Lemonade Joe

Lemonade Joe was made in 1964, during the exuberant period in Czechoslovakia filled with the hope that society was breaking free of the ideological grip of the 1950s and heading towards more freedom. The very choice of the Western and of satirical comedy was in itself already a step in opposition to the official presentation of the Western as ‘a fallen and damaging genre’.
In a typical main street of a small town in the far West, a fight takes place between the handsome hero, Joe, and an ugly scoundrel. Joe is an agent for a company that produces the soft drink ‘Kolaloka’ and is trying to enforce the prohibition of alcohol.
The value of the film does not lie in its story; and five decades later, its slightly oppositionist undertone has disappeared. But its charm, bravura and humour ensured it 4.5 million viewers and the film is still regularly shown on Czech and Slovak TV stations.

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