The prevailing pitiful economic situation affects the lives of many people. Professor Václav Junek gradually realises that his idealistic notions differ considerably from the real life of his four children. The eldest son Zdeněk, an engineer, has been unemployed for two years. His daughter Pavla is a doctor with a low salary and, for existential reasons, accepts the attentions and finally an offer of marriage from a well situated but unloved colleague. The professor's second daughter Hanka leaves her job as a shorthand typist dreaming of becoming a film star. She puts her faith in the fraudulent "film director" Pavelka and helps him to find money for a film project. When she discovers that he is a fake, she rushes into a relationship with a wealthy industrialist. She also secures a job in his factory for her brother Zdeněk. The youngest son Jirka finds work as an accountant at a brewery, but only due to his talent as a footballer. Thus the despairing father is finally persuaded of the aptness of an allegory he reads in one of his students' essays where the situation of young people is compared to that of shipwreck survivors; they are driven onto an iceberg by the wind and waves and now face an uncertain and dark sea.
The film was presented at the 5th Venice Film Festival, 1937.
profesor Václav Junek
Anna, Junkova žena
Ing. Zdeněk Junek, syn Junkových
MUDr. Pavla Junková, dcera Junkových
stenotypistka Hanka, dcera Junkových
absolvent obchodní akademie Jirka, syn Junkových
teta Máli, sestra profesora Junka
služka Barča
MUDr. Vladimír Řípa
fotbalista Franta Cikán
filmový režisér Frank Pavelka
Marta, Zdeňkova dívka
ministr Bedřich Peterka
filmový podnikatel Bruckmann
sekretář u Bruckmanna
filmový autor Harry O. Viktora
agitátor
služka u tety Máli
předseda S. K. Kladno
jednatel S. K. Kladno
funkcionář S. K. Kladno
jednatel S. K. Hvězda
funkcionář S. K. Hvězda
zřízenec na ministerstvu
sekretář u ministra
návštěvník u ministra
ředitel baru
portýr v baru
sestra v nemocnici
barový houslista
žena v čekárně u Bruckmanna
muž v čekárně u Bruckmanna
dělník Karel Malý, sebevrah
Walter Schorsch, Antonín Kubový, Jiří Weiss (adept režie)
Vilém Werner (Lidé na kře – divadelní hra)
Willy Ströminger (fotograf)
Orchestr F.O.K. (Music Conducted by Julius Kalaš)
Joe Turner
Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek
Lidé na kře
Lidé na kře
People on the Iceberg
film
featuretheatrical distribution
drama
Czechoslovakia
1936
1936
start of filming 16 November 1936
end of filming 2 December 1936
date of censorship 01/1937
withdrawal from distribution 01/1940
date of censorship 01/1940 (neschváleno do distribuce)
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1991
premiere 5 February 1937 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Adria /2 týdny/ a Hollywood /3 týdny/, Praha)
renewed premiere 1 May 1963 /suitable for youths/
Ufa (původní 1937), Ústřední půjčovna filmů (obnovená 1963)
feature film
83 min
2 360 meters
35mm
1:1,37
black & white
sound
Tobis – Klang
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Event: Odměny ministra průmyslu, obchodu a živností
1937
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Event: Zvláštní cena Filmového poradního sboru
1937
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Event: Ceny ministra průmyslu, obchodu a živností
1937
Praha / Czechoslovakia
František Smolík