The Olsen Gang

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The Olsen Gang
Original title Olsen bands
Country of production Denmark
original language Danish
Publishing year 1968
length 80 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Erik Balling
script Henning Bahs , Erik Balling
production Bo Christensen
music Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
camera Jeppe M. Jeppesen , Claus Loof
cut Ole Steen Nielsen
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
The Olsen Gang in a tight spot

The Olsen Gang is a Danish detective comedy from 1968. The film was the first with the Olsen Gang as the main character and was to be followed by 13 successful sequels.

action

Gang leader Egon returns from one of his numerous prison terms after being arrested in a failed break-in at a tobacco shop at the beginning of the film. Egon, Benny and Kjeld discuss their new plan in the gang's usual meeting place, the bar run by the host Hansen and the attached brothel owned by the prostitute Connie: On the occasion of a Bavarian culture week, a valuable exhibit, the so-called Kaiseraufsatz, will be from the property in the Copenhagen Art Industry Museum the Hohenzollern shown; this wants to steal the gang. The expected windfall comes in handy for the gang, as Kjeld has to take care of his family of five while Benny is engaged to the nude model Ulla.

The gang prepares for the robbery. Although Detective Inspector Mortensen guarded the Kaiseraufsatz very obediently (although he often stood in his own way) and the museum was equipped with the most modern security devices, the robbery succeeded.

After the robbery, the gang set off in Benny's car for the airport, where Yvonne and the children and Ulla are waiting. Everyone wants to travel to Mallorca together to disguise the gang's escape as a vacation trip. On the way, however, the car suddenly breaks down due to a lack of petrol and is towed away by the police a little later - along with the Kaiser essay hidden in it.

The art industry museum on Bredgade, robbed in the film .
The courthouse in Copenhagen, in front of which the Olsen gang sells bananas at the end of the film and Mortensen patrols.

At night, however, Egon, Benny and Kjeld manage to fetch the Kaiser essay from the police car park. They hide him in the pram of Kjeld's youngest child - which turns out to be problematic as Yvonne leaves to see her mother after an argument with her husband, taking the children and their pram with her. The Olsen Gang set out to stop them. Mortensen follows her after finding a photo of Benny and Ulla that the Olsen gang lost during the robbery in the museum. After a chaotic chase in which the gang has to change modes of transport several times (including twice due to lack of petrol), they manage to find the stroller - but it is empty. Kjeld's eldest son, Birger, who doesn't believe in crime, has taken the imperial essay and gives it to the police. Egon is arrested again, Mortensen demoted to patrol duty.

History of origin

The idea of ​​making a comedy about the everyday life of a gang of crooks, whose everyday life should look just like that of any other person and who carry out their criminal activities like a normal job, occupied Henning Bahs for several years. After he had made several films with Morten Grunwald, Ove Sprogøe and Poul Bundgaard together with Erik Balling (1965 Sla først, Frede ; 1966 Slap af, Frede ; 1967 Martha ), they finally wrote the screenplay for Die Olsenbande . The name of the main character "Egon Olsen" was an idea of ​​Bahs' son, the similarity to Ole Olsen , the founder of Nordisk Film A / S , is coincidental. The working title for the film was Perlemorderne ("Pearl Murderer").

German synchronizations

In 1970 this film was brought to the cinemas of the GDR by DEFA , which dubbed all sequels. The famous actor Rolf Ludwig could only be heard as Egon , while Benny and Kjeld were already dubbed by their later standard voices Peter Dommisch and Erhard Köster . Klaus Mertens spoke to the landlord Hansen . Karl Heinz Oppel , who gave Egon's voice from film 3, dubbed Kommissar Mortensen in this and in the second film. The dialogue book was written by Wolfgang Woizick , who thereby also became the creator of the legendary expression “mighty mighty” .

In West Germany, the first and second films in 1970 for the 86-minute film Die Panzerknackerbande were cut together, dubbed and shown in cinemas.

meaning

The film differs in part significantly from its successors. Not only that Kjeld has three children in this film, but also the gang's regular visits to brothels and the fact that Kjeld and Yvonne did not yet live in the almost village-like Valby , but in the then metropolitan Nørrebro , gives this film a different flair than the one following.

Locations

The scene of the robbery is, on the one hand, the former Kunstindustrimuseet in Copenhagen , located at number 68 on the street Bredgade , in which the exhibition of the Kaiseraufsatz took place, as well as an underground passage leading there, the entrance of which was in a backyard.

The pub, brothel and Yvonne and Kjeld's apartment were on Frederik-VIIs-Gade, a street in the Nørrebro district that only partially exists. The building in which the Hamlet was located, as well as the buildings adjacent to the pub and apartment, were demolished in the course of extensive modernization. Nørrebro's urban renewal met with considerable resistance, which resulted in street fighting and squatting. In this respect, this film is a document that has preserved a little of the earlier liveliness and urbanity of this urban quarter.

Reviews

  • Eulenspiegel 1970, No. 30: “That comes across as harmless thriller fun and yet it can unexpectedly distribute a whole lot of satirical and parodistic swipes that it just cracks. (...) We thank the dialogue translation by Wolfgang Woizick that the German version leaves nothing to be desired or dry eyes ... "

Remarks

  • In Norway, 1970 began to remake this film with its own actors under the title Olsen-Banden , whereupon a separate offshoot was created with the film series Olsenbande (Norway) .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frank Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang , p. 287
  2. ↑ Frank Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang , p. 312