Martha (1967)

S/S Martha is from 1927 and no maintenance's been done since. Forgotten by HQ in CPH, the Danish crew has a good, stressless time. They celebrate a virgin crew member's 17th birthday buying him a woman. Suddenly, Martha's noticed by HQ.

Director:

Erik Balling

Writers:

Henning Bahs, Preben Kaas (idea)

Stars:

Poul Reichhardt, Poul Bundgaard, Morten Grunwald

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Poul Reichhardt	...	Maskinmester Bråst
Poul Bundgaard	...	Alf
Morten Grunwald	...	Knud Hansen
Ove Sprogøe	...	Hovmester Watson
Preben Kaas	...	Kokken
Karl Stegger	...	Kaptajn Peter Nielsen
Paul Hagen	...	Radiotelegrafist Marius Knudsen (as Poul Hagen)
Henrik Wiehe	...	Styrmanden
Birger Jensen	...	Halfdan
Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt	...	Skibsreder O.P. Andersen
Hanne Borchsenius	...	Lone Andersen
Lily Weiding	...	Frk. Bruun
Bjørn Puggaard-Müller	...	Johansen
Eleni Anousaki	...	Laura
Sverre Wilberg	...	Skibsreder Amundsen

Storyline

A great cult comedy that was probably ahead of its time. A beloved movie among danish sailors. Martha is a very old and very rusty freight steamer, sailing in the Mediterranean, almost forgotten by the danish shipping line. The crew takes advantage of this, leading a very comfortable and luxurious life on board. Not without financial problems though. One day the ships owner suddenly needs to sail on her. He is a very old school and disciplined person and certainly not satisfied with the state of the ship and the crew. But the crew shows their worth when they have to fight for the survival of their beloved old steamer.

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Plot Keywords:

ship | sailor | face slap | ocean | boat | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Details

Country:

Denmark Greece

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

10 October 1967 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

S/S Martha

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nordisk Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first script Erik Balling & Henning Bahs wrote in collaboration.

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Connections

Referenced in Spise med Price: Fise Med Price (2013)

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Soundtracks

Uha Martha sikke en aften
(uncredited)
Performed by Preben Kaas, Poul Reichhardt, Morten Grunwald & Poul Bundgaard

User Reviews

Wonderful cartoon-ish comedy about lovable unreliable slobs

Martha is probably the best, the funniest, and most lovable comedy ever to come out of Denmark. At the time of its release it was a financial flop, but time has made it a classic. Many lovers of old classic danish comedies consider Martha to be the finest of its kind. Even for people who have seen it numerous times, little fine details can still be found. The team is excellent, the cast counts the most loved danish actors of that era, and Balling shows why is by many considered to be the master of popular comedy.

It should be noted though, that while the finished screenplay was written by director Erik Balling and production designer Henning Bahs in collaboration, the original story was conceived by Bahs and the actor Preben Kaas, who plays the cookie on board the ship.

This is stated in the credits on the home video/DVD cassette.