Hoffman’s “Quack” was not the first. This is what Professor Wilczur looked like in 1937

is one of the most widely read Polish writers of the interwar period. They gained instant popularity, mainly thanks to film adaptations. Finally, he decided to try his hand at being a screenwriter. Inspired by an article he read in the newspaper about a doctor convicted of quackery, and his own experiences from years ago, he created a story. However, the cinema was not interested in her.

Hoffman’s “The Quack” was not the first film adaptation of this novel. Who created the prototype of Professor Wilczur?

Resigned by this failure, the writer finally decided to adapt this story into a novel. In this way, in 1937, it was published on the publishing market. While the script did not arouse much interest, the book was a real success. Its enormous popularity among readers meant that subsequent copies disappeared from bookstore shelves in the blink of an eye. Only then was the decision made to film it. Work began almost immediately. However, Dołęga-Mostowicz’s script was not used. The film adaptation was written by an outstanding poet, Anatol Stern.

The black-and-white film adaptation directed by Michał Waszyński was as successful as its original, becoming a real hit in post-war cinema. The title character was portrayed on screen for the first time by one of the most outstanding actors of pre-war Polish cinema, Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski. Elżbieta Barszczewska appeared at his side, playing a double role – first the medicine man’s wife, and later his daughter, Marysia. Numerous positive reviews, praising primarily the clear action and excellent acting, led to the decision to make a sequel. The first one, titled “Profesor Wilczur”, was created in 1938, and a year later “The Testament of Professor Wilczur” debuted on the big screen.

The 1937 version is different from the 1980s version. What is the focus of the story from over eight decades ago?

It is no secret that “The Quack” differs in terms of its plot from the one directed by Jerzy Hoffman from 1982. The biggest inconsistencies concern the Wilczurs’ marriage. In Hoffman’s version, the wife leaves the main character because she cannot cope with the fame that has fallen on their family after his success. However, the original idea was completely different. The woman committed adultery and, at the instigation of her lover, she left the surgeon and her daughter. The devastated professor drowns his sorrows in alcohol, hanging out in one of the nearby pubs, where he is ultimately beaten. As a result of the incident, he irreversibly loses his memory and begins to lead the life of a wanderer

Using the identity of Antoni Kosiba, who has been dead for years, he wanders around villages, doing various odd jobs to earn money. He accidentally ends up in a mill, where he starts healing people. The town’s doctors see him as competition and accuse him of quackery. Then he ends up in the dock. He is recognized in the room by Doctor Dobraniecki, with whom he once competed. Despite the conflict from years ago, it is he who saves him from trouble.