Oficiální web Miloše Formana

The libretto of the opera is a simple morality tale about love and money. A young divorcing couple is surprised by a message about an inheritance from their aunt in Liverpool that has been left to their future child. The problem is they don’t have a child yet. However, they think that one million pounds is a good enough reason to stay together.

A sly divorce lawyer tries to seduce Vanilka, but Vanilka thinks that the young postman Peter may actually be ”nice enough” and “dull enough” to father her child and not ask for any money. All of the characters are shaken when the aunt arrives – alive.

The jazz opera “A Well Paid Walk” was originally performed during Semafor’s golden era where it ran for over sixty-four performances. The stars of the original Semafor performance were the popular Czech singers Eva Pilarova, Nada Urbankova and Hana Hegerova, and also the playwrights Jiri Slitr and Jiri Suchy. The cast of the TV adaptation remained almost the same, with the exception of Eva Pilarova as Vanilka and Hana Hegerova as the Aunt.

As Jiri Suchy recalls, ”We were filming it in the Film Studio Hostivar, you know, in those wooden ateliers, in very modest conditions, and naturally in black and white. Milos Forman was already quite successful in those days, so we valued his filming with us.”