The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a

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 ...

comedy film series created by Danish director

Erik Balling Erik Balling (29 November 1924 – 19 November 2005) was a Danish TV and film director. He created two of Denmark's most popular TV-series, ''Matador'' and '' Huset på Christianshavn''. His feature film '' Qivitoq'' (1956) was nominated f ...

and special effects expert

Henning Bahs Henning Bahs (12 March 1928 – 29 March 2002) was a Danish screenwriter and special effects designer. He wrote for more than 40 films between 1960 and 2002. He is best known as the co-author (with Erik Balling) of the ''Olsen-banden'' seri ...

about the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

fictional criminal gang. The gang's leader is the criminal genius and habitual offender Egon Olsen and his accomplices are Benny and Kjeld (Kjell in Norwegian). The gang members are harmless, extremely rarely target ordinary citizens, and never deliberately use violence. The first film came in 1968; during the next thirty years a total of fourteen films were made. A Norwegian version of the film series was also made (a total of 14 films from 1969 to 1999), in most cases based directly on the scripts for the Danish films. Later, starting in 1981, Sweden also produced their own version: ''

Jönssonligan ''Jönssonligan'', literally the ''Jönsson Gang'', is a Swedish comedy film series, originally based on the Danish series of films about the Olsen-banden, but later with unique scripts. The Jönsson gang consists of the leader and criminal geniu ...

''.

Plot

Most of the films start with Egon coming out of jail and being enthusiastically welcomed by Benny and Kjeld. The three men will then have a beer together in the living room of Kjeld's home in

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single ...

, where Egon will inform his friends of his latest plan, for making them millionaires. Plans are often two-step plans, where the first heist will get the equipment for the real, second plan. The plans usually feature everyday artifacts such as

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

, party balloons, cigarettes, etc., which are then brought together in surprising ways in elaborate and well-timed plans, often including clever social engineering. Bennys function in the heists, besides get-away-driver, is picking locks and starting machinery using "The Thing", a specially shaped brass piece used for manipulating machinery and opening doors. Egon often serves time with lawyers or executives who provide him with the information he needs, such as duty rosters for the national public record office. Egon is also a brilliant

safecracker Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or the key. Physical methods Different procedures may be used to crack a safe, depending on its construction. Different procedures are required to open different safes ...

, operating manually, specializing in the fictive "Franz Jäger" brand. Egon's plans often bring the gang into perilously close contact with white-collar criminals from the Danish business (and political) elite. For example, in the ninth installment named "Olsen-banden deruda" well-connected people try to make money out of the so-called "butter mountain", a huge amount of butter bought up and stored by the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

(now the EU) to keep prices up. Egon Olsen learns about this from a lawyer who is serving prison time, and the gang interferes with the plan to secure the millions for themselves. But as always, Egon – after having succeeded with a genius plan – fails for a variety of reasons, for instance underestimating the power and unscrupulousness of these people, bad luck, interference from Kjeld's wife Yvonne, or other surprising elements. For several movies, the role of the antagonist was filled by CEO Hallandsen of the fictive, multinational company Hallandsen Inc. - or variations thereof. Egon is usually arrested in the end, for various reasons: scapegoat, bad luck, some irrelevant crime, or even turning himself in as a matter of honor. A recurring part of the film is making fun of Danish authorities, especially the police. In some earlier installments, the clumsy Police Inspector Mortensen is used for slapstick comic relief; he is later replaced by Superintendent Jensen, an older, troubled man who has seen better days. He is a resigned character who despises the Danish government as he often criticizes Hallandsen crimes going unnoticed and mentions to his assistant, Inspector Holm: "The only thing the police can do when the real big criminals come by is offer them protection!" Jensen incredulously uses the recurring exclamation "Bagmændene!" (Behind-men/Big Fishes) to reference the in-joke of powerful players moving outside of the law. In the early installments, profanity and soft-erotica (scantily-clad women) were more freely used than in later ones, where said content was somewhat watered down to suit younger viewers. Later movies focused on the satirical interplay between Jensen and Holm and Egon and his crew, with a frequent outburst of anger from Egon. His long list of slurs is especially famous, like "social democrats!", "insane woman!" (to Yvonne), "lousy amateurs!", "cowards!", "dog heads!", "porridge peasants!", "sop!", "scumbags!", to name a few.

Characters

Recurring characters in the Danish version: * Egon Olsen: Gang leader, expert safecracker, brilliant but short-tempered and occasionally overdramatic * Benny Frandsen: Gang member, get-away driver, always cheerful and handles practical stuff * Kjeld Jensen: Gang member, tool master, ever nervous and humble, but does on a rare occasion rise to meet any challenge * Yvonne Jensen: Kjeld's very bossy wife, often with firm plans on how to use the millions from the various plans * Børge Jensen: Kjeld and Yvonne's son, occasionally an impeccable part of the schemes * Dynamite Harry: Benny's brother, explosives expert (at least in his own opinion) and deeply alcoholic * Jensen: Superintendent at Copenhagen Police, somewhat disillusioned and mostly forgotten by the brass in his basement office * Holm: Detective with Copenhagen Police, young and with high ambitions, but somewhat naive * Mortensen: An overambitious but very clumsy inspector with Copenhagen Police appearing in the early films * Holm-Hansen/Bang-Johansen/Hallandsen: A role with the same actor playing various villains, always on top of the social hierarchy, most often also with international contacts * King and Knight: A confidence trickster and his violent nephew * Bøffen (''The Beef''): Enforcer and muscleman for Hallandsen and others * Hansen: Rival gang leader with theme music from ''

Bob le flambeur ''Bob le flambeur'' (English translation": "Bob the Gambler" or "Bob the High Roller") is a 1956 French heist gangster film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Roger Duchesne as Bob. It is often considered both a film noir and a prec ...

International versions

The ''Olsen Gang'' have been made in Norwegian and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(''

'') versions too. While both remakes follow a generally similar formula to the Danish films, the Swedish version diverges considerably from the Danish original in terms of storylines and character development.

Norwegian Olsenbanden

The Norwegian remakes were, with two exceptions, directed by

Knut Bohwim Knut Bohwim (12 March 1931 – 16 June 2020) was a leading Norwegian film director. He co-founded the company ''Teamfilm A/S'' in 1962. His debut as film director was ''Operasjon Sjøsprøyt'' from 1964. He directed the war drama '' Det størs ...

based on Balling and Bahs's original scripts with minor adaptations to Norwegian conditions. For example, some names of the main characters were changed: Kjeld became Kjell, Yvonne became Valborg, and Børge became Basse. The character of Benny's brother, Dynamite Harry, was used much more often in the Norwegian films than in the original Danish series, with six appearances.

Swedish Jönssonligan

In the Swedish version, the Egon character is called ''Charles-Ingvar "Sickan" Jönsson'', with a slightly different costume and mannerisms, and was a huge success for the actor

Gösta Ekman Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman (; 28 July 1939 – 1 April 2017) was a Swedish actor, comedian, and director. Career Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was the son of the director Hasse Ekman and Agneta (née Wrangel). Ekman represented t ...

until the actor got tired of the character and left the series. Benny's character was named ''(Ragnar) Vanheden'', a small-timer from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, played by

Ulf Brunnberg Hans Ulf Brunnberg (born 7 April 1947) is a Swedish actor. Filmography Film Television References External links * 1947 births Living people Male actors from Stockholm Swedish male film actors Best Supporting Actor G ...

. Kjeld's character was named Rocky, but appeared only in the first two films. From the second film, the character Dynamit-Harry played by

Björn Gustafson Björn Herman Leonard Gustafson (born 30 November 1934) is a Swedish actor. He was born in Stockholm and has appeared in 93 films and television shows since 1956. He starred in the 1965 film ''Love 65'', which was entered into the 15th Berlin I ...

(who has had rather minor parts in the original Danish films) was featured instead. Although starting out as a strict remake, after a while the franchise started writing their own scripts. The Swedish franchise eventually expanded into movies of the band as young kids: ''

Lilla Jönssonligan Lilla Jönssonligan ( en, The Little Jönsson gang) is a Swedish film series that consists of four movies. The film series is a spin-off of the original ''Jönssonligan'' film series, featuring the main characters as kids instead of adults. Unl ...

'' (little Jönsson band) with four features to date. There was also an attempt to reboot the franchise, featuring brand new actors in the adult roles. ''

Jönssonligan – Den perfekta stöten ''Jönssonligan – Den perfekta stöten'' (''Johnson Gang – The Master Plan'', called ''Mastermind'' outside of Scandinavia) is a 2015 Swedish heist thriller comedy film, directed by Alain Darborg. The film is a reboot of the Swedish film serie ...

'' (2015) was released to middling reviews and poor box office.

Danish films

The first thirteen films were directed by

, while Tom Hedegaard and

Morten Arnfred Morten Arnfred (born 2 August 1945) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. His 1983 film ''Der er et yndigt land (film), Der er et yndigt land'' was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won an Honourable Mentio ...

directed the fourteenth and final ''Olsen Gang'' film. The scripts were written by Balling and

, who also worked as a

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

Danish cast

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 Egon Olsen *

Morten Grunwald Walter Morten Grunwald (9 December 1934 – 14 November 2018) was a Danish actor, stage director and theatre manager. Early life and education He was born in Odense, Denmark, attended Odense Theatrical School in 1958, and graduated from the Roya ...

as Benny Frandsen *

Poul Bundgaard Poul Arne Bundgaard (27 October 1922 – 3 June 1998) was a Danish actor and singer. He is probably best known for his role as the henpecked Kjeld in the ''Olsen-banden'' films. He also appeared in the 1966 spy film '' Strike First Freddy'' as t ...

as Kjeld Jensen * Kirsten Walther as Yvonne Jensen *

Jes Holtsø Jes Holtsø (born 30 December 1956) is a Danish actor most notable for his role as Kjeld's son Børge in the ''Olsen-banden'' films. The reason that he was chosen to play Børge was actually his thick glasses, which became his characteristic. Late ...

as Børge Jensen *

Axel Strøbye Axel Strøby Jacobsen (22 February 1928 – 12 July 2005), known as Axel Strøbye was a Danish stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1951 and 2000. He was born in the Copenhagen borough Frederiksberg and died in ...

as Superintendent of police Jensen *

Ole Ernst Ole Ernst Pedersen (16 May 1940 – 1 September 2013) was a Danish actor, active on stage, TV and film. He appeared in 95 films and television shows from 1967 to 2013. He starred in the 1983 film '' Der er et yndigt land'', which won an Hono ...

as Police inspector Holm (

Dick Kaysø Dick Kaysø, (born 13 February 1947) is a Danish actor. Filmography * '' Mafiaen, det er osse mig'' (1974) * '' Piger i trøjen'' (1975) * ''Strømer'' (1976) * '' Julefrokosten'' (1976) * '' Affæren i Mølleby'' (1976) * ' (1976) * ' (1976 ...

replaces Ernst in one film) *

Ove Verner Hansen Ove Verner Hansen (20 July 1932 – 20 February 2016) was a Danish opera singer and actor. He played the character, "Bøffen" (or "Biffen" in Norwegian, literally meaning "the steak" in both languages) in 16 of the ''Olsen-banden''-movies (11 d ...

as Bøffen *

Preben Kaas Preben Kaas (30 March 1930–27 March 1981) was a Danish comedian, actor, script writer and film director. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1943 and 1980. He received the 1970 Bodil for best actor in a supporting role for his role ...

as Dynamite-Harry *

Peter Steen Peter Steen (22 January 1936 – 7 February 2013) was a Danish film actor. Steen was born in Randers, Denmark, and appeared in over 50 films from 1964 onwards. In 2004 Steen won a Bodil Award as best supporting actor for the 2003 film '' Ar ...

and

Jesper Langberg Jesper Langberg (20 October 1940 – 29 June 2019) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films. Biography He was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was the son of actor Sigurd Langberg and younger brother of actor Ebbe Langb ...

as Mortensen (Steen appeared in two films, Langberg in one film)

Spin-offs

A Danish TV series and a feature film have been made showing the main characters as children, following the Swedish success of ''

'': * '' Olsen-bandens første kup'' (TV series, 1999–2000) * ''

Olsen-banden Junior ''Olsen-banden Junior'' is a 2001 Danish family-comedy heist film. It is a prequel to the long running Danish film series ''Olsen-banden'', and an implementation of the concept used by the Swedish ''Olsen-banden'' remakes prequels ''Lilla Jöns ...

'' (2001) Two

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

films have been released in the 2010s: * ''Olsen-banden på de bonede gulve'' ('' The Olsen Gang Gets Polished'', 2010) * ''Olsen-banden på dybt vand'' ('' The Olsen Gang in Deep Trouble'', 2013)

Norwegian films

* ''Olsenbanden Operasjon Egon'' (1969) * ''Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry'' (1970) * '' Olsenbanden tar gull'' (1972) * ''Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry går amok'' (1973) * ''Olsenbanden møter Kongen og Knekten'' (1974) * ''Olsenbandens siste bedrifter'' (1975) * ''Olsenbanden for full musikk'' (1976) * ''Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry på sporet'' (1977) * ''Olsenbanden og Data-Harry sprenger verdensbanken'' (1978) * ''Olsenbanden mot nye høyder'' (1979) * ''Olsenbanden gir seg aldri'' (1981) * ''Olsenbandens aller siste kupp'' (1982) * '' …men Olsenbanden var ikke død'' (1984) * ''Olsenbandens siste stikk'' (1999) * ''Olsenbanden – Siste skrik!'' (2022) Several elements recur in the film series. As the Japanese carmaker

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

was usually the main sponsor of the film series, most cars, including the villain's cars, the security cars, the police cars, the gang's car, civilian cars parked on the sidewalks, etc., were supplied by the company. Models include the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

as taxis,

Toyota Cressida The is a compact, later mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed in Japan by Toyota between 1968 and 2004. Prior to 1972, the model was marketed as the Toyota Corona Mark II. In some export markets, Toyota marketed the vehicle as the Toyota Cres ...

as police cars,

Hiace The (pronounced "High Ace") is a light commercial vehicle produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. First launched in October 1967, the HiAce has since been available in a wide range of body configurations, including a minivan/ ...

as security vans and money transports, and so on. There have been exceptions, notably ''Olsenbandens aller siste kupp'' (''The Olsen-Gang's Very Last Coup'') from 1982, which was sponsored by

Datsun Datsun (, ) was an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunche ...

. In 2022, a film

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

with a new team of actors was released, where the Olsen Gang make plans to steal the painting ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'' from the

Munch Museum Munch Museum ( no, Munch-museet), marketed as Munch (stylised as MUNCH) since 2020, is an art museum in Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway dedicated to the life and works of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. The museum was originally located at Tøyen, ...

Norwegian DVDs

Most of the Norwegian films have been digitally restored. The discs include English & Norwegian Subtitles, 16:9 format and Dolby Digital 1.0 surround sound. DVD release list: * ''Olsenbanden Operasjon Egon'' (27 October 2004) * ''Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry'' (27 October 2004) * ''Olsenbanden tar gull'' (27 October 2004) * ''Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry går amok'' * ''Olsenbanden møter Kongen og Knekten'' (1 December 2004) * ''Olsenbandens siste bedrifter'' (1 December 2004) * ''Olsenbanden for full musikk'' (1 December 2004) * ''Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry på sporet'' (8 December 2004) * ''Olsenbanden og Data-Harry sprenger verdensbanken'' (19 January 2005) * ''Olsenbanden mot nye høyder'' (19 January 2005) *''Olsenbanden gir seg aldri'' (19 January 2005) * ''Olsenbandens aller siste kupp'' (19 January 2005) * ''...men Olsenbanden var ikke død'' * ''Olsenbandens siste stikk'' (1999)

Norwegian cast

Arve Opsahl Arve Opsahl (14 May 1921 – 29 April 2007) was a Norwegian movie and stage actor, singer and stand-up comedian. Opsahl began his career as a comedian in 1942, and played numerous roles both on stage and in more than forty movies. He was then chos ...

as Egon Olsen * Sverre Holm as Benny Fransen *

Carsten Byhring Carsten Byhring (8 December 1918 – 5 April 1990) was a Norwegian actor. He is probably best known for playing Kjell in the Olsen Gang movies. He is the brother of actor Svein Byhring. He died from cancer in Oslo at the age of 71, in 1990. ...

as Kjell Jensen *

Aud Schønemann Aud Schønemann (13 November 1922 – 30 October 2006) was a Norwegian actress, regarded by many as the leading comedienne of her generation in Norway. She was born in Østre Aker, and was a daughter of actor August Schønemann and dancer Dagmar ...

as Valborg Jensen *

Willie Hoel Willie Hans Karsten Hoel (16 June 1920 – 15 June 1986) was a Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group na ...

as Bartender Hansen *

as Biffen *

Pål Johannessen Pål Johannessen (born July 19, 1959) is a Norwegian former child actor. He is most famous for the role of Basse in the Norwegian '' Olsenbanden'' films, though he started off in the film ''The African'' in 1966. After leaving the Olsen Gang fi ...

as Basse Jensen (appears in eight films) * Sverre Wilberg as Superintendent of police Hermansen *

Øivind Blunck Øivind Blunck (28 December 1950) is a Norwegian comedian and actor.Øivind Blunck
in Harald Heide-Steen Jr. Harald Heide-Steen Jr. (18 August 1939 – 3 July 2008) was a Norway, Norwegian actor, comedian and singer. He was the son of Harald Heide Steen. Biography During the 1960s, Heide-Steen. Jr made the radio programs ''Hørerøret'', ''Sugerø ...

as Dynamite-Harry

Spin-offs

The Danish TV series showing the gang during their childhood, '' Olsen-bandens første kup'', was remade in Norway as '' Olsenbandens første kupp''. There has also been made an entire feature film series, '' Olsenbanden Jr.'', with six films from 2003 to 2010, inspired by the Swedish ''

''.

In popular culture

The popularity of the film series inspired a Norwegian restaurant chain, Egon, with the logo alluding to Egon Olsen's iconic hat and cigar. Semic published five Norwegian

comic album a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

s featuring the Olsen Gang, eight original stories, starting with ''"Olsenbanden raner hurtigruta!"'' published in 1983. In June 2019, the Norwegian Postal service issued two stamps to celebrate the first film's 50th anniversary. The domestic stamp depicts Egon leaving prison, which is the opening scene in most of the films. The European stamp shows the whole gang, including Harry and Valborg. The dubbed versions of the series have also enjoyed great popularity in the former GDR and can still be seen regularly on regional television stations. More than 3000 people are members of the German Olsenbanden fan club. The stage name of Betterov, a musician from

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, is a reference to the eponymous supporting character Betterøv in the series.

References

Notes

External links

Olsenbande-Drehorte
(Olsen Gang Film-Locations)
Some of the original Danish trailers

IMDB on the original Danish film
{{Erik Balling 1960s heist films 1970s heist films 1980s heist films Danish film series Danish-language films Fictional gangs Films adapted into comics Films directed by Erik Balling Film series introduced in 1968