The Olsen Gang

1968 1h 20m DA

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 64

FamilyComedyCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The first of 14 Olsen Gang films presents us with Egon Olsen, head of the gang, and his friends Benny and Kjeld, who want to become the best known gang in Denmark and eventually Europe by stealing a famous Bavarian work of art currently displayed in a Copenhagen museum. Although Egon's plan works out fine, there is only trouble ahead for the little gang.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Ove Sprogøe
Egon Olsen
Morten Grunwald
Benny Frandsen
Poul Bundgaard
Kjeld Jensen
Peter Steen
Mortensen
Poul Reichhardt
Politichefen
Kirsten Walther
Yvonne Jensen
Lotte Tarp
Ulla
Grethe Sønck
Connie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Erik Balling
Writers: Erik Balling, Henning Bahs
Languages: Danish
Countries: Denmark

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

80 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Olsen Gang Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Erik Balling, shot by Claus Loof. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ole Steen Nielsen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ove Sprogøe and Morten Grunwald and Poul Bundgaard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Erik Balling directs. Claus Loof behind the camera. Bent Fabricius-Bjerre scores. Ole Steen Nielsen cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Denmark. Dialogue in Danish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

180 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
358 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "The Olsen Gang Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Erik Balling, shot by Claus Loof. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Ole Steen Nielsen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Ove Sprogøe and Morten Grunwald and Poul Bundgaard carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt0063386 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 64 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Claus Loof
Original score: Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
Editing: Ole Steen Nielsen
Production design: Henning Bahs
Costume design: Lotte Dandanell
Makeup / hair: Ruth Mahler
Runtime: 80 min · 1h 20m
Status: Released
Budget: $145,076
Original language: DA
Certification (US): 12
IMDB: The Olsen Gang (1968)

Part of

The Olsen Gang Collection

The Olsen Gang (Danish: Olsen-banden, Norwegian: Olsenbanden, German: Die Olsenbande) is a fictional Danish criminal gang in the eponymous comedy film series. 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 use violence. 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.