Iluminace 2018, 30(2):59-75 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1563

"He is in Love and not Corrupted by Wealth". Oldřich Nový as a Film Actor between the Years 1936-1969

Šárka Gmiterková

Masarykova univerzita

Despite being fondly remembered as one of the brightest stars of the so-called First Republic era (1918-1938), the popular discourse surrouding Nový, articulated in numerous books, television biopics and exhibitons only rarely scrutinizes his strong perfoming assets. Staring in 22 films up to the year 1945, Nový was not only a celebrated stage actor and singer, but a film actor as well. In spite of not cultivating any direct connection between his stage career and film parts (in terms of screen adaptations of his theatre repertoire), his star persona nevertheless demonstrates recognizable patterns on the level of performance, genre and narrative. This article thus analyses Nový as a film actor, closely reading individual parts, and searching for continuities on the level of performance. In so doing, three aspects stand out as crucial. First it was Nový's ability to act out double-parts, featuring a rather plain and ordinary hero as well as his dashing, glamorous alter ego. Voice was equally important, having a rather melodic quality and frequently refusing the distinction between speech and song. Since the films staring Nový fall under the generic category of romantic comedy, interactions with women are featured prominently. Therefore in the final section I focused mostly on nonverbal performance, scrutinizing gestures, expressions and postures. Although Oldřich Nový was never perceived as a versatile actor, this article demonstrates that his rather limited acting in fact stemmed from his knowledge of his own lacks and shortages, and conscious cultivation of his strong performing assets.

Keywords: Oldřich Nový, star persona, acting, voice, gesture, comedy, romance

Published: June 1, 2018  Show citation