''Far til Fire'', (English Title: ''Father of Four''), is a 1953

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

family comedy directed by

Alice O'Fredericks Alice O'Fredericks (born Mitzi Otha Alice Frederiksen; 8 September 1899 – 18 February 1968) was a Danish actress, screenwriter, and film director. She is best known for directing the series of ''Far til Fire'' (''Father of Four'') comedies ...

and starring

Ib Schønberg Ib Christian Albert von Cotta Schønberg (23 October 1902 – 24 September 1955) was a Danish film actor, and is considered one of the leading actors of Danish film in the 20th century. Early life The son of a chemist, Ib Schønberg was inte ...

and

Birgitte Bruun Birgitte Price (earlier known as Birgitte Bruun; 29 April 1934 – 17 July 1997) was a Danish actress of the 1950s and 1960s. Filmography *''Det store løb'' (1952) *''Far til fire'' (1953) *'' Farlig Ungdom'' (1953) *''Father of Four in the S ...

. The film is based on the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

by Kaj Engholm and Olav Hast. It was the inaugural film in a series of eight ''Father of Four'' films made by ASA Films, one each year from 1953 to 1961.

Cast

as Father; Schønberg also played the role in the first sequel, but unfortunately died before they could finish any further films and was then replaced by Karl Stegger in the next 6 films. Niels Olsen plays the father in the reimagined series of the 2000s. *

as Søs; Bruun, later known as

Birgitte Price Birgitte Price (earlier known as Birgitte Bruun; 29 April 1934 – 17 July 1997) was a Danish actress of the 1950s and 1960s. Filmography *'' Det store løb'' (1952) *''Far til fire'' (1953) *'' Farlig Ungdom'' (1953) *''Father of Four in th ...

, played the part in the first six films. * Rudi Hansenas Mie *

Otto Møller Jensen Otto Møller Jensen (31 July 1940 – 12 March 1996) was a Danish child actor. He was known for his appearances in the ''Far til fire'' series of films in the 1950s and early 1960s. Filmography *''Fløjtespilleren'' (1953) *''Arvingen'' (195 ...

as Ole; Jensen played the role in all of the first films and then left acting for fashion design. *

Ole Neumann Ole Neumann () is a former Danish child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Filmography *''Far til fire'' (1953) *''Fløjtespilleren'' (1953) *''Far til fire i sneen'' (1954) *'' Far til fire på landet'' (1955) *'' Far til fire i byen'' (1956) *' ...

as Little Per; Neumann was 5-years-old when he played Per, and played the same role in each of the first seven sequels. He later became a documentary cinematographer *

Peter Malberg Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as Uncle Anders;

Buster Larsen Axel Landing Larsen known as Buster Larsen (1 September 1920 – 18 December 1993), was a Danish stage, film and TV actor. He had his stage debut on Nørrebros Theater in 1932 aged 12, and his film debut in 1933. Filmography * ''De blaa dre ...

played the role of Uncle Anders in subsequent sequels *

Jørgen Reenberg Jørgen Reenberg (born 8 November 1927) is a Danish film actor. He has appeared in 30 films since 1948. He was born in Denmark. He is the brother of Danish film director Annelise Reenberg. He made his film debut in Three Years Later from 1948 a ...

as Teacher Jørgen Stæhr *

Ove Sprogøe Ove Wendelboe Sprogøe Petersen (21 December 1919 – 14 September 2004) was a Danish actor. Life Born in Odense, his parents were Arthur and Inger Sprogøe Petersen. He married Eva Rasmussen in 1945, with whom he had three children. O ...

as Baker Høst *

Sigurd Langberg Sigurd Bengt Langberg (29 October 1897 – 8 July 1954) was a Danish stage and film actor. He was married to actress Karna Langberg and was the father of actors Ebbe and Jesper Langberg. Filmography *''Han, hun og Hamlet'' (1922) *'' Ole Op ...

as Director Andersen *

Ib Mossin Ib Mossin (3 July 1933 – 17 December 2004) was a Danish actor, singer and director best known for his role as heartthrob Peter of the hugely popular '' Far til Fire'' film series. He had his breakthrough as the apprentice Egon in 1953's Far ...

as Peter *

Paul Hagen Paul Falck Hagen (19 March 1920 – 19 May 2003) was a Danish film and television actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1999. He is most known for playing Mr. Clausen in the television series Huset på Christianshavn, whi ...

as Burglar * Ilselil Larsen as Grete *

Agnes Rehni Agnes Rehni (24 May 1887 – 3 November 1966) was a Danish stage and film actress. Selected filmography *'' Telegramtyvene'' - 1915 *'' Grevindens ære'' - 1919 *''Københavnere'' - 1933 *'' Flight from the Millions'' - 1934 *'' Giftes-nej tak ...

as Mrs. Sejersen *

Svend Aage Madsen Svend is a Danish and Norwegian given name that may refer to: * King Svend * Svend Aagesen (c.1145–?), Danish historian * Svend Asmussen (1916–2017), Danish jazz violinist known as "The Fiddling Viking" * Svend Auken (1943–2009), Danish ...

as Kristian *

Else Jarlbak Else Jarlbak (8 August 1911 – 16 February 1963) was a Danish film actress. She appeared in 35 films between 1934 and 1961. She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and died in Denmark. Filmography * '' Lynet'' (1934) * '' De bør forelske dem ...

as Kristian's Mother *

Poul Reichhardt Poul David Reichhardt (2 February 1913 – 31 October 1985) was a Danish actor, well known for his roles in Danish 1940s/1950s comedies. Later on, he also played more serious and varied roles; he has also starred in '' Huset på Christiansh ...

as Himself *

Einar Juhl Einar Juhl (8 April 1896 - 1 June 1982) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1924 and 1974. He was born and died in Denmark. Filmography *'' Ole Opfinders offer'' - 1924 *''I kantonnement'' - 1932 *''Han, hun og Hamlet'' - ...

as Pastor *

Svend Bille Svend Bille (15 July 1888 – 3 April 1973) was a Danish stage and film actor. Filmography *'' Den hvide slavehandel'' - 1910 *'' Balletdanserinden'' - 1911 *'' Den hvide slavehandels sidste offer'' - 1911 *'' Vampyrdanserinden'' - 1912 *''Atla ...

as Train Conductor *

Hugo Herrestrup Hugo Herrestrup (29 January 1933 – 22 September 2009) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 35 films between 1953 and 1996. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Selected filmography * ''Father of Four'' (1953) * ''Sømand i knibe'' (196 ...

Poul Thomsen Poul Thomsen (15 February 1922 – 16 December 1988) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1944 and 1985. He was born in Præstø, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = ...

Production

In 1947, Hakon Steffensen, editor of the

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

newspaper wanted to start running a comic strip that depicted typical Danish life. It was his response to the surge of American comic strips flooding the European marketplace in the post-war years. Steffensen asked cartoonist Kaj Engholm for ideas. Engholm then asked his friend, advertising executive Olav Hast, who proposed the idea. They roughed out the story together of a single father of four children with the oldest daughter running the household, agreeing the father would be a single parent without ever creating a backstory for the mother's absence. In interviews, whenever the authors were asked, "Where is the mother?", they replied, "I don't know but we promise to look into it."Engholm, Ole
''Hvordan opstod Far til Fire?''
, Far til Fire og Far til Fires far, www.olengo.dk, retrieved 2008 The comic strip first appeared in 1948 and ran daily for 40 years—on the back page of Politiken until 1955, then in the

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...

newspaper until 1988. The text was written by Hast until retired from the strip in 1973, after which it was written by a variety of writers. Engholm drew the strip until his death in 1988.

Sequels

''Father of Four'' was such an enormous success that a sequel ''

Father of Four in the Snow ''Father of Four in the Snow'' ( da, Far til fire i sneen) is a 1954 Danish family film directed by Alice O'Fredericks and starring Ib Schønberg. It was produced under the ASA Film banner. Cast * Ib Schønberg as Far * Birgitte Bruun as Søs ...

'' (''Far til fire i sneen'') was quickly made and released in 1954. Thereafter, seven more sequels were made, one every year until 1961, all directed by Alice O'Fredericks. A ninth film was planned for release in 1962 but was never produced. In 2005, the series was renewed with the release of '' Father of Four is Back'' (''Far til fire - gi'r aldrig op'') directed by Claus Bjerre and in 2006 with '' Father of Four: Living Large'' (''Far til fire - i stor stil'').

References

External links

IMDbDet Danske Filmistitut
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Father Of Four 1950s Danish-language films 1953 films 1953 comedy films Films directed by Alice O'Fredericks Danish comedy films Danish black-and-white films