Ať žijí duchové! (Long Live Ghosts!). 1977. Czechoslovakia. Directed by Oldřich Lipský. Screenplay by Lipský, Zdeněk Svěrák, Jiří Melíšek. With Dana Vávrová, Jiří Procházka, Jiří Sovák. 4K digitization by Národní filmový archiv; courtesy Národní filmový archiv. In Czech; English subtitles. 85 min.
This wacky ghost musical for kids began as a vanity project for the children’s entertainer “Uncle” Antonín Jedlička, its original script built around children carrying out “voluntary” civic labor for the state. Director Oldřich Lipský (Lemonade Joe, Happy End) agreed to direct on the condition the script would be rewritten with musical interludes and Jedlička excised entirely. Screenwriter Zdeněk Svěrák removed the propagandistic framing and turned it into a musical about village children protecting a haunted castle from the meddling authorities. Judged politically safe by the normalization authorities, Lipský, one of the most talented comedy directors of the earlier decade, continued to work without interruption through that era, trading the cynical absurdism of the ’60s films for gentler physical comedy. Today, Long Live Ghosts! remains a staple on Czech television, one of the republic’s most beloved family films.