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

Details

Official Sites:

The official danish homepage

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

11 October 1968 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Blockheads at Work

Filming Locations:

Vridsløselille Statsfængsel, Albertslund, Sjælland, Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

DKK 1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nordisk Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

The working title of the movie was "Perlemorderne", a play on the words "perlemor" (mother-of-pearl) and "morderne (murderers)

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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

Followed by The Olsen Gang - Final Mission (1998)

User Reviews

One of the best comedies ever made.

This is one of the best crime comedies out there, and when you take the whole sequels that followed it into consideration, it might be *the* best crime comedy ever. The (mis)adventures of Egon Olsen and his (in)famous gang may not be for everyone's liking, but they definitely come close.

If you ever liked even a single crime comedy, you should get a hold of this movie ASAP. This may be troublesome particularly for US viewers, but it's worth a try.