Olsen Gang

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Olsen Gang
Original title Olsen bands
genre Crime / crook comedy

The Olsen Gang (from left: Benny, Egon, Kjeld) on Mallorca during the shooting of the film The (presumably) last prank of the Olsen Gang .
Data
Country of production Denmark
original language Danish
Production year (s) 1968–1998 (14 films)
Locations Denmark (mostly)
script Henning Bahs and Erik Balling
Director Movie
producer Nordisk Film A / S
Co-producer Film 14: Central German Broadcasting
camera Movie
cut Movie
music Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
occupation Protagonists
synchronization 3 German versions
  • DEFA (1-13)
  • German dubbing (3, 7, 8, 9, 11 for ZDF)
  • Rob Houwer Film & Television GmbH (1–3 BRD cinema)

A 14-part Danish crook comedy series is summarized as Die Olsenbande , although the series itself has no name, only the individual films. In the films made between 1968 and 1998, a thief trio tries again and again to get rich with a "big coup" according to a clever plan of their leader, but always fails for different and mostly bizarre reasons.

The three crooks are represented by Ove Sprogøe (gang leader and namesake Egon Olsen), Morten Grunwald (Benny Frandsen) and Poul Bundgaard (Kjeld Jensen). The scripts are by Henning Bahs and Erik Balling . Balling directed all of the films except for the last shoot.

The series was a great success in Denmark, Poland , the GDR and Hungary . Some of the films were also shown on West German, Swiss and Austrian television, but were nowhere near as well known as in the GDR. According to some experts, this is probably due to the West German synchronization , which never reached the quality of DEFA's . After the liquidation of the German TV broadcasting company (DFF), almost all third programs in Germany broadcast the Olsen Gang's films in the DEFA version in addition to the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) and thus contributed to their distribution in western Germany.

From 1969, all films in the series were filmed in a Norwegian version with Norwegian actors, for which the plot was moved from Copenhagen to Oslo . After the 14 Olsen Gang films, a "youth version" of the Olsen Gang was made in Norway, the Olsen Gang Junior , which is based on the previously published 31-part Danish television series Olsen-bandens første kup .

History of origin

The Danish screenwriter Henning Bahs had the idea for the Olsen Gang at the end of the 1960s. He invented a story about three petty crooks who should have the same everyday worries as any "normal" person. Together with his friend, the director Erik Balling, he wrote the screenplay for the film Die Olsenbande (working title: Perlemorderne translates as “pearl murderer”). They chose Ove Sprogøe , Morten Grunwald and Poul Bundgaard as the main actors , with whom they had previously made films such as: caliber 7.65 - Thieves greetings from Copenhagen , Slå først, Frede (in German : Schlag First, Frede ), 1965; Slap af, Frede (in German: Relax, Frede ), 1966; Martha , 1967. These films are also considered the forerunners of the Olsen gang.

The film premiered on October 11, 1968. In Denmark it was an undreamt-of success, whereupon the sequel The Olsen Gang in the Clamp was filmed in 1969 . Thanks to its great success, the first film was sold abroad (GDR and Poland 1970, Sweden 1971).

While the first two films were more or less a field of experimentation, from the third film The Olsen Gang Goes to Jutland (1971) the main characters with their strengths and weaknesses were more and more consolidated. From now on another film followed annually.

In 1974 the makers of the Olsen Gang wanted to say goodbye to their audience with the film The (probably) last prank of the Olsen Gang, but the film The Olsen Gang, which was made the following year, is even described by Danish fans as the best of the series. In 1981 the films The Olsen Gang flies over the plank and The Olsen gang flies over all mountains , which tell a three-hour self-contained story. These films should be irrevocably the last.

The fans and some of the actors, especially Poul Bundgaard, always wanted another film, but the spiritual fathers of the Olsen Gang fought against a fourteenth Olsen Gang film for many years. When the main actress Kirsten Walther died in 1987, that no longer seemed realistic.

But in 1996 Sprogøe, Grunwald and Bundgaard shot the four-and-a-half -minute advertising film Olsen-Bandens spareplan for a Danish energy supplier under Ballings' direction . After the positive reactions to this film, Balling and Bahs decided to try again. So in 1998 the (really) very last trick of the Olsen gang came about . The project threatened to fail when lead actor Poul Bundgaard and, shortly afterwards, director Tom Hedegaard died during filming . But it was decided to finish the film with a double for the main actor. It premiered in Denmark on December 18, 1998 .

In addition, a children's television series , a children's film , a number of computer animation films and several plays (see impact history ) were created for the Olsen Gang .

Main characters and main actors

Egon Olsen

Ove Sprogøe (around 1988)

Egon Olsen , a gentleman criminal with a strong drive for reputation and perfectionist, is the boss and namesake of the Olsen Gang. During his stays in prison (always in Vridsløselille Statsfængsel ) he develops a “brilliant” and “surefire” plan every time, which he presents to his two accomplices after his release. As the only gang member he seeks access to "better circles". His trademarks are the gray bowler hat , pinstripe suit and cigar (in the early films he mostly smokes them, later he actually only lights a cigar to celebrate his release) - he keeps the cold cigar butt in his mouth even when he is gagged becomes.

Egon's greatest technical skill is cracking safes only with a stethoscope and a sure instinct on the combination lock, whereby he specializes in safes from the manufacturer "Franz Jäger, Berlin", which the Olsen gang comes across again and again (see Running Gags ). This process follows a ritual: First Egon rubs his hands with chalk , then he puts on two long red rubber gloves, then the stethoscope is put on, then he goes to work in the greatest possible silence. As an artist, he has these aids handed over to him by others, mostly Benny and Kjeld.

Egon generally shows himself to be a hypothermic pedant who has only disdain for his opponents, but often also for allies. He seldom laughs; strange situations tend to cause him alienation. He treats jokes, mostly from Benny, with suspicion or mute disapproval. As a rule, even in desperate situations, he remains the hardened professional, sober thinker and ambitious driver. However, in the event of mishaps - especially when Benny, Kjeld or Yvonne do not keep the agreed plans to his satisfaction - he tends to rant (in which he has a considerable repertoire of swear words ; see running gags ) and sometimes also to destructiveness. If he is tricked by opponents, he usually subordinates the desire for revenge to all other goals.

Egon has mastered the art of turning the word around in the mouth. For example, if Yvonne wants to break away from him again or to talk him out of his plan, he convinces her that his views are exactly the same as hers. In film 10, Benny demands an apology from Egon after he deliberately screwed up a coup for him. The scene ends with Benny apologizing to Egon.

In the later films, Egon's advancing age and his allegedly diminished mental sanity are often discussed. His views and criminal methods - although Egon succeeds quite often with them - are viewed as out of date by both the gang and their opponents. This ends with Egon's admission to a psychiatric institution at the end of the 13th film. Nevertheless, he is engaged in the 14th film by State Secretary Hallandsen, because in his opinion Egon is the only one who can still work properly, even if his methods are not necessarily up to date. In the same film, Inspector Jensen describes Egon as a gentleman, on the grounds that he has at least always only committed illegal crimes, unlike many white-collar criminals "nowadays" whose crimes are legal.

There are two figures for Egon's birth year: 1925 or 1927. The number of prison sentences cannot be precisely determined. According to Benny from Film 2, Egon was imprisoned for the first time in 1962 (when he was 35 or 37). In the same film, he celebrates his tenth release from prison. This is contradicted by the fact that at the end of the 10th film The Olsen Gang climbs onto the roof he starts his tenth prison sentence, including a reception with a trellis and prison tape. Overall, he sits in prison 25 times during the films - according to the films mostly about six to eight months each time (except in the first film - he sits there twice for two years and in the time between film 13 and 14 (17 years), because he admitted to the psychiatric department as an incurable criminal after the end of the 13th film). In the eighth film there is talk of 20 convictions. Nevertheless, at the end of the tenth film, he is solemnly greeted by the prison director for the tenth time.

Egon Olsen is one of the typical anti-heroes in film history , an eternal loser who always remains a stand-up man . His way of developing and implementing plans and reacting to setbacks is borrowed from the character Doc Esterhazy from the film noir classic Asphalt-Dschungel , played by Sam Jaffe .

Egon was played in all films by Ove Sprogøe (1919-2004).

Benny Frandsen

Morten Grunwald (1966)

Benny Frandsen is kind of a big boy with a loose mouth. As a driver of the Olsen Gang, he is not only excellent at driving cars, but also, for example, small locomotives, cranes and tanks. In addition, he is an expert in manipulating vending machines, slot machines, parking meters or payphones with the help of a small brass-like lever tool and also in opening doors. He always keeps this small tool in the welt pocket for the pocket square of his jacket and is extremely reluctant to give it out of hand. Benny's trademark: a brown-checked jacket, pants that are too short, yellow socks, a floppy hat and a slightly prancing walk. He wears trousers that are too short even after swapping his normal clothes for a disguise. His standard saying (in DEFA synchronization) is “Mighty, mighty!” . In the Danish original Benny says “Skide godt” at these points , which translates as “Shit good”.

Benny almost always stands by Egon and agrees with everything Egon does and says. If there is a dispute between Kjeld and Egon, Benny acts as mediator. Only once is he really mad at Egon: when he deliberately screwed up his carefully concocted coup in film 10 in order to be able to keep an appointment in prison.

Benny has neither a family nor a permanent residence. In film 1, Benny has a fiancée named Ulla, with whom he also has a child at the end of the film. But neither child nor Ulla ever reappear. In film 5 he gets engaged to a Ragna, but without consequences.

The actor of Benny was in all films Morten Grunwald (1934-2018).

Kjeld Jensen

Poul Bundgaard (1991)

Kjeld Jensen is the only family man in the gang. He is very worried about his wife Yvonne (to whom he always has to submit) and about his private life in general. The coups of the Olsen gang are not always compatible with his conscience; for him the crime is only a means to feed his family and enable his wife to live her often lavish lifestyle.

Kjeld's job is to get all those (often bizarre) items the gang needs to carry out their coups. He always carries this with him in a midwife's bag . He is clearly overweight and is easily distracted by the delicacies waiting to be served. He wears a brown jacket, flat cap and bow tie.

With his rather fearful nature, Kjeld forms the counterpart to the unshakable, self-confident Egon and the easy to inspire Benny. Kjelds first question on Egon's new plan is often: "Is not that dangerous?" . During the coup, Kjeld initially puts on a professional cool, but when things get really tricky, he can get downright anxiety attacks and thus question the success. Most of the time he bites his way through bravely, especially when it comes to freeing Egon from a fix. The only time he and Benny are arrested, he suffers a panic attack that makes him completely incapacitated, so that he has to be carried during the rescue.

Kjeld often argues with Egon, mostly either because of Yvonne or because Egon's plans are getting too strenuous for him. If he then speaks of quitting, Egon usually only has to remind him that it is his job to confess to Yvonne that everything has gone wrong again in order to dissuade him. Kjeld experiences his few, really carefree happy moments when the Olsen gang has for once successfully returned from a coup, everyone is gathered at the living room table at home (and well-set) and Yvonne praises him for the effort and the money he has stolen. But these moments are few and far between and usually only last a short time, because mostly he and his cronies have to escape through "the back door" because the police somehow got back to Egon and are now consequently moving to his supposed whereabouts .

Poul Bundgaard (1922-1998) was Kjeld's actor. When he died before the 14th Olsen Gang Film was finished, Tommy Kenter (* 1950) doubled him .

Yvonne Jensen

Yvonne is Kjeld's wife. While she was still a secondary character in the first two films, she has moved more into the foreground since the third film and thus eventually became the main female character in the films. From the fourth film onwards, it became one of the starting points for Bahs and Balling in developing the scripts.

Yvonne's trademarks are flashy clothing and a high degree of naivete. She actually wants to lead a quiet family life, but on the other hand she loves expensive amenities. For this she needs the gang's income, but if something more important is due, such as a family celebration, she can thoughtlessly leave the suitcase somewhere and / or forget it. If she is confronted, she presents herself as a victim of the malevolent world of men or justifies herself with platitudes such as the statement that family is much more important than money.

When it comes to her husband's criminal activities, she alternates between categorical rejection and lively approval. So she often opposes Egon's latest plan, which she manipulates with clever rhetoric at will. These arguments, mostly during the planning for Egon's latest coup in Kjeld's apartment, become a highlight of every Olsen Gang film. Kjeld and Benny are more passive: Kjeld never contradicts Yvonne, while Benny usually makes tentative, fruitless attempts at mediation.

Yvonne's naive, unworldly narrow-mindedness can make Egon white-hot until he leaves the house angrily. In film 6 he even temporarily loses his mind when it turns out that Yvonne later accidentally left the chest of drawers in which she had hidden the loot to a second-hand seller, for which she does not apologize, but criticizes the men for the fact that they stare at them in disbelief instead of doing something.

Kirsten Walther (1933–1987) played Yvonne . After her death, a 14th Olsen Gang film initially seemed no longer feasible. It wasn't until 1998 that the final film was shot without the figure of Yvonne.

Børge Jensen

Jes Holtsø (2013)

Børge is the son of Yvonne and Kjeld. In the first film he is ten years old. Yvonne follows his development closely: Børges confirmation (film 4), vocational training (film 7), wedding (film 8) and offspring (film 11) are much more important to Yvonne than the respective coups of the Olsen gang.

Although initially treated condescendingly by the adults as a child, Børge regards himself as a full member of the gang from the start and often proves to be an indispensable helper through his shrewdness and quick perception - much to the displeasure of Yvonne, who prefers a decent, bourgeois life for him. Therefore, after leaving school, he begins an apprenticeship with the state railway and starts his own family. When he reappears in the last film, however, he has become an internationally sought-after financial fraud.

His trademarks are a red sweater (from the middle of film 1), thick round glasses and long blond hair (in film 1 it is still typical of his age, from film 3 it is noticeably shoulder length). In film 7, he temporarily cuts a sporty short hairstyle because Yvonne thinks that it will improve his chances of being hired. In film 8 it's long again.

Børge was played by Jes Holtsø (* 1956). After the eighth film - apart from two smaller appearances in films 11 and 14 - he was no longer there because Holtsø believed that he was not adequately involved in the great success of the films.

siblings

In the first film, in addition to Børge, Kjeld and Yvonne have their 14-year-old son Birger and one (and finally a second) younger daughter. Birger plays an essential role in this, as he is openly disapproving of his parents' way of life, makes an honest effort to live a decent life and secures his personal property (justified) against theft by the Olsen gang. In the end, it is he who delivers the stolen goods to the police and collects the reward.

In the other films there are no siblings of Børge, in the fourth film Børge is referred to as Kjeld's only child.

Dynamite Harry

Benny's brother Dynamit-Harry appears twice: In the second film, he can be seen as a happy to drink as well as unsuccessful demolition master, his demolitions do not achieve the desired goal despite serious side effects. In the fifth film, Egon (from whom Kjeld and Benny have temporarily broken up) comes to stay with him for a while after Harry has given up alcohol and has been dry for eight months. When sober, however, he is completely unable to work because he is then much too nervous and fearful.

Dynamite Harry was featured more often in the Norwegian and Swedish adaptations of the Olsen Gang.

He was portrayed by Preben Kaas (1930–1981), who played Betterøv in the third film, the mute assistant to the scrap dealer Mads Madsen.

The police

A film motif from the film series: The Police Headquarters ( Københavns Politigård ) in Hambrosgade 21 in Copenhagen

In the first two films, the police were represented by the dutiful but clumsy Inspector Mortensen , portrayed by Peter Steen (1936-2013). In the fourth film Mortensen reappeared, now played by Jesper Langberg (1940-2019). His overzealousness leads to the fact that at the end of this film he is put in a straitjacket and never to be seen again.

In the fifth film, the police are represented by a still nameless detective superintendent , played by Axel Strøbye (1928–2005), who becomes known as Detective Jensen from the sixth film (his first name fluctuates between Viggo and William Hermod in the course of the following films ) and his Assistants Henning Holm - usually played by Ole Ernst (1940-2013), in the ninth film by Dick Kaysø (* 1947) - is provided. The dialogues between the two developed into one of the many running gags in the Olsen gang films - while Holm is anxious to climb the career ladder by solving big cases, Jensen always advises his “young friend” that such cases should never be solved. Instead, a police officer should attend to things like organizing company outings. The development of the films proves that Jensen and Holm are right: At the end of the seventh film, Jensen is promoted for the successful company outing and even receives the Cross of Honor at the end of the eighth. In the end, it is Holm who makes a career, while Jensen is about to retire early, but because of a computer error he waits 17 years until 1998.

Opponent of the Olsen Gang

In most of the films, the Olsen gang had another adversary besides the police. In the beginning it was criminals who committed their deeds more or less openly, like the mafia boss Motzarella ( Harold J. Stone ) in film 2 or the so-called “king” Victor Emmanuel Jensen ( Arthur Jensen ) in film 4, it was from film 6 onwards always seemingly respectable politicians or business people who secretly engaged in tax evasion, embezzlement or the illegal arms trade . These people were usually called Hallandsen , Holm-Hansen or Bang-Johansen and were often portrayed by Bjørn Watt-Boolsen (1923-1998). In the eighth film, the Olsen gang's antagonist is a nobleman - Baron Løvenvold, also played by Watt-Boolsen .

As of the sixth film, the stupid pig acts as the henchman for these criminals . Benny gave him this name in the seventh film, in the original he is called "Bøffen" (= meatball). His only job is usually to “get rid of” Egon and to take the stolen money away from him. Although he is very resourceful at getting rid of Egon, Kjeld and Benny can always thwart his plans at the last second. The Dumb Pig was played by Ove Verner Hansen (1932-2016), a well-known Danish singer and actor who appeared in two smaller roles in the fourth and fifth Olsen Gang films.

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Scheme of action

The actions of the individual films do not build on each other, so the Olsen Gang films are not a series in the narrower sense. Rather, a pattern of action that is always similar is repeated and varied anew. Occasionally there are small inconsistencies between the individual films.

Films 12 and 13 are an exception, as they belong together and tell a continuous story. Films 6 and 7, whose prologues are set in Mallorca , after the gang in the film had previously managed to escape there , also contain a connection point to the plot of the previous film .

The fixed plot developed from around the third to fourth film. In the sixth film at the latest, all of the secondary characters from the later films are represented.

The state prison Vridsløselille of Albert Lund , in the film main residence of Egon Olsen
Egon Olsens Vej in Albertslund

As a rule, the films begin before the opening credits with an opening scene in which the Olsen Gang commits a small crime compared to Egon's plans for millions. This coup always goes wrong, with Benny and Kjeld escaping, while Egon is caught and behind bars. This is followed (in the GDR version) with the opening credits on the drawn background of a brick prison wall with a barred window. In the original version, the opening credits always run through with the view of the prison, with a slow zoom in on the entrance gate. Then the actual film begins with Egon's release from prison, some films begin directly with this scene. Usually Kjeld and Benny pick him up with Benny's car, sometimes Børge is there. The welcoming scene in front of the prison, like much in the Olsen gang films, is varied again and again. But mostly Benny and Kjeld wave with Danish flags . These release scenes were filmed at Vridsløselille State Prison in the Copenhagen suburb of Albertslund .

Then the Olsen gang drives to Kjeld's apartment. From the second film on, this is located in a poor back house in the Valby district of Copenhagen ; in the first film, Kjeld and Yvonne lived in the Nørrebro district .

In the apartment, Egon explains the plan he worked out during his imprisonment. He almost always introduces this with the sentence “I have a plan”, which became proverbial in the GDR due to the popularity of the film. As a rule, Egon considers his plans to be “ingenious” and “surefire”. Sometimes it is a commissioned work that he received from his cell neighbor (see Running Gags ). Yvonne almost always interferes in the men's conversations, but for different reasons. Often it is initially not right for her that criminals frequent her house and that deeds are planned. But then she hopes to get the millions Egon promised as quickly as possible and starts to spend the money.

The plan itself is then carried out with extremely unusual methods and tools, with the Olsen Gang never using force or weapons against people. Most of the time, the process is based on distraction maneuvers planned to the second. Egon is always perfectly informed about all security systems and knows who has which keys or codes and in which order they are needed. In the simplest case, a telephone can ring as a distraction at the crucial second, or a porno magazine or a case of beer surprisingly appears in front of the eyes of the "victims".

Usually, due to adverse circumstances, it only works on the second attempt. This is often due to the “multinational consortia” that the Olsen Gang intentionally or unintentionally get in the way of their coups. These circles, which outwardly consist of honest business people (mostly portrayed by Bjørn Watt-Boolsen ), want Egon to eliminate quickly and inconspicuously. To this end, the "stupid pig" is called, which then tries to get rid of Egon in a variety of ways - whether he is to be dissolved in acid (film 12), sent by parcel to Australia (film 7) or disposed of in some other fancy way . Benny and Kjeld can often only save him at the last second.

Often Egon's plans work like clockwork at first, and only then, when the gang already owns the stolen goods, does something go wrong and create the entanglements that make up the majority of the film. Twice (in films 5 and 6) they even successfully escape to Mallorca. Sometimes Egon deliberately makes sure that he gets back to prison, e.g. B. in film 8 (to avoid Yvonne as his guardian), film 9 (to prevent someone else from gaining the fame for his coups) or film 10 (once to be able to work out his plan in full and a second time without any apparent ones Reason, except for the anger over the failed coup). Most of the time it's the little things (an empty tank in the getaway vehicle or - as in film 7 - a tax return that hasn't been submitted) that bring Egon's big plans to failure. Only Egon is ever caught. Benny and Kjeld are arrested only once in film 5, but Egon and Børge freed them a little later during a prisoner transport.

If Egon ends up in prison at the end of almost every film, it is rarely because of the actual coup. For example, at the end of the fourth film, Egon is arrested for “robbery with the use of force” when he tries to take the suitcase with the loot from Sonja, and not for actually stealing the four million. In film 3, where an abandoned treasure is being found, he is arrested for failing to notice that the dollar bills found in the bunker are forged.

The 14 films

1. The Olsen Gang

The Olsen Gang (Olsen Gangs) - 1968

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 11, 1968 - Premiere in the GDR: June 26, 1970
  • Length: 80 minutes (Denmark), 79 minutes (Germany)

The film begins with an unsuccessful break-in into a cigar shop, in which only Egon wanders behind bars. When he comes back two years later, he has a plan: he wants to steal the Kaiseraufsatz , an art object from the Hohenzollern legacy that is on display during a German cultural week in Copenhagen and is guarded by the idiot policeman Mortensen. The theft succeeds, but on the way to the airport the car runs out of fuel and the police seized it as a wrongdoer. The gang takes out the Kaiseraufsatz the following night and hides it in Kjeld's daughter's stroller, which Yvonne takes with her a little later when she leaves Kjeld angrily. The police are now on their trail as Benny has lost a picture of himself and his fiancée at the scene. The result is an absurd car chase with frequent vehicle changes due to a lack of fuel. When the three get their hands on the stroller again, the prey is no longer in it. In the end, all the couples reconcile, Egon is arrested, Mortensen is demoted, Birger gives the Kaiser essay to the police for a finder's fee.

This film, which was designed as a parody of James Bond and the sex wave in Denmark of the late 1960s, is still very different from its successors in many ways - the Olsen Gang still frequent Conny's brothel, while women’s stories appear in the later films largely omitted, and it is more action-packed than the later films.

2. The Olsen Gang in a tight spot

The Olsen Gang in the Clamp (Olsen gang på spanden) - 1969

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 3, 1969 - Premiere in the GDR: June 25, 1971
  • Length: 110 minutes (Denmark), 107 minutes (Germany)

The film begins with a robbery on a savings bank, which is already being cleared out by someone else. The bank robber escapes, Egon is arrested. When Egon was released, he renounced the crime - encouraged by the beautiful social welfare worker Bodil Hansen ( Ghita Nørby ) . This gives him work in a toy factory, where he checks rubber balls for quality on the production line. Kjeld joins him after Yvonne has persuaded him to do so, and Benny also decides to do honest work after a robbery with Harry went badly wrong. When Egon causes a mess in the factory, the three of them are fired again and then work as cleaning staff in a bank, where they are accused of witnessing a bank robbery and the crime. Out of sheer revenge, they manage to get the cello case with the booty into their possession. At the same time, Mortensen learns that the loot is in the crown jewels, which were to be secretly sold. Bodil has finally found the topic for her doctoral thesis: the American mafioso Motzarella ( Harold J. Stone ) . She contacts him and persuades him to face the police. There Motzarella admits to have organized the theft of the crown jewels. At the same time, he offers to take care of their sale in return for corresponding percentages. Bodil flies with him to America and the charges against the Olsen gang are dropped. Only Egon is arrested because of the damage to property, violations of the StVO and other things, which he committed while hunting for the cello case.

3. The Olsen Gang goes to Jutland

The Olsen Gang goes to Jutland (Olsen-Gang i Jylland) - 1971

  • ZDF: Gold diggers on the North Sea beach
  • Premiere in Denmark: October 8, 1971 - Premiere in the GDR: June 30, 1972
  • Length: 100 minutes (Denmark), 98 minutes (DEFA), 90 minutes (ZDF)

In prison, Egon got his hands on a plan for a coastal bunker for the German Wehrmacht from the war, in which there is treasure. To lift it, the Olsen Gang drives to Jutland - in a stolen truck because Yvonne insists on taking a large part of her household with her on such a long journey. After a long search they find the right bunker by chance, but access to the treasure is only possible under water or through a military restricted area. They team up with the scrap dealer Mads Madsen (Karl Stegger) , who provides them with a scrap car and ancient diving equipment for half of the treasure. At the same time, another pair of crooks is after the treasure, but they lack Egon's precise plan, so they constantly get in each other's way. After a number of entanglements, the Olsen gang was able to get hold of the treasure, which consists of a box with gold bars and a suitcase with dollar bills. Madsen persuades them to take the easier-to-manage money and let him have the gold. While Egon goes to exchange the money and the others are waiting for him, Børge finds out that it is fake. The rest of the gang managed to escape in time, and Egon was arrested.

4. The Olsen Gang and their big coup

The Olsen Gang and their big coup (Olsen-Bandens store kup) - 1972

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 6, 1972 - Premiere in the GDR: June 26, 1973
  • Length: 98 minutes (Denmark), 97 minutes (Germany)

Egon relieves a wealthy football fan of collecting silverware while he is completely distracted by the TV broadcast of the Denmark vs Sweden game. But not only that another trio of crooks, consisting of the "King" Victor Emmanuel Jensen ( Arthur Jensen ) , the "Squire" Emil Boldoni ( Poul Reichhardt ) and his sister Sonja (Annika Persson) , take the booty from them - Egon will too discovered and arrested for a sudden transmission disorder. After his release, he has a plan and steals 4 million in taxpayers' money from a previously prepared armored transport despite police protection. But again the "king" takes the loot after the gang has hidden it inconspicuously in the swimming pool, but has been observed. With the help of the police, Egon fetches them from the bank's safe. When the gang tries to flee, however, Yvonne, who only thinks about Børges confirmation, leaves the suitcase with the millions. After a few mix-ups of the suitcase, Sonja can get the money. Egon tries to snatch it out of her hand at the last moment and is arrested while Sonja escapes to Mallorca and Emil and Victor Emmanuel have to pay off their hotel debts by washing dishes. The police pays Yvonne for the damage Emil caused to her apartment, believing it was Mortensen. This is put into a straitjacket and disappears never to be seen again.

5. The Olsen gang runs amok

The Olsen Gang runs amok (Olsen-Gangen går amok) - 1973

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 5, 1973 - Premiere in the GDR: February 21, 1975
  • Length: 101 minutes (Denmark), 100 minutes (Germany)

Egon wants to raid a cinema. The coup goes wrong when Harry shows up. After Egon's release, only Harry, who stopped drinking after the dirty attack, is waiting at the gate; Benny and Kjeld do not want to have anything to do with them anymore, because Benny plans to marry Ragna (Birgitte Federspiel) , the unattractive daughter of the shop owner Kvist (Ejnar Federspiel) , in order to take over his shop. So Egon lets himself into a plan from Harry. A surprise is waiting there: the safe is in Kvist's shop and is empty. When the noise wakes Kvist, Egon has already left and he only discovers Benny and Kjeld next to the open safe, which is why he has them arrested. Egon frees them with Børges help and so they join in Egon's plan. It's about the millions that a certain Hallandsen, a big animal on the black market, has stashed away. But not only the Olsen gang is after him, but also the police, which is why the coup has to be carried out quickly. Everything was already prepared when the Kvist family reappeared.

Egon gives his friends a choice: him or the Kvists. Egon is forced to carry out his plan on his own, which he succeeds - until it turns out that the Kvist family cannot get the money he hoped for. When Benny and Kjeld try to catch up with Egon, they unintentionally reveal his presence and he is locked in the cold store. With Harry's help they want to blow up the cold store. When they lock him in a beer cart on the way, Harry begins to drink again, but (or perhaps because of that) they manage to get Egon alive from the cold store. In the meantime, the police have stormed Hallandsen's office, they fail to open the safe. When Jensen sends Egon, hoping that Egon can, Kjeld and Benny hide the money in the trash can. In the end, the Olsen gang managed to escape to Mallorca , and the money ended up in the waste incineration plant. When Benny Egon confessed this during the flight, Egon's tantrum caused the plane to roll.

6. The (presumably) last prank of the Olsen Gang

The (probably) last prank of the Olsen Gang (Olsen Bandens sidste bedrifter) - 1974

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 4, 1974 - Premiere in the GDR (television): December 25, 1977
  • Length: 98 minutes (Denmark), 91 minutes (Germany)

Since the Olsen gang arrived on Mallorca with almost no money at the end of the previous episode, Egon wants to attack "pig Hansen" there, who does good business with opulent slaughtering parties for Danish tourists. But no sooner has he opened the safe than Yvonne introduces him to her holiday acquaintances - stupidly two policemen who arrest him immediately. When Egon is released again, he leaves Benny and Kjeld behind and works for the outwardly honorable businessman Holm-Hansen jr. (Bjørn Watt-Boolsen) , for whom he is supposed to get the Bedford diamonds that are sought after worldwide from a Swiss safe. But as soon as the Swiss middleman holds the diamonds in his hands, he triggers the alarm and leaves Egon behind, who barely escapes arrest. Together with Kjeld and Benny, Egon steals the diamonds after Holm-Hansen sold them to an Arab sheikh. But when he wants to hold them under Holm-Hansen's nose with relish, it turns out that Yvonne has already hidden the jewels elsewhere. Holm-Hansen instructs the "stupid pig" to destroy Egon because he knows too much. This becomes all the easier when Egon loses his mind when it turns out that Yvonne's hiding place, an old chest of drawers, has meanwhile been picked up by a junk dealer. Benny and Kjeld can buy back the dresser and then save Egon before he is sunk in the canal. Egon comes to his senses again and has a new plan: Benny and Kjeld disguise themselves as policemen and after an alleged confession, bring Egon to Holm-Hansen. While Benny takes up Holm-Hansen's statement, Egon and Kjeld take the money. Holm-Hansen reports the robbery to the police, who find the Bedford diamonds in the safe and arrest Holm-Hansen. Only in this episode (which - as the title already makes clear - should be the last in the series) does the coup and the escape to Mallorca succeed, albeit after many entanglements.

The word presumably was inserted in the German title because this film only appeared after the following in the GDR.

7. The Olsen Gang sets the course

The Olsen Gang sets the course (Olsen Gang på sporet) - 1975

  • ZDF: The devil is going on on the rails
  • Premiere in Denmark: September 26, 1975 - Premiere in the GDR: November 12, 1976
  • Length: 104 minutes (Denmark, DEFA), 92 minutes (ZDF)
The Carlsberg Brewery: This is where the Olsen gang sent the police excursion car.

Nothing will come of the planned quiet life on Mallorca - the "stupid pig" (Ove Verner Hansen) steals the millions for his client, the company Multi-Scan . When Egon tries to get it back, he is arrested, just as the "stupid pig" had planned. The money from the Olsen Gang is to be brought abroad in the form of gold bars by train in a safe car from the company "Franz Jäger, Berlin". Egon, who has memorized the entire timetable of the Danish State Railways in prison , wants to get them back. He has already found a buyer: a Norwegian who wants to give them the majority of shares in his company. Due to a change in the timetable (change from winter to summer timetable), the whole plan threatens to fail, so that the Olsen Gang wreak havoc in the state railway network. In addition, the Olsen gang still has to uncouple Inspector Jensen's excursion car, which is located behind the vault. In the end, the police who reported the theft of the millions to Yvonne find the money again. But only a little later a gentleman from the tax office appears and Egon wanders behind bars because he cannot pay the required tax back payments and tax penalties. Only Yvonne is happy, because after all the chaos, Børge got an apprenticeship at the Danish State Railways.

8. The Olsen Gang sees red

Vallø Castle formed the backdrop for the fictional Borreholm Castle

The Olsen Gang sees red (Olsen gang ser rødt) - 1976

  • ZDF: hammer drill with music
  • Premiere in Denmark: October 1st, 1976 - Premiere in the GDR (television): December 22nd, 1979
  • Length: 101 minutes (Denmark, DEFA), 91 minutes (ZDF)

Egon is supposed to steal a valuable Chinese vase on behalf of Baron Løvenvold (Bjørn Watt-Boolsen) . The coup is carried out, but Egon is betrayed again: The vase was a fake, the baron wanted to collect the insurance money and secretly sell the real vase. He has Egon arrested. Since Børge wants to get married (his girlfriend Fie is already pregnant), money has to be found as soon as possible so that Yvonne takes over Egon's guardianship to get him out of prison, which he is not exactly happy about. Egon is now after the vase for his part - a break-in in the baron's castle goes wrong because Egon cannot read his plan without reading glasses and so falls into an old trap. After Benny and Kjeld free him, he plans to break into the Royal Theater in Copenhagen, where he wants to get both the vase and the money that is to be paid for it. This scene is considered the best of all Olsen Gang films - while the overture to the play Elverhøj by Friedrich Kuhlau is being played, the Olsen Gang works its way to the beat of the music with the help of crowbars and explosives, unnoticed, into the auditorium, where they poke the vase and the money can take. Børges and Fies wedding is a success. When Egon tries to bring the vase with a reward to the police, clumsy Fie drops it. Instead, the gang later discovers that Fie took the suitcase with the money instead of the luggage. When Yvonne Egon announced that she would take more care of him in her capacity as a guardian, he decided to go back to prison.

9. The Olsen Gang strikes again

The Olsen Gang strikes again (Olsen Gang deruda) - 1977

  • ZDF: butter, bread and bigwigs
  • Premiere in Denmark: September 30, 1977 - Premiere in the GDR: June 19, 1981
  • Length: 101 minutes (Denmark, DEFA), 91 minutes (ZDF)

At first, a break-in by the Olsen Gang goes wrong, as Egon can no longer remember a number that is needed to open the mathematical lock. When he comes out, he finds out that Benny and Kjeld let Yvonne's 32-year-old nephew Georg (Claus Ryskjær) hired them as the new gang leader, believing that Egon was getting too old for the business. Georg has come from the USA, relies on the latest computer technology and only lets Egon take part in his next coup as a helper. Out of anger, Egon sabotages the computer and reveals his plan to Benny and Kjeld: The EC wants to sell its butter mountain at exorbitant prices in poor countries, Egon wants to steal the money flown in for it. The coup succeeds, but when a certain Archibald Hansen interferes, who simply copies Egon's plans, they are rid of the money. The suitcase is kept in the high-security safe of the Copenhagen branch of the World Bank . Egon persuades Georg to work with him to get the money out of there, and the coup just succeeds. When the two gangs meet, only Hansen and the "stupid pig" are arrested. Hansen hates Egon because of his fame and would like to at least steal his fame from him by confessing all the coups Egon carried out himself. Egon surrenders voluntarily out of hurt vanity. In the meantime Benny and Kjeld have hidden the money in a laundry load in a laundromat, but then have to run away. In the meantime, Yvonne starts the laundry “forgotten” by the men, and the money is destroyed.

10. The Olsen Gang climbs onto the roof

The Olsen Gang go up on the roof (Olsen gang går i krig) - 1978

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 6, 1978 - Premiere in the GDR (television): December 28, 1981
  • Length: 102 minutes

On the occasion of the Queen's birthday, Egon is granted a reprieve - which he is not at all happy about, because in the following week a lawyer who Egon hopes to get information from should be transferred to Egon's cell. He has no choice but to screw up Benny's first own (brilliant) coup in order to end up behind bars again. In fact, he comes back to it with a plan: he should steal a microfilm from the so-called Reich registry for Bang-Johansen (Bjørn Watt-Boolsen) . This microfilm contains the plans for "Operation Daisyland", which Denmark wants to convert from a state into an amusement park. Due to a mix-up, he was unable to hand over the film as agreed and was placed on the clock face of the Copenhagen City Hall Tower by the “stupid pig” until he either reveals the location of the film or is pushed down by the large pointer. Kjeld and Benny can save him. They also manage to steal the money that was supposed to be paid for the film. A little later, Egon is accidentally arrested and only released when it is established that the arrest warrant had already been dropped. When he leaves the presidium, however, Egon leaves the suitcase of money behind, and the similar suitcase that he carried after him only contains Jensen's fishing equipment. Out of anger, Egon throws a shop window in the city and is arrested again. At the prison gate he is greeted with a ceremony for his tenth stay.

11. The Olsen Gang never surrenders

The Olsen gang never surrenders (Olsen gang overgiver sig aldrig) - 1979

  • ZDF: Denmark will be ruined
  • Premiere in Denmark: December 26, 1979 - Premiere in the GDR: January 7, 1983
  • Length: 105 minutes (Denmark, DEFA), 91 minutes (ZDF)

Egon wants to rob an insurance company. What he didn't know in time: the old boss has died and the new one no longer works with cash, so the safe is empty. Benny and Kjeld flee, Egon is arrested. In prison, he attends a management training course and plans to try his hand at the stock business after his release. A company wants to transfer the majority of shares in the renowned Copenhagen department store Magasin du Nord to him for a certain trade balance that Egon is supposed to obtain . But Egon is tricked - the department store is bankrupt and is closed. The hunt for the shares leads the Olsen gang to the EC headquarters in Brussels . When the police found the shares out of sheer carelessness, Benny and Egon obtain a tank from the Danish army. While Kjeld is waiting in the hospital for his grandson to be born, Benny and Egon drive in a tank directly in front of the house of the Prime Minister of Denmark, where the conference of the EC heads of government is currently taking place. With the help of Commissioner Jensen, a laughing cannon barrel and the contents of an overflowing ashtray on the carpet of the Prime Minister's wife, Egon manages to get the shares back. In the end the hunt is unsuccessful - stocks and balance sheets are worth nothing if Denmark is excluded from the EC. Egon is finally arrested as the owner of nonexistent companies for tax evasion.

12. The Olsen Gang flies over the plank

The Olsen Gang flies over the plank (Olsen-Bandens flugt over plankeværket) - 1981

  • Premiere in Denmark: October 16, 1981 - Premiere in the GDR: May 25, 1984
  • Length: 93 minutes

Egon does not want to return to prison (since he is threatened with admission to the psychiatric department there) and plans his irrevocably last coup - the theft of misappropriated money from the safe of the insurance company Hoher Norden . The money is in the suitcase of the deputy director Hallandsen, who wants to bring it to Paris on a business trip. This requires several attempts, because the gatekeeper of the company, the "stupid pig", always manages to attack Egon and bring the suitcase back. Finally, the Olsen gang manages to take the suitcase and Hallandsen's trench coat with them at the airport. But the suitcase no longer contains any money, but instead contains an envelope with documents that prove that the company is involved in illegal arms deals on an international scale. Egon wants to sell the papers to the director, but his ruse doesn't work and he is handed over to the “stupid pig” for final disposal. Benny and Kjeld can just save it from being dissolved in acid.

Bahs and Balling planned to retire the gang with the twelfth and final film. At the request of the production company Nordisk Film , two films were made from them that tell a coherent story of three hours in length.

13. The Olsen Gang flies over the mountains

The Olsen Gang flies over all mountains (Olsen gang over alle bjerge) - 1981

  • Premiere in Denmark: December 26, 1981 - Premiere in the GDR: August 17, 1984
  • Length: 96 minutes

After a brief review of the last film, the story continues. At first, several further attempts by the Olsen gang to recapture the suitcase with the documents in Denmark fail. For the first time, Yvonne is actively involved in a coup, fails terribly and is so upset that she forbids Kjeld any further collaboration with Egon. However, the three now - for which Yvonne threatens her separation from Kjeld, which Benny keeps to himself - after the suitcase to Paris , where after some difficulties they can get the documents they are looking for (including Benny's poor knowledge of French). Back in Copenhagen it turns out that Yvonne has moved in with her sister, and Egon is immediately arrested on behalf of the ring-leading minister as a "threat to world peace". When Kjeld and Benny leave to fetch Yvonne back, they discover the five million who disappeared in film 12 in Hallandsen's trench coat, which is still in their trunk. This is how silver weddings are celebrated. While Benny conducts the brass band in front of the house, Egon is finally sitting in the psychiatric department as an incurable criminal. The three main actors say goodbye to the audience one after the other.

14. The (really) very last trick of the Olsen gang

The (really) very last prank of the Olsen Gang (Olsen-Bandens sidste stik) - 1998

  • Premiere in Denmark: December 18, 1998 - Premiere in Germany: November 16, 1999
  • Length: 105 minutes (Denmark), 98 minutes (Germany)

A red suitcase appears in Copenhagen. Contents: the highly explosive Wandenberg documents that endanger the state order. State Secretary Hallandsen (Bjørn Watt-Boolsen) is tasked with the inconspicuous destruction by the Minister of Justice, but his assistant Holm-Hansen fails to get the suitcase. In the evening, a talk show will be broadcast from the Nordisk Film studio. The guest is Egon Olsen, who has lived in psychiatry for 17 years. On a wander through the building he finds his old suit in the fund, puts it on and flees. Benny, who works illegally for a transport company, and Kjeld, who is in a wheelchair, saw the talk show and pick up Egon at the gate. All three have visibly aged, but of course Egon has a plan: the British Crown Jewels. But first he has to get his written plans out of the institution's vault, the director has locked them there in the last existing Franz Jäger safe. Hallandsen also saw the talk show and instructs Holm-Hansen to have Egon fetch the Wandenberg suitcase, as he is the only one who trusts him. After the job is done, Egon is tricked by Hallandsen - he knows too much and is supposed to leave. Benny and Kjeld can save him before the “stupid pig” (Ove Werner Hansen) gets his hands on him. Hallandsen brings the suitcase to the safest extermination facility in the country. Fittingly, Egon has a plan for this too, and the Olsen gang fetches the suitcase. At the handover the next morning, his partner Ruth is present instead of Kjeld. Of course, Egon should be betrayed again, thanks to Ruth the escape succeeds. At that moment Børge appears, meanwhile a wanted financial fraudster, shortly afterwards Holm, who wants to arrest him, followed by Inspector Jensen, who wants to talk Holm out of it. In general confusion, the Wandenberg suitcase and the suitcase with Egon's plans end up on a passing truck, which disappears with them. After all, the gang spends their old age at Børges house in Portugal. Egon's last plan with the crown jewels, which he still had in his pocket, goes unnoticed by Børge.

Running gags

In the course of the making of the films there were a large number of running gags that appeared in almost all films and were varied over and over again.

  • The film almost always begins with a view of the prison. Egon steps out of the door, looks to the right and left while the door slams shut with a loud bang. He is greeted by his buddies, who wave Danish flags.
  • From film 3, the Olsen gang repeatedly encounters safes made by the (fictional) company Franz Jäger, Berlin (in films 8 and 10 also Frantz Jäger ). In almost every film one of these safes can be opened, some of which no one except Egon can crack. If Egon mentions a Franz Jäger safe in his plans, Benny occasionally reacts touched, for example: “Good old Franz!”. In part 8, Egon initially encounters Jäger's journeyman piece , a safe with a splendid music box and visible mechanism from 1781 (there the first name is also with “tz”). In the same film a safe made by Francis Hunter from Birmingham from 1878 appears later. Part 9 begins with Egon trying to crack a safe made by Francis Hunter, Chicago . In film 14, the gang encounters a security system from François Chasseur et Cie . All of these names are direct translations of "Franz Jäger".
  • Egon's standard sentence, even in desperate situations, is: “I have a plan!” He can be heard in all films except in the second film. In total, he falls 53 times in the 14 films.
  • “Mighty mighty!” Or just “mighty!” Is Benny's favorite expression. He expresses it as a comment on Egon's plans or successful actions, or simply as an expression of thieving joy during the event. In the original, Benny says “Skidegodt!” = “Shit good”; the German version is a word created by the German dialogue author Wolfgang Woizick. In total, the expression falls no less than 236 times in the films. In the fifth film, however, he does not appear at all (only once Benny says "mighty brilliant" ), instead Benny's repeated standard saying here is "That fets one!" . (One reason is that the voice actor Kurt Kachlicki was only used in this film .)
  • When Egon explains his latest plan, Kjeld often responds with the question “Isn't that dangerous?” .
  • Since the fifth film, Egon has almost always mentioned his cell neighbor in prison - it is always a lawyer or some other high-ranking personality who provides Egon with secret information and contacts with “better circles”. Egon usually mentions this in front of his clients, usually with the addition: "I should say hello."
  • In the older Olsen Gang films, Egon uses numerous Anglicisms, especially the word Alright , in the film it is pronounced as "Olreut". “Hurry” is also one of his favorite words, but it is spoken in German. In the fourth film in particular, half-English times such as “seven clock”, “five and twenty five minutes” or “half past four” appear. In the ninth film, he and Georg, who studied in America, have a "battle of Anglicisms". Later these expressions are almost completely absent, until old Egon uses them again in the 14th and final film.
  • The coups are almost always discussed at the living room table over a cold beer (mostly Tuborg , rarely Carlsberg ), which Benny usually has to get hold of quickly.
  • Even if a coup promises many millions and time is very tight, in Yvonne's eyes domestic or family obligations have priority, which she also demands from Kjeld - be it Børges confirmation (film 4), Børges training (film 7), Børges wedding ( Film 8), the birth of Børges child (Film 11) or your own silver wedding anniversary (Films 12 and 13). In the resulting arguments she knows how to portray herself as victims and the others as egoists. This makes her particularly white-hot, especially since she tends to put all the blame on Egon when something goes wrong.
  • The arrival of the police is generally announced casually by Yvonne (“And for example the police are coming again”, formulated as a reproach). Egon, Kjeld and Benny then let everything stand and lie and flee headlong through the back door, which Yvonne understands to mean that the men leave her to do all the work again. Such a scene first appeared in the seventh film. In the 13th film, when Yvonne carried out her threat and left Kjeld, Kjeld announced the appearance of the police in an argument with Egon.
  • The gang likes to use extremely bizarre aids for their coups - these range from 100 balloons to 100 g of dried peas to a burned-down match . Hair-raising devices are often used from a technical point of view: Switches for alarm systems are first precisely measured and then operated via remote-controlled toys; In film 11, a tailor-made Lego- Technic robot is assembled through a hand-sized ventilation opening, which then opens the door from the inside.
  • Required aids such as flagpoles or armored personnel carriers are usually stolen with ingenious methods, but from time to time Egon plans a small but no less imaginative coup that usually brings between ten and twenty thousand crowns. This money is sometimes seen as her rightful property by Yvonne - she prefers a sparrow in her hand to a pigeon on the roof. Interestingly, nothing ever goes wrong with these little coups. For Egon they don't even count properly - when he is asked in film 8 where he wants to get the money for the necessary aids from, he replies: "We'll get it quickly on the way home."
  • In every film there is at least one scene in which the Olsen Gang walks in single file, always in the order Egon - Benny - Kjeld. They do this in lockstep, with Benny constantly getting out of step and having to take intermediate steps. Since Benny is also one head taller than the others, he often walks in a slightly crouched position.
  • Benny owns a palm-sized, sickle-shaped piece of brass with which he can crack locks , parking meters , gas pumps and cigarette machines, among other things . He regards this part as a very personal object that only he can handle; when Egon needs it briefly in film 11, Benny reluctantly gives it away, even after Kjeld's persuasion.
  • If a stack of barrels stored up comes into the picture, it is accidentally brought down shortly afterwards. In film 4 it is canned fish, in film 8 wine barrels, in film 9 oil barrels and in film 12 poison barrels.
  • In the first film, the Olsen gang has to leave their vehicle in the middle of a car chase when the gasoline runs out. The car that the gang “borrowed” also lay down shortly afterwards with an empty tank. Since then, gasoline has been a long-running hit in the movies. Before almost every foray, Egon makes sure that Benny's car is full. And in later films (for example in part 3) the Olsen gang's car stops all of a sudden (Benny's standard answer: "I filled up! For 5 crowns - (before) last week ..."), one needed to transport the booty away A truck collapses decrepit (Part 7) or the ramp of a delivery truck is bothering (Part 14).
  • Egon is extremely creative in using swear words , which he usually throws at Benny, Kjeld or Yvonne. For example, "lousy amateurs" , "miserable Social Democrats" , "Rußfurzer" , "talentless Käsekacker" , "lop-eared" , "straw stupid blockheads" , " goofball " , "morons and molluscs" , "sleepyhead" , "Sand stool" , "cowardly dogs " , " Fettwänste " , " floppy tails " , " miserable Piesepampel " , " greedy thunderstorm witch " , " shit Treads " , " Bibber " , " Fiepsköter " , " pop Horn " , " sky dogs " , " Rhinozerösser " and the like. Usually, the reconciliation scene does not follow long afterwards, in which Egon takes back each of the swear words he used previously.
  • On the side of the criminal police are the always over-nervous, though far-sighted, but incapable of acting Detective Inspector 2nd degree Jensen and his overzealous assistant Holm, both noticeably dressed in plaids. Her philosophical arguments about the question of whether it is worth investigating crimes or not are part of a recurring part of the later films (from No. 6).
  • The films sometimes self-ironically make fun of their fixed patterns of action. In Film 5, for example, Yvonne sends Egon to the police after Benny's and Kjeld's arrest - he should turn himself in and go to jail in their place, because it was always like that. Dynamit-Harry also answers the question of how he knows that Egon's plan involves millions with: “It's always like this.” Kjeld or Yvonne also prophesy several times at the point where everything always goes wrong. z. B .: "And when everything is beautiful and everything is 'mighty mighty', something always comes up" (film 6).
  • Nordisk Film A / S is also targeting itself. At the end of “The Olsen Gang Rises on the Roof”, Egon throws in the shop window of a china shop in front of two policemen in order to get back to prison. When he is already being taken away, the owner of the store continues to destroy Egons with relish with a polar bear that has been undamaged and apparently hated to him - a polar bear is the mascot of Nordisk Film A / S.

Transport and vehicles

Cars and trucks

There was always an older and somewhat shabby road cruiser (film 1: Plymouth Belvedere , film 2: Chevrolet Biscayne , film 3: Chevrolet Impala , film 4–13: Chevrolet Bel Air ) the gang's company car. Only in film 14 does the gang use a Ford Transit from the taxi company Valby Vognen , where Benny works black.

As a tribute to the Olsen Gang , the Danish toy company Lego has recreated the gang's Chevy in its amusement park near Billund.

Kasper Christensen from Tjørnemarke / Møn (Denmark) restored the original Chevrolet Bel Air, which was used as a prop, for his private Olsen Gang Museum in 2017.

Movie title Car type Construction year Mark
01 - The Olsen Gang Plymouth Belvedere 1959 KH 28,666
02 - The Olsen Gang in a tight spot Chevrolet Biscayne 1959 AU 52.275
03 - The Olsen Gang goes to Jutland Chevrolet Impala 1961 KA 89.955
04 - The Olsen Gang and their big coup Chevrolet Bel Air 1960 CK 50.063
05 - The Olsen gang runs amok Chevrolet Bel Air 1960 CK 50.063
06 - The (presumably) last prank of the Olsen gang Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 CY 51.323
07 - The Olsen Gang sets the course Chevrolet Bel Air 1960 AE 52.040
08 - The Olsen Gang sees red Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 AU 51.189
09 - The Olsen Gang strikes again Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 AE 52.040
10 - The Olsen Gang climbs onto the roof Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 KD 22,528
11 - The Olsen Gang never surrenders Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 KD 22,528
12 - The Olsen Gang flies over the plank Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 KD 22,528
13 - The Olsen Gang flies over the mountains Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 KD 22,528
14 - The (really) very last trick of the Olsen Gang Ford Transit 1986 PE 94.696

In addition to the cars listed here, the Olsen Gang also frequently used "borrowed" vehicles. In the first film, for example, when Benny's car was confiscated by the police as no longer roadworthy, the gang borrowed Mortensen's car and later the car of a broken down elderly gentleman. Shortly afterwards, Egon falls back on a third-party piano transport truck. In general, “borrowed” trucks are used repeatedly, for example a beer truck in film 5 or a garbage truck borrowed from a few distracting beer bottles in film 10. In film 7 a transporter is legally procured to transport gold, after all "for a bag of 25 Øre pieces", but it breaks apart before the journey begins. In film 13, the gang travels on board a Carlsberg beer truck to Paris.

In the third film, on the trip to Jutland, one's own car is replaced by a stolen small truck, a Citroën Type H , from which the cargo, a cow, has to be removed first. This type appears again and again in subsequent films, be it as a prisoner transporter (film 5), canteen wagon (film 11) or as the wagon of Meister Hansen and the stupid pig (film 9). In the third film, a Citroën Type H with a long wheelbase is used for the trip to Jutland .

Benny always acted as the driver of the Olsen Gang. Egon can only be seen at the wheel in the first film and Dynamit-Harry in the second film.

railroad

Rail transport is also used regularly, although not always voluntarily. In the first film, after leaving Kjeld, Yvonne takes a steam train to see her mother. Egon, Benny and Kjeld follow her and uncouple the luggage cart from the train; A little later, the latter drives through a buffer stop in the station and collides with Mortensen's patrol car. In film 3, the Olsen gang takes a light train to a bunker on the beach near Hanstholm to find treasure from the Second World War . In film 5, Egon reluctantly has to take Harry with the S-Bahn to his arbor, in film 6, after the Swiss betrayal and due to lack of funds, he drives black from Zurich to Copenhagen on the train toilet of the “Alpen-Express”. In film 7, the Danish State Railways “perfectly planned and organized” are the theme of the entire film; even the obligatory Franz Jäger safe comes on the track here. Benny is the driver here too. In film 9, Egon takes the S-Bahn to the train station to look for an allegedly lost locker key.

Planes

The Olsen Gang always uses the now defunct Danish airline Sterling Airlines . This company was the cooperation partner of Nordisk Film in all of the Olsen Gang films.

backgrounds

Director

With the exception of the last film, the director of the Olsen Gang was always Erik Balling (1924–2005), known for his perfectionism . In the 14th film, he was no longer able to sit in the director's chair due to age reasons, but was represented by Tom Hedegaard (1942-1998). When he died while filming, Morten Arnfred (* 1945) completed the film.

Scripts

The inventor of the Olsen Gang, Henning Bahs (1928–2002), wrote 13 of the 14 scripts together with Erik Balling. The script for film 14 was written by Bahs alone.

The creation of the scripts during their writers' stays in Paris in the spring of each year is legendary . In fact, all the scripts for the “old” films were created in this way, except for Film 3. When the Olsen Gang traveled to Paris for the 13th film, the authors set a cinematic monument to their own work for 13 years. In the 14th film, the two can even be seen at work - you can see them working on their typewriters in a very brief cameo .

production

The production company for all Danish Olsen Gang films was Nordisk Film A / S, which was founded in 1906 and was the world's oldest film company. The 14th film was made in coproduction with Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk .

The films were usually shot in the summer of each year to be released in the fall or Christmas. All interior scenes were filmed in Nordisk Film's studios in Copenhagen.

music

The film music is also an indispensable part of the Olsen Gang films. Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (1924–2020) composed a Dixieland melody for the first film that, according to Balling's wishes, could be varied “in all conceivable forms”. In fact, depending on the mood or situation of the film, it was slowed down, accelerated or underlaid with instruments such as the accordion or castanets .

In the early films, the tune was played by Papa Bue's Viking Jazz Band , and later by a specially formed orchestra. In the 10th film, the Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband made a cameo as a prison band that Egon welcomed on his tenth time in prison.

The music of the films became so popular that it appeared in several disc versions with a techno background ( Børges Dance Convention , 1996; Sandmann's Dummies feat. Olsenbande , 1996, also appeared on the CD Tanz den Olsen in 1998 ; Olsen-Bandet , 1998) and now also available as a cell phone ringtone.

In addition to the title melody, Fabricius-Bjerre composed a number of other melodies for the films, but classical works can also be heard from time to time, such as Elverhøj by the Danish composer Friedrich Kuhlau .

In 2016 the Danish label Plantsounds released the complete original music from the first seven films with the three-CD box "Olsen-Gangs, Vol. 1".

rental

In Denmark, all 14 Olsen Gang films were distributed by Nordisk Film Biografdistribution . Ten films were released by Progress film distribution in the GDR. The sixth, eighth and tenth films were only shown on television in the GDR.

In 1996 Progress brought the third and eleventh Olsen Gang films back to the cinema, but with less success than expected. Therefore Progress did not accept the fourteenth film, released in 1998, instead it was brought to theaters by Arsenal Filmverleih . The film Olsen Gang Junior also appeared at Arsenal .

In the Federal Republic of Germany the film Die Panzerknacker-Bande (see synchronization ) was released by Alpha, the film Die Olsen-Gang in Jutland was released by Roland.

Dubbing and subtitling

In the GDR, Poland (Gang Olsena), Hungary (Olsen Banda), as in the Federal Republic of Germany and Austria, Olsen Gang films were synchronized in the respective national languages. Licenses were also sold to Sweden (Olsenbanden), Romania (and shown with Romanian subtitles), Yugoslavia, and Turkey. In autumn 2013, the MDR commissioned an audio description of the Olsen Gang films and has been broadcasting the films as audio films with audio description for the blind since December 2013.

DEFA synchronization in the GDR

In 1970 DEFA produced a dubbed version of the first film with minimal cuts in the GDR . Under the title “The Olsen Gang”, the film was very popular with the public, so that the second film premiered in the GDR just one year later. DEFA created German versions of all 13 original films in their dubbing studios. Only for the last, 14th film, which was co-produced by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk after the end of the GDR and DEFA , did the work in the Leipzig dubbing and recording studio take place.

The linguistic quality of the DEFA synchronized versions is considered successful and thus contributed to the success in the GDR. Her voice actors also met with great interest from fans. The three main actors Sprogøe, Grunwald and Bundgaard appeared in 1982 together with their German speakers Oppel, Dommisch and Köster in the GDR television program Nacht der Prominenten (the concept was similar to stars in the ring ).

The DEFA voice actors for Egon, Benny and Kjeld changed several times in the early films. From the sixth film, the cast of the three main roles with Karl Heinz Oppel, Peter Dommisch and Erhard Köster remained constant until the temporary end of the series; a new spokesperson had to be found for the fourteenth film after the death of Peter Dommisch. No standard voice was established for the role of Yvonne; apart from Margit Bendokat, none of the speakers was used more than three times.

Egon: Karl Heinz Oppel
(Films 3–14) 		Rolf Ludwig
(film 1) 		Klaus Mertens
(film 2)
Benny: Peter Dommisch
(Films 1–4 and 6–13) 		Kurt Kachlicki
(film 5) 		Roland Hemmo
(film 14)
Kjeld: Erhard Köster
(Films 1, 2 and 6-14) 		Günter Schubert
(Films 4 and 5) 		Helmut Müller-Lankow
(Film 3)
Yvonne: Margit Bendokat
(Films 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8) 		Helga Hahnemann
(Films 6, 7 and 9) 		Helga Sasse
(Films 11–13) 		Heide Kipp
(film 3) 		Micaëla Kreißler
(film 10)
Børge: Sebastian Oppel
(Films 3, 4 and 8) 		Michael Pan
(Films 6 and 7)

Karl Heinz Oppel was the only voice actor who appeared in all 14 films. In addition, GDR stars repeatedly had minor dubbing appearances in the Olsen gang films. In addition to the already mentioned Helga Hahnemann as Yvonne, one can hear, for example, Herbert Köfer (lieutenant in film 3, head chef in film 8) and Rolf Herricht (driving instructor Larsen in film 9).

For reasons of censorship , some films were shortened slightly and the dialogues of the Danish version were not always accurately transcribed. An example of this can be found in the tenth film (The Olsen Gang climbs onto the roof) . Egon explains in the original version: "The Reichsregistratur keeps all information about Denmark and the Danes, both ordinary information and secret information that could be of interest to the police, NATO, the EC and friendly foreign powers." In the dubbed version it became: “This is where all information about Denmark and the Danes is stored, important information and completely irrelevant information that is generally accessible as well as information that is so secret that nobody knows whether you should know that you shouldn't know. “ Even the GDR version was subsequently censored in the GDR: In 1982, the tenth film removed the usual list of dubbing actors in the opening and closing credits after Micaëla Kreißler , who spoke Yvonne in this film, had left the GDR with her husband.

Between 1987 and 1992 some DEFA-dubbed films were shown on Swiss television , but the success here was limited.

Synchronization in the Federal Republic of Germany

In 1970, a compilation of the first two films was released in the Federal Republic of Germany under the title “Die Panzerknacker-Gang” , which was also shown in cinemas in Austria. Egon Olsen was spoken by Wolf Rahtjen , Benny by Horst Sachtleben and Kjeld by Alexander Welbat . All scenes with Yvonne were cut. The names of some Olsen Gang members were changed for this version: "Kjeld" was now called "Karlchen" and "Børge" was called "Peterchen".

In 1989/90, new dubbed versions of five Olsen gang films were made by Deutsche Synchron KG on behalf of ZDF . Films 7 and 8 were shortened by about ten minutes so that they fit into the 90-minute broadcast schedule. The dubbed version was created by Michael Richter at Deutsche Synchron . This version criticized the fact that typically Danish peculiarities and ambiguity were eliminated and the characters of the characters were falsified. In addition, the addition of dialogues in actually silent passages was criticized.

The films were given the following titles, which deviated completely from the Danish originals:

  • Film 3: Gold diggers on the North Sea beach
  • Film 7: The devil is loose on the rails
  • Film 8: Hammer drill with music
  • Film 9: Butter, Bread and Bonzen
  • Film 11: Denmark will be ruined

Speakers for this ZDF synchronization were Harry Wüstenhagen (Egon), Wilfried Herbst (Benny), Hans-Jürgen Wolf (Kjeld), Regina Lemnitz (Yvonne), Stefan Krause (Børge), Jürgen Thormann (Jensen) and Andreas Thieck (Holm).

Even if this version achieved quite considerable ratings when it was first broadcast, it could not prevail. It was therefore not released on VHS, DVD or Blu-ray. The main reasons are the sometimes severe cuts in the ZDF version and the cult status of the films in the GDR, the DEFA version of which is easier to market due to the larger target group.

Impact history

"Form Olsen Gangs!", Seen in 2004 in Freiberg

In Denmark and East Germany , the Olsen gang films are considered a cult .

Even today they ensure top ratings on Danish television - the film The Olsen Gang flies over the mountains , which was broadcast at the end of 1997, was the hit at Christmas and at the turn of the year, even before the New Year's speeches by the Queen and the Prime Minister. In the East German federal states, the (first) two German books on the Olsen Gang (Eberlein / Habel and Lange-Fuchs, see literature ) were at the top of the bestseller lists for a long time.

Spin-offs

advertising

With the original line-up of Ove Sprogøe, Morten Grunwald and Poul Bundgaard, two commercials with the characters of the Olsen Gang were shot: In 1978, the approximately sixteen- minute film Et isoleret tilfælde was made , in which the gang first steals the glass wool from the manufacturer Superfos , which then ends up with another Shows burglary as universally applicable. In 1996 the three main actors shot the approximately four-minute film Olsen-bandens spareplan for the Association of Danish Energy Suppliers .

Prequels

In 1999 the Danish television broadcaster TV 2 produced the 31-part television series Olsen-bandens første kup , which dealt with the childhood of the Olsen gang. In 2001 the film Olsen Banden junior was made on the same theme, but with different main actors, directed by Peter Flinth, based on a script by Anne-Marie Olesen, Lars Mering and Nikolaj Scherfig. This film moved the childhood of the Olsen Gang to 1958. In Germany it was only shown in 2003 under the title Olsen Gang Junior . In Norway, several independent Olsenbande Junior films were subsequently produced as sequels (2003 to 2010), parts of which are among the most successful productions in Norwegian film history.

Animation films

A 3-D animation film by Nordisk Film with the title The Olsen Gang in Fine Company (original title: Olsen-banden på de bonede gulve , literally The Olsen Gang on a polished floor ) premiered in Denmark in October 2010. A German-language publication on DVD and Blu-ray Disc was released on September 21, 2012 by Capelight Pictures . Another animated film under the title Olsen Banden på dybt vand ( The Olsen Gang goes swimming or literally The Olsen Gang in deep water ) is funded in Denmark by the 60/40 regulation of the Danish Film Institute and premiered in October 2013. In German-speaking countries, it was released as Die Olsenbande auf hoch See on September 26, 2014 on DVD and Blu-ray, also by Capelight Pictures . It has not yet been shown in the cinema.

Remakes

The main residence of the Norwegian Egon Olsen , the Oslo State Prison Botsfengselet . Analogous to the Danish Olsen Gang, Benny and Kjell greet him with little flags when he is released at the prison gate .

In Norway from 1969, based on the Danish scripts, remakes of the Olsen Gang films with Norwegian actors were made. It was directed by Knut Bohwim , Arve Opsahl (1921–2007) as Egon and Benny Sverre Holm (1931–2005). Kjeld and Yvonne were renamed Kjell and Valborg for the Norwegian versions and played by Carsten Byhring (1918–1990) and Aud Schønemann (1922–2006). Their son is called Basse Jensen , played by Pål Johannessen .

The Norwegian turntable used the backdrops built for the Danish films several times. In addition, entire Danish film scenes were sometimes used, e.g. B. in the ninth film all scenes with Bjørn Watt-Boolsen. As the only actor in the Danish Olsen Gang, Ove Verner Hansen regularly appeared in front of the camera for the Norwegian productions as Dummes Schwein (which is called Biffen here ) and therefore holds the unique record of 16 Olsen gang appearances.

A special feature of the Norwegian films is the character of Dynamit-Harry, who appears here six times (compared to two appearances in Denmark) and was played by Harald Heide-Steen junior . The investigating police officer is called Hermansen throughout the 12 Norwegian Olsen Gang films , played by Sverre Wilberg , instead of Inspector Mortensen and Detective Inspector Jensen as in the Danish version .

The Danish series Olsen-bandens første kup and the subsequent film Olsenbande Junior were also adapted in Norway. As a continuation of this film, a separate Olsenbande Junior film series was created without a Danish template, the parts of which are among the most successful productions in Norwegian film history:

From 1981, originated in Sweden with Jönssonligan a film series inspired by the Olsen Gang. The scripts of the first three parts are loosely based on those of individual Danish films; In addition, numerous stylistic devices known from Denmark as well as the figure of Dynamite Harry were adapted. After the end of the actual series, a total of four children's films were made, of which, in contrast to the adult versions, there have been German dubbed versions of the first two sequels so far.

In Germany, the ARD tried its hand at a gangster comedy based on the model of the Olsen Gang in 2009 in the form of the television film Die Blücherbande . However, the film with Armin Rohde , Sebastian Bezzel and Jörg Schüttauf in the leading roles received muted reviews.

Stage versions

Between 1997 and 2007 three theater pieces were created in Germany: The Olsen Gang goes crazy by Peter Dehler (1997; world premiere at the Staatstheater Cottbus with Thomas Harms as Egon Olsen), The great theater coup by and with Peter Grünig and Dirk Donat (2000; world premiere at the Rostock Volkstheater ) and The Olsen Gang and the Doll's Secret! by Sigrid Vorpahl (2007; world premiere at the Kalimandjaro Festival in Zielitz ). However, already in 1985 in the cabaret program We afford ourselves something of the Berlin cabaret Die Distel, the program part The Olsen Gang affords to experience something by and with Egon's DEFA dubbing voice Karl Heinz Oppel .

In 2008, the musical Olsen Banden og Den Russiske Juvel (The Olsen Gang and the Russian Jewel) by Anders Thomas Jensen premiered in Denmark .

On the occasion of the Bautzner Theater Summer in the courtyard of the Ortenburg, the German-Sorbian People's Theater performed a trilogy in which a large number of plot parts from all films are quoted. Even a real American road cruiser like Benny drives it is involved in the plays. The parts were given the titles “The Olsen Gang and the Big Back Man” (2016), “The Olsen Gang emigrates” (2017) and “The Olsen gang takes off” (2018).

comics

In Norway, a comic series about the Olsen Gang was published in the 1980s . In Denmark, a comic album for the fourth Olsen Gang film, drawn by Otto Frello , had already been released in 1977 in a relatively high circulation for Denmark, but it did not sell as expected and did not have a successor. The album was published in 2008 in German as part of the 40th anniversary of the series, with extensive additional and background material. In some of the booklets on the Abrafaxe , references to the Olsen Gang films were also made in the form of names and dialogues. In Denmark in 2010, at the same time as the first animated film was published, a story was published in Anders And magazine (equivalent to the German Mickey Mouse magazine ), in which Donald Duck and Uncle Dagobert meet the Olsen gang.

Olsen gang silhouette at Kino 1-2-3 in Thisted

Popular culture and merchandising

Several scientific papers dealt with the Olsen Gang. In 1993 a German-Danish Olsen Gang seminar was held at the University of Roskilde . In the Kunsthalle Rostock 2015, the special exhibition ran Powerful huge! The Olsen gang in the museum , who paid special attention to the reception of the film series in East Germany. Morten Grunwald and costume designer Lotte Dandanell attended the opening of the exhibition as guests of honor.

Post Danmark paid tribute to the importance of films for Denmark in the 20th century with a stamp from the 1900-tallet series , released on November 8, 2000, which featured the poster of the first Olsen Gang film (the silhouette of the three main characters with the words OLSEN BANDEN ) is. On August 27, 2008, the Danish Post also honored Erik Balling with a stamp that shows a portrait of the director and a scene from the film The Olsen Gang Rises on the Roof .

After Ove Sprogøe's death on September 14, 2004, Albertslund Municipality opened the road to the main entrance of Vridsløselille State Prison (actually Fængselsvej: Prison Street) in Egon Olsens Vej on his 85th birthday, December 21, 2004 Olsen-Straße).

In August 2006 an Olsen Gang event was held in Thisted (Jutland), and an Olsen Gang beer from the Thisted brewery also appeared.

In Denmark, the first merchandising for the films was published as early as the 1970s , when the publisher Sesam launched the board game Olsen-banden på spil . Especially after the turn of the millennium, the range of fan articles was expanded. Various model railway accessories appeared in both Denmark and Germany in the form of vehicles, structures and figures known from the films. In Germany, the Berlin label PukeMusic released a whole series of officially licensed products with the likeness of the main characters, u. a. T-shirts, mugs and tote bags. An arts and crafts company from Neuhausen in the Erzgebirge brought out figures of Egon, Benny, Kjeld and Yvonne as smokers .

Especially in the eastern federal states of Germany, costuming as a member of the Olsen gang is particularly popular during the carnival or carnival season. A notable event took place on November 11, 2013 at 11:11 a.m. in Köthen (Anhalt) . There the carnival enthusiasts of KUKAKÖ “had” to call the Olsen gang for help in order to get the key to the town hall, as this year it was symbolically hidden in a Franz Jäger safe on the stage. In a short scene, three amateur actors in the roles of Egon, Kjeld and Benny opened the safe.

The German Olsen Gang Fan Club, founded in 2000, has more than 3000 members.

Rescue operation

With the help of German and Danish friends of the Olsen Gang and also railway friends, the well-known signal box "Det Gule Palæ" from the film "The Olsen Gang sets the course", threatened by demolition, was largely saved after a fundraising campaign. It was transferred from Copenhagen to the Gedser Railway Museum in September 2016.

Publications on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray

The Olsen Gang first appeared in 1982 in the West German theatrical version Die Panzerknacker-Gang (the cut of the first two films) on VHS cassette . Since then, only the DEFA dubbed version has been marketed.

After the end of the GDR, all films (1–13) were released in 1996 by Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, each on a VHS cassette. For this publication, the GDR images were used. In 1999, the last film in the series followed in the German short version.

In 2002 the Olsen Gang appeared for the first time on DVD at ZYX . This version essentially corresponded to the VHS version, was again based on the old GDR footage and only contained the German DEFA dubbed version. In 2005 the films appeared in five boxes with three films each. Restored Danish images were used for the first time; however still in letterbox format, but for the first time with additional Danish original sound. Some scenes that were missing in the DEFA version were added and the films were shown for the first time with the Danish original opening credits. This frame was offered by ZYX in various different boxes.

In 2011 the first film was released by ZYX on Blu-ray in HD resolution . A restored Danish HD master was used as the image material, but there was no Danish original sound. A new opening credits have been created for this release.

In 2013 the rights to the Olsen Gang (with the exception of the 14th film) went to Icestorm Entertainment , which released all films on both DVD and Blu-ray. The restored Danish HD versions were used, from which the DEFA versions were restored by shortening and adding the respective opening credits. As a bonus, however, the Danish original versions are also included on the discs, in which some films contain a few scenes exclusively in the original sound with German subtitles. In both the cut and the original version, both the German synchronous sound (DEFA) and the Danish original can be selected.

In Denmark, the series was also released on VHS (2000), DVD (2003) and Blu-ray (2010) by Nordisk-Film.

literature

Denmark

  • Poul-Ove Kühnel, Paul-Jørgen Budtz: Olsen gangs. Copenhagen 1981.
  • John Lindskog: Skidegodt, Egon! 30 år with Olsen gangs. Copenhagen 1999, ISBN 87-15-10201-7 .
  • Per Thygesen Poulsen: Ledelse ifølge Olsen Gang. Jyllands-Postens Erhvervsbogklub, Viby J. 1999, ISBN 87-90605-78-0 .
  • Jens Andersen: Olsen-Bandens Jylland. Thisted 2006.
  • Per Kuskner / Morten Grunwald: Min tid i gule sokker. Copenhagen 2013, ISBN 978-87-7137-768-2
  • Christian Monggaard: Olsen Gangs. 2018, ISBN 978-87-970035-1-0

Germany

TV reports

  • Olsen-banden i Valby , DR , 1974 (written and directed by Mette Lage and Erik Rasmussen; length: 30 minutes; first broadcast: October 4, 1974).
  • En film bliver til… Olsen-banden (4 parts), DR, 1974 (script and direction: Niels Jensen and Helge Aamand; length: 4 × 25 minutes; first broadcast: October 28 to November 18, 1974)
  • Greetings from the Olsen Gang - Tracking down the crook trio , ORB , 1996 (written and directed by Rolf Sakulowski; length: 60 minutes; first broadcast: April 7, 1996).
  • Olsen-bandens allersidste kup , TV 2 , 1998 (written and directed by Nikolaj Pors; length: 55 minutes; first broadcast: December 18, 1998).
    • Der Olsenbande-Dreh (shortened German version of Olsen-bandens allersidste kup ; MDR ; first broadcast: November 13, 1999).
  • Back then it was - Legends: 50 Years of Olsenbande , MDR, 2018 (written and directed by Franziska Kruse; length: 90 minutes; first broadcast: October 7, 2018).
  • Olsen-banden for altid (2 parts), TV 2, 2018 (script and direction: Jes Schrøder; length: 2 × 60 minutes; first broadcast: October 11 and 14, 2018)

Web links

Wikiquote: Olsen Gang  - Quotes
Commons : Olsenbande  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Literature: Hauke ​​Lange-Fuchs : “I have a plan! “ Lübeck 1997, ISBN 3-924214-48-4
  2. ↑ Frank Eberlein , Frank-Burkhard Habel : The Olsen Gang. The big book for fans . , Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, pp. 12–15, Berlin 2000
  3. ↑ forerunner. In: olsen-bande.com. July 11, 2008, accessed January 14, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Other films. In: olsenbandenfanclub.de. July 1, 2009, accessed January 14, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Literature: Hauke ​​Lange-Fuchs : “I have a plan! P. 29 “ Lübeck 1997, ISBN 3-924214-48-4
  6. ↑ Eberlein, Habel: The Olsen Gang. The big book for fans . Pp. 222-225, Berlin 2000
  7. ↑ In the second film he says he was born on March 12, 1925 in Copenhagen. According to Inspector Mortensen's criminal record in the fourth film, his date of birth is May 3, 1927.
  8. ↑ Eberlein: Das große Lexikon der Olsenbande, p. 196
  9. ↑ Skidegodt! Benny fra Olsen Gang tilbage bag rattes af ikonisk bil . ( ekstrabladet.dk [accessed August 31, 2017]).
  10. ↑ Morten Grunwald: My days in yellow socks, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86265-374-4 , p. 104
  11. ↑ Morten Grunwald: My days in yellow socks, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86265-374-4 , p. 151
  12. ↑ a b Still "mighty huge": the Olsen Gang on mdr.de
  13. ↑ The Olsen Gang puts the soft ZDF version on OFDb.com
  14. ↑ The Olsen Gang sees red in the ZDF version on OFDb.com
  15. ↑ Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang, p. 14/15
  16. ↑ The Olsen Gang goes to Jutland versions on olsenbandenfanclub.de
  17. ↑ Olsen-banden - et isoleret tilfælde , Den Danske Filmskat, accessed on September 11, 2015.
  18. ↑ The Olsen Gang in Fine Society (DVD) on cinefacts.de
  19. ↑ Film 16 / 3D film. In: olsenbandenfanclub.de. July 1, 2011, accessed July 1, 2011 .
  20. ↑ The Olsen Gang in good company. Retrieved July 18, 2013 .
  21. ↑ FAKTA OM FILM, OLSEN BANDEN PÅ DYBT VAND. In: dfi.dk. July 1, 2011, archived from the original on May 28, 2012 ; Retrieved July 1, 2011 (Danish).
  22. ↑ Film 17 / 3D Film No. 2. In: olsenbandenfanclub.de. July 1, 2011, accessed July 1, 2011 .
  23. ↑ The Olsen Gang on the High Seas - Blu-ray. In: bluray-disc.de. August 1, 2014, accessed August 3, 2014 .
  24. ↑ Continuation: The second 3D film will be released in 2013. In: olsenbandenfanclub.de. July 1, 2011, accessed July 1, 2011 .
  25. ↑ Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang , p. 51/52
  26. ↑ Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang, pp. 184/185
  27. ↑ Hauke ​​Lange-Fuchs : “I have a plan!” , Pages 108–112; Lübeck 1997, ISBN 3-924214-48-4
  28. ↑ Andre Mielke: Where's the Olsen gang's joke? Die Welt, February 5, 2009, accessed February 12, 2016 .
  29. ↑ Torsten Wahl: Who is still stealing video recorders today? Berliner Zeitung, February 5, 2009, accessed on February 12, 2016 .
  30. ↑ cf. mosapedia.de
  31. ^ Olsen gangs he med i nyt Anders And-blad. Fyens.dk ( Fyens Stiftstidende ), October 7, 2010, accessed on October 13, 2010 (Danish).
  32. ↑ Mighty mighty! The Olsen Gang in the museum. Kunsthalle Rostock, accessed on January 6, 2017 .
  33. ↑ Holger Kankel: The (really) newest trick of the Olsen Gang. Schweriner Volkszeitung, August 16, 2015, accessed on September 11, 2015 .
  34. ↑ Olsen Gang cracks the hearts of the Rostockers. North German Latest News, August 17, 2015, accessed on September 11, 2015 .
  35. ↑ Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen Gang , p. 55.
  36. ↑ Erik Balling's stamp published. olsenbandenfanclub.de, August 27, 2008, accessed on September 14, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Photo series for renaming
  38. ↑ Eberlein: Das große Lexikon der Olsenbande , p. 53.
  39. ↑ Fan articles: Other. olsenbandenfanclub.de, accessed on September 14, 2015 .
  40. ↑ Carnival in Saxony-Anhalt Publication of the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung MZ-Online November 11, 2013, Halle / Saale, accessed on November 11, 2013
  41. ^ Björn Menzel: GDR cult films "Olsenbande". Mighty mighty, Egon. In: one day . September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018 .
  42. ↑ TAG24.de: save Saxony Interlocking
  43. ^ The Panzerknacker gang on OFDb.de
  44. ↑ The (really) very last trick of the Olsen Gang on OFDb.de
  45. ↑ The Olsen Gang on OFDb.de
  46. ↑ Blu-Ray / DVD / VHS on olsenbandenfanclub.de
  47. ↑ The Olsen Gang on OFDb.de