Coz takhle dát si spenát (1977)

Two Czech petty thieves, Liška (Jiří Sovák) and Zemánek (Vladimír Menšík), are caught stealing materials at their workplace. After serving their sentences and being released, they find Netušil (Juraj Herz) and Docent Mlejnek (Čestmír Řanda) waiting for them outside the prison gate with offers of work. Mlejnek is an assistant to Professor Neubauer, a scientist developing the R191 regeneration device to increase cows’ milk yields. At the same time, behind the professor’s back, Mlejnek passes the technological know-how to Netušil, who is building the same device in his beauty salon at the Imperial Hotel. Netušil intends to use it to rejuvenate women and make a lot of money. While stealing substances from the laboratory, Liška and Zemánek are accidentally exposed to radiation and then eat spinach. But the spinach causes them to rejuvenate far more than expected, and the next day the two men wake up as little boys. Doña Isabela, the biggest cattle rancher in Latin America, also arrives in Prague, interested in the device. While there, she plans to marry Juan, a wedding her brother-in-law Carlos wants to prevent. Doña Isabela is also exposed to radiation, by Netušil’s copy of the device. Since she also eats a serving of spinach, she rejuvenates even more and turns into a toddler. Liška and Zemánek want to return to their original forms, but Mlejnek demands money for the restorative procedure, which the boys don’t have; they had previously invested it in buying a truck. Carlos arranges to substitute little Marcelka, Liška’s daughter, for Doña Isabela so that he can get his sister-in-law’s money. Events eventually come to a head at the Imperial Hotel, where all the characters’ paths cross. The police catch Carlos. They also catch Liška and Zemánek, but the two manage to escape and hide. By morning, the two petty thieves have shrunk noticeably and hide inside a cream roll that, by an ironic twist of fate, was stolen by the hotel porter. In the end, they are eaten by a greedy St. Bernard.