''S.O.S. Eisberg'' (aka ''S.O.S. Iceberg'' and ''Iceland'') is a 1933 German-US

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

drama film directed by

Arnold Fanck Arnold Fanck (6 March 1889 – 28 September 1974) was a German film director and pioneer of the mountain film genre. He is best known for the extraordinary alpine footage he captured in such films as '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926), '' The White He ...

and starring

Gustav Diessl Gustav Diessl (30 December 1899 – 20 March 1948) was an Austrian artist, and film and stage actor. Biography Diessl was born Gustav Karl Balthasar Diessl in Vienna. In 1916, he was an extra on different stages in Vienna but was soon recruited ...

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

Sepp Rist Sepp Rist (24 February 1900 – 11 December 1980) was a German film actor.Goble p.480 In WW1 he served in the Imperial German Navy. He was married to the actress Carla Rust. Partial filmography * '' Storm over Mont Blanc'' (1930) - Hannes * '' S. ...

Gibson Gowland Gibson Gowland (4 January 1877 – 9 September 1951) was an English film actor. Biography Gowland was born in Spennymoor, County Durham. He started work as a sailor and later became the mate on a ship. For several years from the age of 25 he ...

Rod La Rocque Roderick Ross La Rocque (November 29, 1898 – October 15, 1969) was an American actor. Biography La Rocque was born in Chicago, Illinois to Edmund La Rocque and Ann (née Rice) La Rocque. His father was of French-Canadian descent and his mo ...

, and

Ernst Udet Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was a German pilot during World War I and a ''Luftwaffe'' Colonel-General (''Generaloberst'') during World War II. Udet joined the Imperial German Air Service at the age of 19, and eventually ...

. The film was written by Tom Reed based on a story by Arnold Fanck and

Friedrich Wolf Friedrich Wolf may refer to: *Friedrich Wolf (writer) (1888–1953), German doctor and writer *Friedrich August Wolf Friedrich August Wolf (; 15 February 1759 – 8 August 1824) was a German classicist and is considered the founder of modern ...

. ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' follows the account of the real-life

Alfred Lothar Wegener Alfred Lothar Wegener (; ; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and Polar regions of Earth, polar researcher. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievemen ...

polar expedition of 1929-30. Two members of the ill-fated Wegener expedition served as technical consultants to

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

."Review: 'S.O.S. Eisberg'."
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', 31 December 1932. Retrieved: 23 July 2019. Among the stars in ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' were Leni Riefenstahl, who had just made her directorial debut in '' The Blue Light'' (1932). Riefenstahl, in her last film as an actress, co-starred with Gustav Diessl and Ernst Udet in the German version ''S.O.S. Eisberg'', and with Gibson Gowland and Rod La Rocque in the English version, ''S.O.S. Iceberg''. Ernst Udet, a former German

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in a cameo performance, flew in both versions.

Plot of ''S.O.S. Eisberg''

At a banquet at the International Society for Arctic Research, the members toast scientist Dr. Carl Lorenz (

), about to recreate famed explorer Wegener's ill-fated expedition. Lawrence's team consists of two scientists, Dr. Johannes Brand (

) and Dr. Jan Matushek (

Max Holzboer Wilhelm Max G. Holsboer (sometimes ''Holzboer''; 29 July 1883 - 12 January 1958) was a Swiss ice hockey player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He later appeared in several films. In 1920, he participated with the Swiss ice hockey team i ...

), his friend, Fritz Kuemmel (

Walter Riml Walter Riml (September 23, 1905 – June 21, 1994) was an Austrian cameraman and actor. Life Born in Innsbruck, the 2.05 m tall Tyrolean at first was trained as a carpenter and an interior designer. As a passionate sportsman and skier he contac ...

), their financial backer, John Dragan (

), and their pilot to the Arctic, Lorenz's wife Hella (

). After Hella drops them at their base camp, the men begin their long trek to recover Wegener's records and prove his theories on ice floes. As the weeks pass, Brand and the others fear they will not survive when the ice breaks up, but Lorenz scoffs and refuses to wait until winter. Early one morning, Lorenz sets out on his own. His companions fear he is lost. They find a hut Wegener occupied and a note from Lorenz saying that he is trying to reach a native village. Suddenly, the break up of the ice leaves their sleds of food supplies tumbling into a ravine. The rescuers take refuge on a huge iceberg where they discover that Lorenz is there, dazed and uncommunicative. Brand begins sending out an S.O.S. on his wireless and Hella immediately leaves to search for her husband. Disaster strikes, with Dragan going mad, and as Kümmel fights with him to prevent their dog, Nakinak, from being killed, Kümmel falls to his death. When Hella finds the survivors, she misjudges her landing and crashes but is able to swim to the iceberg. Brand seeing they are drifting out to sea, dives into the water, and is picked up by another pilot (

) following Hella's flight path. The pilot flies Brand to the nearby Eskimo village. Matushek sees two polar bears fighting over a seal but is killed when he tries to spear the bears. Dragan then attacks Hella, but by then her husband has come to his senses, and she is saved. The iceberg begins to come apart, throwing Dragan into the sea. Lorenz, Hella and Nakinak are rescued by the Eskimos. The three survivors later are aboard a ship bound for home, but Lorenz is haunted by the deaths incurred in his misguided expedition.

Cast

;German version *

as Dr. Karl Lorenz *

as Hella Lorenz *

as Dr. Johannes Krafft *

as Ernst Udet *

as John Dragan *

as Dr. Jan Matuschek *

as Fritz Kümmel ;English version *

as Dr. Carl Lawrence *

as Ellen Lawrence *

as Dr. Johannes Brand *

as Ernst Udet, flier *

as John Dragan *

as Dr. Jan Matuschek *

as Fritz Kümmel * Nakinak as Nakinak, the Eskimo dog

Production

Under the working title ''Iceland'', ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' was filmed on location in

Umanak Uummannaq is a town in the Avannaata municipality, in central-western Greenland. With 1,407 inhabitants in 2020, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Founded in 1763 as Omenak, t ...

, on the west coast of Greenland, in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and in the Bernina Alps, on the border between Italy and Switzerland."Notes: 'S.O.S. Iceberg'(1933)."
''Turner Classic Movies'', 2019. Retrieved: July 23, 2019. Prior to principal photography, pre-production development and location shooting took a year. The film's opening credits stated that it was produced "under the auspices of the Danish government and under the protectorate of the renowned polar explorer

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies ...

."Catalog: 'S.O.S. Iceberg'."
''afi.com'', 2019. Retrieved: July 23, 2019. A total of 38 men and women, three polar bears and two sea lions of the Hagenbeck circus making up the crew of the ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' boarded the ''Borodino'' at the end of June 1932. Filming was especially arduous with "Leni Riefenstahl, whose life he (Fanck) had often put in danger", after her repeated swimming in frigid waters, had to leave the production, "before the others, to be hospitalized in Copenhagen". Modern sources have identified real dangers that occurred in the filming of ''S.O.S. Eisberg'': "... none of the film's actors had doubles" and actors including Riefenstahl endured extreme cold and performed dangerous stunts. "... Udet nearly lost his life when his plane's engine lost power and crashed at the base of an iceberg. Udet was rescued by Eskimos, but minutes later, the iceberg which was supporting some of the crew crumbled to bits, casting men and equipment into the water below. The production unit ship anchored nearby was so shaken by the event that it nearly capsized, throwing people on board the deck into the water. All were rescued, but considerable sound equipment was destroyed." Although "conceived and started by Germans", ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' was "turned over to Universal when the originators were unable to carry it through."

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

made the decision to film simultaneously in German and English. Released by Universal Studios in both countries, with the German edition slightly longer with 10 additional minutes, the English version was retitled, ''S.O.S. Iceberg'' and released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The highlights of the action included air crashes; the aircraft in ''S.O.S. Eisberg'' were: * de Havilland 60 Genet Moth c/n 271, D-1651 *

BFW M.23 The BFW M.23, sometimes known as the Messerschmitt M 23, was a 1920s two-seat sporting aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt, and produced by ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' (BFW). Examples won several prestigious races in 1929 and 1930. Develo ...

bW c/n 511, D-1970 * Klemm VL 26b c/n 278, D-2269 *

Udet U 12 The Udet U 12 Flamingo was an aerobatic sports plane and trainer aircraft developed in Germany in the mid-1920s. Design and development The U 12 was a conventional, single-bay biplane of wooden construction with the wings braced by large I-stru ...

b Spezial Flamingo D-822 *

Junkers A 20 Junkers A 35 was a two-seater cantilever monoplane, used for postal, training and military purposes. The aircraft was designed in the 1920s by Junkers (Aircraft), Junkers in Germany and manufactured at Dessau and by AB Flygindustri in Limhamn, Swe ...

c/n 862, D-574Santoir, Christian
"Review: 'S.O.S. Eisberg'."
''Aeromovies'', 29 July 2011. Retrieved: 23 July 2019. Aviation film historian James H. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984) noted, "... some outstanding, though brief aerial sequences are featured."

Reception

''S.O.S. Eisberg'' premiered on 30 August 1933 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The film was a box office disappointment for Universal.D. W
"Taking a look at the record."
''The New York Times'', 25 November 1934. ''

'' in their contemporary review of ''S.O.S. Iceberg'' noted, "The result is an authentic and authoritative series of polar pictures which scarcely need the pressbook assurance that no miniatures were used to supplement the straight shots."

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Fanck, Arnold. ''S.O.S. Eisberg. Mit Dr. Fanck u. Ernst Udet in Groenland. Die Groenland-Expedition des Universal-Films S.O.S. Eisberg''. München: F. BruckmannAG, 1933. OCLC 219890420. * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema''. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Riefenstahl, Leni. ''Leni Riefenstahl: A Memoir''. New York: Picador, 1995. . * Riefenstahl, Leni. ''Kampf in Schee und Eis''. Leipzig: Hesse und Bacher Verlag, 1933. * Sorge, Ernst. ''With Plane, Boat, and Camera in Greenland: An Account of the Universal Dr. Fanck Greenland expedition''. London: Hurst & Blackett, Ltd., 1935.

External links

* * * *
John Gallagher review of 2005 DVD released by Kino International
{{Arnold Fanck 1933 films American aviation films 1930s adventure drama films American adventure drama films German adventure drama films Films of the Weimar Republic Films of Nazi Germany 1930s German-language films 1930s English-language films American multilingual films Mountaineering films German multilingual films Films directed by Arnold Fanck Films set in the Arctic Films shot in Greenland Films scored by Paul Dessau 1933 multilingual films 1933 drama films 1930s American films 1930s German films