Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera

For forty years (oops, revealed my age, oh well), I have been trying to track this down. I first saw this film at age twelve, in a drive in theater, on a double bill with (I think) a re-release of "The Great Race". Historical note: the version I saw was dubbed, not subtitled (I long thought it Italian in origin); the tinting was not sepia with yellow highlights, it was just glaring yellow; and it was called "The Lemonaid Kid" not "Lemonaid Joe" (hence part of the difficulty tracking it down). (Since this release title is reminiscent of "The Lemondrop Kid", I can imagine paranoid lawyers at MGM giving this film's release a lot of hassle, which may explain how it got so buried.) I thought it the funniest thing I had ever seen and that impression stuck with me as I grew older and developed a taste for the more absurdist and aggressive style of comedy, e.g., the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, etc. i knew I had seen something very special in "Lemonaid", but found no references to it in movie catalogs like the Maltin book, and nobody who knew films seemed to know anything about it - and I come from Rochester, NY, home of the second largest collection of film in the country, the Dryden-Eastman collection. People there know film. But nobody knew this film.

This film had a major impact on a very young man and changed his taste in comedy forever, and perhaps changed all of his perceptions, insofar as humor is one of the most important responses we make to the world. That says a lot for the power of this film. I certainly hope another viewing will justify my warm memories of it.

Note added August 26, 2009:

Well, I finally found it - it is currently available in 10 chapters at Youtube.

It is not only everything I remember it for, but far more - one of the wildest visual comedies of its era and one of the sharpest satires I have ever seen.

The only weakness is the ending - while it makes its point, it's too blunt and too easy.

But the rest of the film is basically Brecht-Weill remaking "Support Your Local Sheriff" (which hadn't been made yet, of course) - absolutely incredible mix of pop culture and art-house comedy styles, as unforgettable now as it was 40 years ago (well beyond mere 'camp,' it hasn't aged a bit), decidedly one of a kind.

(PS - I've read Leone fans wondering if this film references "fistful of Dollars" - oh, no - Leone, Corbucci, and other Italian directors were almost certainly influenced by this.)

The concept of this film (an affectionate send-up of old-fashioned American cowboy films) is one that seems to have been kicked around in the movie business, both here and abroad, for quite a few years. The first realization of it that I'm familiar with is the 1949 stop-motion puppet animation short "Arie Prerie," or "Song of the Prairie," by the Czech animator Jiri Trnka. With no more dialog than some snickers and shouts, along with an operatic-style song performed by the singing cowboy hero and his heroine, it does a nice job of satirizing the old conventions of the singing cowboy movie. It's a charming film, well worth seeing.

"Lemonade Joe," done in 1964 by yet another Czech filmmaker, Oldrich Lipsky, seems to be expanding greatly on the subject in order to extend it to feature length, and aside from the basic concept the plot bears no relation to "Song of the Prairie." Yet, anyone who's seen "Song of the Prairie" will immediately see the connection. In fact the soaring, operatic song belted out by a tenor over the opening title turns out to be the very same song that the puppet protagonists of "Song of the Prairie" sang. To an English-speaking person like myself, the lyrics sound tantalizingly like English, even finishing up with the repeated phrase "goodbye, goodbye." Yet, if you look at the lyrics spelled out (as they are in the Czech DVD that I watched), you can see that they mean nothing at all in English. Are they in fact Czech, or some gibberish concocted to sound like English? Not understanding Czech, I can't really say.

Laurie Edwards' sourpuss review (see "External Reviews" and "CultureDose.net") demonstrates that not everyone will appreciate this film's style, which is certainly foreign in comparison to typical Hollywood fare. While the film's basic concept appeals to me greatly and I enjoyed its bizarre, surreal, and anarchic qualities, I can see how it might rub people the wrong way, particularly those with more conventional tastes. One user comment suggests that its humor is quintessentially Czech and cannot be fully appreciated by outsiders, and as one of those outsiders I'm not in a position to dispute that. I wouldn't argue that it's a paragon of good taste, perfect form, and artistic refinement, but I did get a kick out of it and wasn't bored or irritated, as Ms. Edwards was. Besides being a satire of the American singing cowboy genre, there seems to be some jabs at American commercialism, and perhaps even racism. This film was made in a communist country during the height of the cold war, after all. On the other hand, far harsher criticisms were made by American filmmakers in American films during the same era, so I wouldn't dream of taking any offense at it at this point in time.

The most recent attempt to satirize the singing cowboy genre that I'm aware of is Hugh Wilson's 1985 film "Rustlers' Rhapsody," starring Tom Berenger as the western hero. It seems to me more subtle and complex than "Lemonade Joe," but not nearly as stylish or entertaining.

I enjoy seeing all three of the above films, but I think perhaps the cartoon format is the best for this concept after all. "Song of the Prairie" is my favorite, being an actual animated film, followed by "Lemonade Joe" which is a live-action film that is decidedly cartoon-like, followed by "Rustlers' Rhapsody," which to my taste seems a bit tame and conventional in execution.

Made during the "Prague Spring", which produced a burst of creativity, this movie brims with lightheartedness and wild satirical wit. It's a spoof of Westerns, not so much the John Ford type as silent-movie serials. I could go on a long time telling you my favorite jokes from it, but I won't... Lobby your local revival theater or TV station, because too few people have had the opportunity to see this utterly original movie.

"Lemonade Joe" is one of the funniest movies ever made. Certainly it is the funnest western. It is also a triumph of expressionism.

The sequences are dazzling. The opening sequence catches you by surprise; you're watching the funniest western fight in a saloon without warning. Throughout, the film just explodes with these sequences that are hysterically funny and reflect a world gone mad.

The last third of the film begins to slow down. It also becomes very expressionistic, which annoys people who do not allow themselves to appreciate disruptions to how they process their cinema.

However, the film finishes very strongly. "Lemonade Joe" is a wildly adventurous and pleasurable experience.

An excellent satire of the Great American Way, with Lemonade Joe a "clean living" gunfighter who drinks only Kola-Loca Lemonade and convinces everyone else in town (with his gun skills) that all "real men" drink ONLY lemonade! The style of the film mirrors that of silent westerns, including humorous sped-up bar brawls and color-tinting (!). You can either root for Joe or his whiskey-drinking adversaries; it's clear that although the town "bad girl" adores Joe and wants him to "change" her, he is only using her for his cause, as indeed he is using everyone for his opportunistic goals.

Worth a look for western fans looking for a spoof that goes beyond "Blazing Saddles" and adds satire to the mix, or for anyone interested in Euro-Westerns in general for an Eastern European take on the genre.

A funny, charming, and even sometimes graceful film.