A. J. Urban

Grammar school teacher Bláha hurts himself in pursuit of a red lizard, and is lying unconscious in the lonely house of Santrucek family. The postman, who found Bláha's coat and hat in the water, announces to everyone in town that the professor has drowned. But, the venerable citizens are at that moment more interested in the theatre group with the beautiful guest actress Eva Gazdová. They demand a change of repertoire and manage to persuade the theatre manager to have the group play the musical comedy The Red Lizard instead of an established play.

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Theater props maker Karel Vajgant has a young wife, Magda, and two children, seven-year-old Pavlík and eleven-year-old Pepička. Magda is a caring mother, but she feels that her husband prioritizes work and his comfort. In a weak moment, Magda becomes unfaithful. Vajgant receives an anonymous letter that warns him of his wife's infidelity. His friend, the opportunist Tonda, advises him to throw away the letter and instead devote more time to Magda...

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A young farmer, Jan Aleš, is drafted from his native Pošumaví to join the army. Since he likes his new environment, he stays with the army as a long-term serviceman. He even successfully passes the exams for the military academy. There he becomes friends with his Slovak colleague Milan Jurčík. He studies diligently, but thanks to Milan he sometimes finds time to go out into the city. That is how he meets the factory owner's daughter, Zdenka, with whom he falls in love. However, her father is not very happy about the promising relationship.

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A young man named Láďa Tůma, along with his inheritance from his wealthy uncle, also acquires his uncle's favorite butler, Vlastimil Chytráček, with whom he must sign a one-year employment contract. This is a condition for receiving the inheritance. Chytráček takes care of his new master as devotedly as he took care of his uncle. However, this brings many complications for the young man - both at work and in love...

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The doomed love of a city girl caught in the vise of poverty is detailed in Vavra’s fluid, romantic work, one of the most elegant creations of the Czech Modernist era... The film lingers over its characters’ habitats and haunts, finding psychological truths in what each owns or desires, and countering every Hollywood-ready scene of gleaming restaurants and dazzling penthouses with realist moments of employment lines and crammed flats. Vavra’s classical camerawork and aura of romantic defeatism give Virginity a force comparable to the master of this genre, Hollywood’s Frank Borzage. (BAM/PFA)

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