious formula for easy transporting of continents and even worlds. Unfortunately, he made this discovery at the age of 11 and the exercise book containing it was destroyed in the fire. But this is not a challenge to Academic Filip who decides to send an expedition back in time to retrieve the precious exercise book from the fire. But everything is not so simple as it seems...
Release Date1983-11-05
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count15
Vote Count23
The Octopuses from the Second Floor
While on vacation with their bickering parents in Portugal, Eva and her little brother Johnny find two strange clots of clay on a polluted beach, who can speak and move on their own. They create two octopuses out of the blue and green material and take them home to Prague, soon discovering that their new pets attract electricity and other disasters.
Release Date1986-12-21
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count4
Vote Count4
No Magic from Tomorrow
Mr. Tau, the quiet and kind magician with a bowler hat and an umbrella, shows up unexpectedly on the wings of a plane during flight. The terrified crew contact the airport security service. After the plane lands, Mr. Tau disappears. The third security inspector Málek is determined to catch the hooligan at any price. To achieve this, he gives up his holiday to visit the children's summer camp. Mr. Málek's son, who just like all the other children is delighted by the new camp cook, Mr. Tau himself, has unknowingly set the inspector on the magician's trail. But the children at the camp are determined not to let their beloved magician get caught and ingeniously place all sorts of traps in Inspector Málek's way.
Release Date1979-11-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count5
Bubu and Filip
A short stories about two brothers whose parents own a car shop.
Release Date1996-11-01
DepartmentWriting
JobWriter
Episode Count12
Ikarie XB 1
The year is 2163. Starship Ikaria XB-1 embarks on a mission deep into space in search of alien life. During their perilous journey the crew confront the effects of a malignant dark star, the destructive legacy of the 20th century and, ultimately, the limits of their own sanity.
Release Date1963-07-26
DepartmentWriting
JobStory
Vote Count110
Luzie, der Schrecken der Straße
1980 German/Czech Children TV series
Release Date1980-10-12
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count6
Vote Count11
Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
Former Nazi Klaus Abard survives to the 1990s by taking anti-ageing pills. He plans to use a time travel trip to return to Germany in 1944 and present Hitler with a hydrogen bomb, so that he can win the war. Unfortunately the pilot, woman-chasing Karel Bures, dies on the morning of the trip and his earnest twin brother Jan impersonates him, without knowing about the plot.
Release Date1977-08-12
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count52
Katja und die Gespenster
Release Date1992-12-07
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count8
A Game Without Rules
A robbery in a Prague jeweler's shop results in the shop manager Kubát and his deputy Litera being shot and wounded. The culprits take the jewelery away in a stolen car and that very night hide the loot tens of kilometers outside Prague in a forest. Then the three robbers part with each other. One of them, Burian, leaves in the same car, the other two, Duda and Hovorka, take to flight in another car, which soon ends up in a car crash. Hovorka dies in the accident, but Duda survives and hides in an abandoned cottage. Burian is arrested, Duda is traced out by a police dog. Duda confesses to the robbery to the criminologist Málek, but refuses to say where is the jewelery. The robber then begins to shoot and Málek kills him in self-defense. The court fails to prove Litera's involvement in the robbery and the only one convicted is Burian. The disappointed Málek leaves the police and begins to work as a cab driver.
Release Date1967-04-14
DepartmentWriting
JobScreenplay
Vote Count6
Císařovy nové šaty
Release Date1955-01-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Merry Christmas Octopus
Eva and her younger brother Johnny own two sentient octopuses made out of strange matter. Will their parents divorce and ruin Christmas? Will a scientist find a way to use their pets as fuel? Live action film with stop-motion octopuses.
Release Date1987-11-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count9
Terrible Woman
A doctor of social sciences - a specialist in failing marriages - becomes jealous. He imagines his skater wife in various situations, but always on skates.
Release Date1965-07-30
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count4
Pan Tau – der Film
Pan Tau, the friend of all children, now also helps the adults. A movie producer is in trouble and decides to shoot another Pan-Tau movie. But the old Pan-Tau actor Karasek is no longer young enough to walk the almost weightless walk of Pan Tau. Mr. Novak turns up - he resembles Pan Tau like a twin brother. He succeeds every pirouette. And as if by magic, he solves all the problems between people! Who is Mr. Novak? Is he really ...?
Release Date1988-11-03
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count15
Krakatit
In early 20th century Czechoslovakia, a gravely ill chemist recalls his discovery of a powerful explosive and how it landed in the hands of anarchists.
Release Date1948-04-09
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count22
Kačenka a strašidla
Jindrich Polák's modern fairy tale comedy tells the story of a girl who unexpectedly inherits a fairground amusement - a haunted house from Vienna's Prater fun park. With the help of a magic timepiece she is able to bring three of the ghosts to life.
Release Date1993-03-18
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count6
Lucy, the Menace of Street
A first part of a funny adventures of six years old Lucie and her two magic dolls.
Release Date1984-10-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count17
Death of Hitch-Hikers
Maniac, a driver, sits on the track women, which then rape and kill. For loved ones, he is an ordinary person who has a wife and child. When exposed, he does not stop before killing his wife and takes his son hostage, under the guise of which he is trying to escape abroad.
Release Date1979-10-05
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count7
Hudba z Marsu
The employees of the furniture company MARS welcome a rare visitor with hired music. Their boast that they would put together an orchestra is taken seriously, so they receive a small gift - musical instruments for thirty musicians.
Release Date1955-05-27
DepartmentDirecting
JobFirst Assistant Director
Vote Count9
...and again that Lucy!
A second part of a funny adventures of six years old Lucie and her two magic dolls.
Release Date1984-12-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count9
Noc klavíristy
The problematic protagonist is the head designer of a housing association who wants to make a profit at any cost. His unwitting opponent is a bar pianist who accidentally witnesses the murder of a young man and sets out to investigate on his own. An old-world and somewhat comical figure, he poignantly interferes with the cops' work, only to find that he is the one who is credited with catching the perpetrator...
Release Date1977-05-27
DepartmentWriting
JobScreenplay
Vote Count5
Sons of the Mountains
The story of a friendship for life and death captures a real event that took place in the snowy Krkonoše Mountains in 1913. The actors of the drama were Bohumil Hanč, one of our first ski racers, and his friend Václav Vrbata. The film's plot takes place between 1912 and 1913 and is framed by two international 50 km races. After winning in 1912, Bohumil Hanč wants to stop racing at the behest of his wife Slávka. In 1913, strong foreign competitors enter the race, so Bohumil succumbs to the pleas of his friends and decides to race for the last time. However, the weather changes during the race. Strong winds and snow begin to blow, severe frost sets in, and for the racers, it means a fight for their lives.
Release Date1956-12-21
DepartmentDirecting
JobFirst Assistant Director
Vote Count1
Kidnapped
American agents hijack a plane on the Ostrava-Prague route to launch a campaign against the People's Democratic Czechoslovakia. The plane lands in West Germany, but the Americans have an unexpected problem convincing the hijackers to stay in the West. Based on a true story.
Release Date1953-01-30
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count3
Presentiment
A daughter of a celebrity family experiences a holiday adventure with a mysterious young man. Though she is strongly attracted to him, she is also concerned about his sinister, panicky speech, his fierce charisma.
Release Date1947-12-25
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count3
Páté oddělení
An American spy agency located in West Germany is interested in information concerning Czechoslovak commercial activities in the Middle East. Agent Rudolf Karlik creates a network of associates in Prague...
Release Date1961-01-20
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count1
Death in the Saddle
On the state stud-farm, Tomás (Rudolf Jelínek) is preparing to become a jockey together with other boys. He loves to read cowboy stories and Western pulp magazines and his passion makes him...
Release Date1959-03-27
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count6
Expres z Norimberka
An adventure film about the struggle of the Czechoslovak security authorities against Western agents. In an express train departing from Nuremberg station, a cigarette box with plans and instructions for the destruction of one of the Czechoslovak dams is stuck under the seat. The State Security is informed about the whole operation and tries to catch the foreign agents.
Release Date1954-03-26
DepartmentDirecting
JobFirst Assistant Director
Vote Count2
The Octopuses from the Second Floor
While on vacation with their bickering parents, young Eva and her little brother Johnny find in a polluted lake two strange friendly sentient octopuses made of strange material that attracts electricity. They take them as pets.
Release Date1987-07-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count15
Riders in the Sky
The story of Czech pilots in RAF service during the Battle of Britain, and the ongoing aerial battle in Northern Europe. It tells the story of the crews of the RAF’s No. 311 Squadron, which was mainly crewed by escaped Czech airmen, and their bombing raids during the Second World War.
Release Date1968-12-20
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count10
Kačenka a zase ta strašidla
This time, the eight-year-old girl must fight to keep her parents from turning the House of Horrors, which she received as a gift from her grandfather, the Viennese Czech Swoboda, into a family villa. Helping her are her old friends, with the help of a magical clockwork mannequin, the witch Bertha, the charming Elvira and Dr Caligari. She arranges for notary Weber to come from Vienna to check that the terms of the gift agreement have been kept and that the attraction is fit for purpose...
Release Date1993-04-01
DepartmentWriting
JobScreenplay
Vote Count5
Statečný cínový vojáček
Release Date1955-01-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Clown Ferdinand and the Rocket
When Clown Ferdinand enters an abandoned city in his wagon he ends up on a space rocket where he meets a robot that can turn invisible. This film reuses sets from Polák's Ikarie XB 1 (1963).
Release Date1963-05-10
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count5
Alarm in the Clouds
In defiance of all the laws of physics Mr. Tau is walking on the wing of an aircraft flying close to Prague. Young Alenka is enthusiastic, but the other passengers are horrified. The security inspector Málek believes the report from the crew to be a code alerting him to a hijack, and orders an emergency landing. In the confusion at the airport the fairytale Mr. Tau disappears into one of the halls.
Release Date1978-11-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count9
Veselý souboj
A young company doctor will awaken interest in active and regular sports activities among employees of repair shops of Prague transport companies. Through her personal example, she will lead them to fulfill the conditions of the Tyrš badge of fitness.
Release Date1951-03-09
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count3
Visitor Jindřich Polák
A portrait of the creator of original fictional worlds, whose birth marks 100 years this year. His films and series such as Ikarie XB 1, Pan Tau or Lucie, the Street Terror, became a phenomenon not only in communist Czechoslovakia, but also in the West.
Release Date2025-11-12