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Despite the imprints of Communist ideology in the film, the popularity of this timeless fairy tale doesn’t fade. Director Bořivoj Zeman adapted Božena Němcová’s story titled Salt Over Gold in his own way. He worked on the script with Jiří Brdečka (among others), but the resulting film and its message were significantly influenced by the extraordinary performances and situational comedy talent of Jan Werich and Vlasta Burian.

The story is set in a small kingdom ruled by King Myself, First (played by Werich), with his comical advisor named Etcetera (portrayed by Liberec native Burian). Even though the kingdom is small, the King would like to entrust it to someone else and retire. But he has three daughters and it’s not easy to pick one because he loves them all equally. He asks them how much they love him in order to select his successor. When his youngest daughter Maruška answers that she loves him as much as salt, the story takes an unexpected turn. The king is outraged and banishes Maruška. He also bans salt throughout the kingdom and while Maruška takes refuge in the forest, things in the kingdom are getting out of the king’s control.

The film’s graphic design was created by none other than Jiří Trnka and Vladimír Novotný was in charge of its special effects. In addition to Werich and Burian, the film stars many other excellent actors such as Lubomír Lipský and Miloš Kopecký.