Kopciuszek, książę i bestia – "Zbrodniarz i panna"

Abstract

Cinderella, the Prince and the Beast – the Murderer and the Girl

Maciej Słomczyński 1922–98, one of the best Polish translators, is also known as Joe Alex, the author of very popular crime stories in Agatha Christie’s style. His novels owe their success to skillful use of known conventions and genre patterns. Słomczyński‘s works are witty and full of intertextual allusions, the elements of pastiche and parody. The Murderer and the Girl is a good example of his method: the story of a girl from a provincional town, who is the only wittness of the robbery, is another version of Cinderella’s tale. It is also the pastiche of crime romance in Edgar Wallace’s style. Film adaptation made in 1963 by Janusz Nasfeter does not have the charm of the original book. The Murderer and the Girl, one of the so-called “militia films”, is more of a melodrama than a crime story. Despite many weaknesses its great value is the cast: Małgosia and captain Ziętek are played by Ewa Krzyżewska and Zbigniew Cybulski, the tragic lovers from Ashes and Diamonds.