POOR MURDERER. Presentation Copy. de Kohout, Pavel - (1977).

New York: The Viking Press, (1977)., (1977).. Very good. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED WITH A DRAWING BY PAVEL KOHOUT TO CZECH AMERICAN ACTOR JIRI VOSKOVEC - Octavo, gray boards backed with white cloth in a dust wrapper. The top edge of the dust jacket is lightly creased. ix & 99 pages. Illustrated with black-and-white production photos. The pages are a bit toned. Very good. <p>First American edition, translated into English by Herbert Berghof and Lawrence Luckinbill.<p>Inscribed in Czech on the verso of the half-title by Pavel Kohout to Czech American actor and playwright Jiri Voskovec, with a small drawing on the title page. The inscription is signed "Pavel Kohout / New York / 17.6.79". The addresses of Vaclav Havel and Jaroslav Seifert are penned by Kohout on a rear blank.<p>Playwright Pavel Kohout has never seen a production of any of his plays since he is viewed in his native Czechoslovakia as a "dissenter" both for the part he played in the 1967-68 movement to bring more freedom to his country and for the political and artistic stands he has taken since then. Besides being a leading dramatist, Kohout is a poet, a screenwriter and, to many of his countrymen, a national hero.<p>Jiri [George] Voskovec was born Jiri Wachsmann [1905-1981]. He was a much revered Czech actor and playwright. After World War 1 Voskovec appeared with Jan Werich [1905-1980] as one of a comic duo in the tradition of Laurel and Hardy. "Together with Jaroslav Jezek, the father of Czech jazz, they moulded dadaism, circus, jazz, Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and American vaudeville into a new art form. They created a new form of intellectual political musical." - [Josef Skvorecky: "All the Bright Young Men and Women"]. Having created a sensation with their "Vest Pocket Revue" in April 1927, V + W were invited to join the Devetsil theatre group in May. In 1929 they renamed the group "Liberated Theatre" ["Osvobozene Divadlo"] and they took over every element of the productions. During the 1930s the productions of V + W became increasingly anti-fascist and their "Liberated Theatre" was eventually forced to close in 1938. The following year they fled to the United States. After World War 2 Voskovec settled permanently in the U.S. and Werich returned to Czechoslovakia. Both actors went on to have long careers in film, Voskovec appearing in 72 movies and Werich in more than 50. Four of their stage works were made into films: "Powder and Gasoline" [1931], "Your Money or Your Life" [1932], "Heave-ho" [1934], and "The World Belongs to Us" [1937]. Voskovec is known for his role as Juror #11 in "12 Angry Men".