Vit Olmer Movies

The "poison" in this drama about an unfaithful husband refers to his infatuation with a younger woman in his office, and how this affects his relationships and his own future. Pavel Hnyk (Zdenek Sverak) has been bored with his marriage for awhile and already has a mistress when he first meets Julka (Ivona Krajcovicova), a woman who comes from Slovakia to work in his architectural firm's office. His distraction with the new and physically appealing colleague is detrimental to the renovation project he is working on, and no one encourages him in his romantic adventure. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Vera Plivova-Simkova had already filmed nearly a dozen children's movies before Mrkacek Ciko, and the respect she holds as a filmmaker in the former Czechoslovakia is once again upheld by this entertaining story. The young son of a diplomat is forced to leave everything he knew in Mexico when his father takes the family back to Czechoslovakia to live. Little Ciko (Filip Menzel) is miserable at first, and blinks when he gets nervous at school, or in new situations, but he eventually makes friends with an adventuresome boy who makes him feel more at ease. The two decide to go off and rough it with some friends and a dog during their summer break -- an activity that is guaranteed to help Ciko adapt to his new environment. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In a plot that needed a transfusion somewhere mid-stream, a vampire-mobile is the car of the hour for Madam Ferat, who uses its fanged gas pedal to draw blood from the foot of the driver as he, or she, accelerates -- for the car "runs" on blood. A physician begins to investigate the strange car after his fiancée, an ambulance driver, races the four-wheeled vampire rig and realizes it is a bit odd. Halloween goings-on are mixed in with traffic accident statistics in what might be a plea for mass transit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

While driving to Poland, a Czech man and woman have an argument. The woman gets out of the car to relieve herself, and the driver of the car runs over her, killing her. Meanwhile, in a Czech mountain town, a young man inquires after the girl, which piques the interest of the police. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This bleak World War II action drama, directed by John Guillermin, concerns the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen -- the last remaining span across the Rhine into Germany during the final days of the war in 1945. German General von Brock (Peter Van Eyck) is ordered to blow up the bridge rather than let it fall into American hands. Von Brock is reluctant to carry out the orders, however, because that would mean abandoning 50,000 soldiers to the on-coming Americans. Putting Major Paul Kreuger (Robert Vaughn) in charge, he tells him to try to hold the bridge as long as possible. Meanwhile, U.S. Brigadier General Skinner (E.G. Marshall) is trying to trap the retreating Germans by making a push to the Rhine. Leading the offensive is Major Barnes (Bradford Dillman), an officer held in contempt by most of the men. Platoon leader Lieutenant Phil Hartman (George Segal) takes a particular dislike to him. Hartman is also at odds with Sergeant Angela (Ben Gazzara), a scavenger who likes to steal from the corpses of dead German soldiers. As the Americans push onward to Remagen, the Germans step up their resistance. When the Americans reach Remagen, Krueger unsuccessfully attempts to blow up the bridge and throws all his soldiers into a full-assault on the Americans. Skinner orders that the American soldiers must push forward and take the bridge intact. In the face of heavy German opposition, Hartman and Angelo find that they must put aside their differences and fight for a common cause -- to take the bridge at all costs. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Although this well-wrought Czech drama has a definite materialistic slant the story is entertaining, set in the 16th century when the Inquistion was still in force. A small town is one day visited by a priest who is there on a secret mission. He is a member of the Inquisition sent to investigate the activities of a local miller. The miller and his son are the descendants of an old family whose ancestral home burned down a century ago, but was rebuilt from scratch. The miller inherited much of his knowledge about the land, water, and a building's stability from generations of family experience. His reputation for finding water and predicting when a structure might collapse have come to the attention of the Inquisition -surely he must be in league with the Devil. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi