May 1945. On the outskirts of Prague, ordinary people meet Soviet soldiers-liberators with tears of joy in their eyes. In the early days of the lull, someone sadly recalls a pre-war life; someone unexpectedly meets his love; someone is returning from enemy dungeons looking hopefully into the future; and someone, having moved from a tank into a Czech tram, warmly recalls his craft as a car driver... These days, all those who survived the Great War fire swear an oath to keep peace on Earth forever, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for simple human happiness.
Good-natured and garrulous, Schweik becomes the Austrian army's most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of World War I -- although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it. Playing cards and getting drunk, he uses all his cunning and genial subterfuge to deal with the police, clergy, and officers who chivy him toward battle.
Grammar school teacher Bláha hurts himself in pursuit of a red lizard, and is lying unconscious in the lonely house of Santrucek family. The postman, who found Bláha's coat and hat in the water, announces to everyone in town that the professor has drowned. But, the venerable citizens are at that moment more interested in the theatre group with the beautiful guest actress Eva Gazdová. They demand a change of repertoire and manage to persuade the theatre manager to have the group play the musical comedy The Red Lizard instead of an established play.
The bickering of envious mistresses, the criminal intentions of fraudsters and the love of two young people are at the center of events, in the middle of which unfolds the fate of the city executioner Jiří, who longs to break free from his destiny and become a proper burgher. He is not heard, but he manages to expose the iniquities and their culprits, reunites a hard-pressed couple in love and his undeniable merits for the city and eventually bring him luck.