''The Olsen Gang Goes Crazy'' ( da, Olsen-banden går amok) is a 1973 Danish
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
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 ...
and starring
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 ...
. This was the fifth film in the
Olsen Gang
The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang ...
-series.
For the first time
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 ...
appeared as kriminalassistent Jensen, pursuing the gang in all later movies.
Plot
A robbery in a cinema goes awry when the alcoholic brother of Benny, Dynamite-Harry, surprisingly arrives in the middle of the robbery, and Egon ends up in jail yet again, meanwhile the rest of the gang, including Harry, escapes.
Egon is released eight months later, but many things have occurred while Egon has been behind bars. Benny and Kjeld have got a permanent job at a local merchant, run by an elderly man named Quist. His daughter Ragna has fallen in love with Benny, to the dismay of her father, who would rather have had an academician. Egon must settle with Dynamite-Harry, as Benny and Kjeld are not interested in the plan Egon has worked out in the prison. The plan is about stealing 6 million
kroner - money that cannot be traced. Dynamite-Harry has quit drinking totally after messing up the robbery in the cinema, and he happily helps Egon with a robbery in a merchant. However, it turns out that the merchant they try to rob is the shop where Benny and Kjeld works, and the safe is empty. Benny and Kjeld are doing overtime but are accused of the robbery and imprisoned as Egon and Harry flees before the merchant Quist appears with a rifle, before calling the police.
Later, Egon free his friends during a prisoner transport. Now with the gang reunited, they can now go on with Egon's plan. The money are placed in a safe at a warehouse in
Christianshavn. The plan is to sneak in through the
sewage system
Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scree ...
, and to continuing up towards the offices where the safe is, secured with light-sensitive alarms and hydraulic doors. A few hours before the robbery, Benny and Kjeld are visited by the merchant and Ragna. They want to clear out with their former employees because Ragna still loves Benny. Egon is yet again left on his own, and this time he can't even persuade Harry to join him, especially not if they are going to sail in a boat, which is part of the plan. He decides to complete the robbery on his own, and it goes well until he has to go down a manhole cover in a cold storage, where a guard appears. Having to think quickly, he hides in an unlocked cold room.
Meanwhile, Benny and Kjeld have realised how badly the economic situation is in the grocery store, running at a major deficit. The two gang members run away and try to find Egon. They appear in the cold storage's sewer in the exact moment the guard is on his way out. He hears the sound of the manhole cover, turns around and discover that one of the rooms is unlocked. The guards locks the room, with Egon still inside and he is now trapped in a freezingly cold storage room. Despite of it, he manages to get Benny and Kjeld's attention by knocking on the door, and they realise that he is locked inside the room. They are unaware however that the room he is trapped within is a cold room. Benny think of Dynamite-Harry, who can blow a hole in the wall on the other side of the cold room, and this time they have to dress up as men transporting beer. They "loan" a beer van and bring Harry along by forcing him to sit at the back of the van, surrounded by thousands of filled beer bottles. Egon is saved. The temptation is too big for Harry at the back of the van, and he is soon in cloud nine, singing Danish psalms in drunkenness.
Throughout the movie, the very storage where Egon was trapped has been under severe guard of the police, and after the police successfully storm the warehouse, the police encounters a big problem - the safe. They can't open it, not even with the help of the country's best specialists. The detective instantly thinks of Egon Olsen. Having been escaped, he has brought home to Kjeld and Yvonne, where they have warmed him up. Then the gang panics when the police appears, wanting to speak to Egon Olsen, and they throw the suitcase containing the money into a garbage container, which ends up being brought to a
CHP, where the money is blown up. The black powder shown when the money blows up indicates that the money in the suitcase were dirty money.
With the help of a cabinet number hidden in his hat, Egon manages to open the safe, and is applauded by the officers, and the detective hands Egon 500
kroner of his own wallet to show his gratitude. The detective is shocked to find out that the safe is empty.
Egon is driven to the airport by the police, and he manages to get on a plane destined for Mallorca along with the rest of the gang including Yvonne and Børge in the nick of time. Only at this point does he realise what has happened to the money.
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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- Kjeld Jensen
*
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 ...
- Harry
*
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 ...
- Kriminalassistent 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 ...
- Børge Jensen
*
Kirsten Walther - Yvonne Jensen
*
Birgitte Federspiel
Birgitte Federspiel (6 September 1925 – 2 February 2005) was a Danish film, theater and TV actress. She won two Bodil Awards for best actress in 1955 (''Ordet'') and 1959 (''En fremmed banker på'').Ejner Federspiel
Ejner Federspiel (12 August 1896 – 21 November 1981) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 58 films between 1934 and 1981. He was married to Gunver Fønss and his daughter was actress Birgitte Federspiel.
Partial filmography
* ''Hr. ...
- Købmand Quist
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen Gang Goes Crazy, The
1973 films
1973 comedy films
1970s Danish-language films
Films directed by Erik Balling
Films with screenplays by Erik Balling
1970s heist films
Olsen-banden films
Danish comedy films