Heave-Ho!

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1934

Production year

1934

Premiere

26 October 1934

Runtime

110 min

Director

Martin Frič

Category

film

Genre

comedy, satire

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Hej-Rup!

Czech title

Hej-Rup!

English title

Heave-Ho!

Working title

Hej rup! – Chceme žít!

Summary

Despite their interest in the medium of film, during the era of the First Republic actors Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich devoted much of their professional energies to the Prague-based avant-garde Osvobozené divadlo (The Liberated Theatre). This meant only two film outings, namely the socially-themed comedies Hej-Rup! (Heave-Ho!, 1934) and Svět patří nám (The World Belongs to Us, 1937), both directed by Martin Frič. Both films have a left-wing take on the 1930s Great Depression era. Today, these entries serve as a testament to the talents of their makers (along with co-writer Václav Wassermann they went under the joint pseudonym “Formen” – or “four men”). In the film, the V+W comic duo portray bankrupted factory owner Jakub Simonides (Werich) and unemployed worker Filip Kornet (Voskovec). The social ideal arising from the joining of forces by our unemployed protagonists against an evil capitalist is far more in a light-hearted comedic sense than later era communist propaganda. Many other performers from The Liberated Theatre also join the cast.

Synopsis

Millionaire Worst decides to destroy a competing firm through subterfuge. He detains industrialist Jakub Simonides at cards for a period of five days in a club and in the meantime everything is being prepared on the stock exchange to deprive Simonides of all his properties. In the club Simonides happens to hear the broadcasted speech of unemployed Filip Kornet and the young man interests Simonides so much that he offers Kornet a job as his secretary. Yet when the two go to his villa, Simonides discovers that he is no longer the owner of either a factory or a villa. Therefore he leaves with Filip to look for work. The young Marta brings Jakub his wallet that he left at the club. In it Jakub finds the title to his house which has escaped the notice of the auctioneer's of his property. The threesome sets out to Simonides's house at once. It comes out that this concerns an unfinished construction. Because neither Filip nor Simonides are competent at construction work, they decide to invite the unemployed. All of them then are the owners of the new building, calling themselves 'hejrupáci' (heave-hoers), and they deposit their profits into a joint fund. So Worst again has a competitor, who he tries to destroy in the same manner as before. But the heave-hoers do not fall for it and they eventually become shareholders in Worst's enterprise. Everything ends in an idyll: Simonides, Filip, and Marta spend a pleasant Sunday outside the town as the ordinary members of the collective.

Note

The film was presented at the 3rd Venice Film Festival, 1935. During filming the work became known as Hej rup!, which weakend the semantic distinction of the phrase. The film had, in fact, previously been named after the dairy cooperative Hej-Rup.

Cast

Jiří Voskovec

nezaměstnaný dělník Filip Kornet

Jan Werich

továrník Jakub Simonides

Helena Bušová

barmanka Marta

Josef Skřivan

Worst, prezident konzervářského průmyslu

Theodor Pištěk

Brown, ředitel Simonidesova koncernu

Alois Dvorský

majitel vily, filatelista

Václav Trégl

nezaměstnaný

František Černý

nezaměstnaný

Miroslav Svoboda

nezaměstnaný

Jan W. Speerger

nezaměstnaný

František Kovářík

nezaměstnaný

František Filipovský

nezaměstnaný Václav Mašl

Bohuš Záhorský

nezaměstnaný strojní inženýr František Novák

Filip Balek-Brodský

nezaměstnaný

Gina Hašler

nezaměstnaný

Věkoslav Satoria

nezaměstnaný

Jiří Hron

nezaměstnaný gigolo

Jan Richter

žebrák

Jaroslav Průcha

rozhlasový inspicient

František Paul

zřízenec u Worsta

Anna Švarcová

Kateřina, majitelka noclehárny U Kateřiny

Josef Novák

člen správní rady

Ada Karlovský

člen správní rady

Antonín Holzinger

člen správní rady

Vladimír Marek

člen správní rady

Eduard Šlégl

člen správní rady

Marie Kopecká

telefonistka u Simonidesa

Ferry Seidl

zaměstnanec rozhlasu

Eduard Šimáček

zaměstnanec rozhlasu

Jindřich Adolf

zaměstnanec rozhlasu

Antonín Frič

vrátný v rozhlasu

Josef Kotalík

komorník u Simonidesa

Václav Pata

Joachim, komorník u Simonidesa

Vladimír Růžička

sluha u ředitele Browna

F. X. Mlejnek

kantinský

Přemysl Pražský

policejní komisař

Rudolf Stahl

strážník

Arnold Reimann

vetešník

Mario Karas

akcionář na burze

Leopold Horešovský

akcionář na burze

Karolína Vávrová

babička v lese

Crew and creators

Director

Martin Frič

Director of Photography

Otto Heller

Camera Operator

Ferdinand Pečenka

Production Designer

Guido Lagus, Rudolf Wels

Art Director

A. L. Salač (interiéry)

Set Designer

Arnold Reimann

Film Editor

Martin Frič

Sound Designer

Bedřich Poledník

Production Manager

František Jerhot

Cooperation

Willy Ströminger (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jaroslav Ježek

Songs

Blues ze dne na den

Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek
Writer of Lyrics Jan WerichJiří Voskovec
Singer Jan WerichJiří Voskovec

Hej rup! Chceme žít

Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek
Writer of Lyrics Jan WerichJiří Voskovec
Singer Jan WerichJiří Voskovecsbor

Full Hand

Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek

Good Evening

Song Composer Jaroslav Ježek

Production info

Original Title

Hej-Rup!

Czech Title

Hej-Rup!

English Title

Heave-Ho!

Working Title

Hej rup! – Chceme žít!

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy, satire

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1934

Production Year

1934

Production specifications

start of filming 13 July 1934 (ateliéry)
end of filming 29 July 1934 (ateliéry)
date of censorship 10/1934
date of censorship 07/1938 (maďarsky namluvená jazyková mutace)
date of censorship 08/1939 (neschváleno do distribuce)

Premiere

premiere 26 October 1934 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Alfa /5 týdnů/, Praha)
premiere 07/1938 /unsuitable for youths/ (maďarsky namluvená jazyková mutace)
renewed premiere 07/1949 /suitable for youths/
renewed premiere 12 March 1954 /suitable for youths/

Production

Meissner

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Distribution

Meissner (původní 1934), Kinofilm Brno (maďarsky dabovaná jazyková mutace 1938), Rozdělovna filmů Československého státního filmu (obnovená 1949 a 1954)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

110 min

Original length in metres

3 135 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,19

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

Tobis – Klang

Versions

Czech, Hungarian

Dialogue languages

Czech, Hungarian, Russian

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech, Hungarian

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Stuhy časopisu Český filmový zpravodaj

1935
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Meissner

Vítěz

Festival: 1. sovětský filmový festival Moskva

1935
Moskva / Russia
Meissner

Vítěz

Event: Čestné diplomy časopisu Filmové listy

1935
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Martin Frič

Vítěz

Festival: 3. mezinárodní filmový festival Benátky

1935
Benátky / Italy