PT Journal
AU Gmiterkova, S
TI "He is in Love and not Corrupted by Wealth". Oldrich Novy as a Film Actor between the Years 1936-1969
SO Iluminace
PY 2018
BP 59
EP 75
VL 30
IS 2
DI 10.58193/ilu.1563
WP https://iluminace.cz/en/artkey/ilu-201802-0004.php
DE Oldrich Novy; star persona; acting; voice; gesture; comedy; romance
SN 0862397X
AB Despite being fondly remembered as one of the brightest stars of the so-called First Republic era (1918-1938), the popular discourse surrouding Novy, articulated in numerous books, television biopics and exhibitons only rarely scrutinizes his strong perfoming assets. Staring in 22 films up to the year 1945, Novy 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 Novy 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 Novy'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 Novy 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 Oldrich Novy 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.
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