Editing Lemonade Joe (section)

== Production ==

=== Sources ===
Stories about the [[American frontier]], such as those by [[Karl May]] and [[Jack London]], had long been widely read in [[Central Europe]];{{sfn|Hames|2002}} May's influence in particular was crucial to the Eastern European imagination of the American West.{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=114}} American Western films had been popular in Czech theatres throughout the history of the [[First Republic of Czechoslovakia]], from its founding in 1918 until the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia]] in 1939.{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=104}} During the occupation and throughout [[Joseph Stalin]]'s control of the [[Soviet Union]], Westerns were banned. In the early 1960s, during [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s [[De-Stalinization]] of the Soviet Union, Westerns began to reappear in Czechoslovakia, with films such as ''[[High Noon]]'', ''[[The Big Country]]'', and ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'' screened in theatres.{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=105}}

Jiří Brdečka, a prolific Czech screenwriter and satirist,{{sfn|Hemelíková|2007}} created the Lemonade Joe character in a 1940 serial,{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=115}} a parody of [[dime novel]]s commissioned by the popular magazine ''Ahoj na neděli''. As the serial progressed, however, the target of the satire shifted from dime novels to Western epics;{{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=41}} Brdečka was a self-professed fan of Westerns, citing ''Stagecoach'', ''[[Wells Fargo (film)|Wells Fargo]]'' (1937), and ''[[Frontier Marshal (1939 film)|Frontier Marshal]]'' (1939) as the films that sparked his interest in the genre.{{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=37}} Brdečka also wrote a nonfiction work about the American frontier, ''Kolty bez pozlátka'' (1956), de-mythologizing the iconic Western figures of [[Wild Bill Hickok]], [[Billy the Kid]], and [[Jesse James]].{{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=38}}

The ''Lemonade Joe'' stories were adapted as a stage play in 1946,{{sfn|Hames|2002}} which was a pronounced popular success.{{sfn|Johnston|2008}} The stories also inspired the 1949 [[stop-motion animation]] short film ''[[Song of the Prairie (Trnka film)|Song of the Prairie]]'' (where the ''Lemonade Joe'' theme song, "Sou Fár Tu Jú Aj Mej", appeared for the first time){{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=39}} as well as two other animated films: [[Dušan Vukotić]]'s ''Cowboy Jimmie'' (Yugoslavia, 1957) and [[Witold Giersz]]'s ''Maly Western'' ("The Little Western," Poland, 1961).{{sfn|Imre|2009|p=86}}

=== Filming ===
The Stetson City facades were built at the Czech film studios at [[Barrandov]]. [[Location shooting]] was done near [[Karlštejn Castle]], in a former quarry that had been nicknamed "[[Velká Amerika|Amerika]]" since the nineteenth century for its similarity to the [[American West]].{{sfn|Johnston|2008}} An authentic [[Smith & Wesson]] gun, used as a prop by Joe, was borrowed from a local museum and restored especially for the film.{{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=44}}

In creating a filming style, director [[Oldrich Lipský]] was inspired by silent comedy films, from which he borrowed numerous effects, including [[film tinting]], [[slow motion]], and [[fast motion]].{{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=51}} Brdečka's experience as an [[Animation|animator]], often in collaboration with [[Jiří Trnka]], led to several effects and ideas derived from animation being incorporated into the film, including animated smoke rings and dotted lines for bullet paths, freeze frames for dramatic effect, and even a reference to the [[Acme Corporation]] from the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoons.{{sfn|Hames|2002}}

The film includes specific parodic tributes to [[Western (genre)|Western]] [[silent film]] actors such as [[William S. Hart]] and [[Tom Mix]],{{sfn|Hames|2002}} as well as "[[singing cowboy]]" stars like [[Gene Autry]], [[Tex Ritter]], and [[Fred Leedon Scott|Fred Scott]].{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=106}} The film also evokes numerous other films, including [[Louis Feuillade]]'s silent film serials, the 1911 [[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]] Western ''Arizona Bill'', and the works of [[John Ford]], including ''[[My Darling Clementine]]''. Tornado Lou's character suggests [[Marlene Dietrich]]'s character in another classic Western film, ''[[Destry Rides Again]]'',{{sfn|Hames|2002}} and Hogofogo is likely modeled on [[John Carradine]]'s character in ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' (1939).{{sfn|Mléčková|2006|p=49}}

=== Music ===
The film's [[film score|score]] matches the eclecticism of the story's sources, including [[honky-tonk piano]] pieces as well as traditional jazz and other genres. Joe's songs were dubbed by the "Golden Voice of Prague," [[Karel Gott]], and the popular singer [[Waldemar Matuška]] was cast for a small role including a solo.{{sfn|Hames|2002}}