The Olsen Gang (1968)

Egon Olsen's criminal trio always gets itself into unlucky, comical situations when executing Egon's genius plans. After release from prison, Egon already has a new plan - steal a valuable German item from a secured museum in Copenhagen.

Director:

Erik Balling

Writers:

Erik Balling, Henning Bahs

Stars:

Ove Sprogøe, Morten Grunwald, Poul Bundgaard

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ove Sprogøe	...	Egon Olsen
Morten Grunwald	...	Benny Frandsen
Poul Bundgaard	...	Kjeld Jensen
Peter Steen	...	Kriminalassistent Mortensen
Poul Reichhardt	...	Chefen
Kirsten Walther	...	Yvonne Jensen
Lotte Tarp	...	Ulla
Grethe Sønck	...	Connie
Hanne Løye	...	Prostitueret
Lise Henningsen	...	Prostitueret
Ole Monty	...	Sheriffen
Paul Hagen	...	Hansen
Arthur Jensen	...	Stationskarl
Ejner Federspiel	...	Konduktør
Poul Thomsen	...	Politichauffør

Storyline

The first of 13 Olsenbanden films presents us with Egon Olsen, head of the gang, and his friends Benny and Kjeld, who want to become the best known gang in Denmark and eventually Europe by stealing a famous Bavarian work of art currently displayed in a Copenhagen museum. Although Egon's plan works out fine, there is only trouble ahead for the little gang.

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Plot Keywords:

olsenbanden | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Family

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start of the robbery, Benny's car is parked in front of a red car with license plate number KK 28.666. Benny's car has license plate number KH 28.666.

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Goofs

When Egon and Benny are arguing about driving the lorry, Benny stops and refuses to drive any further. As they have stopped on a slope, the lorry starts rolling backwards, as seen in a long shot. In the close-up of Egon pulling the hand break, you can see that the lorry is not rolling backwards, but in the next long shot, it is rolling, just as you hear Egon pulling the break, stopping the lorry.

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Connections

Referenced in Tivoli-Revyen 1988 (1989)

User Reviews

Good start to the series

From the first movie, this series had not completely found its tone yet, but it's excellent and certainly fits in with the others. Yvonne has three children here, and from the second one only one, so they've changed the structure a bit there. Also this first movie has some porn in it which was toned down in later entries to make it more family-friendly. But the plot in this first movie is great. As in the other movies, we have a great chase after a treasure. Egon has a "plan", the music is there, and the action takes right on. Actually, one should watch all 13 from 1968-1981 since they are connected. Number 14 was perhaps not so successful though. Anyway, this is one of best comedies ever made, and it is really worth watching for all fans of movies.

Details

Official Sites:

The official danish homepage

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

11 October 1968 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Olsen Gang

Filming Locations:

Vridsløselille Statsfængsel, Albertslund, Sjælland, Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

DKK1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nordisk Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)