Bjørn Spiro

Most of the ingredients in this filmed circus performance are familiar and simple, but something special has been added—something as simple as ordinary humanity. They talk and behave just like everyone else.

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.

When the Swedes occupy a Danish manor house, Svend Poulsen decides to help the family to safety. Along the way, Ib is taken prisoner. Svend Poulsen and his gang pretend to be a platoon of Swedish soldiers arriving at the castle where Ib is chained to the roof. During dinner that evening, the Swedish commander becomes suspicious, and soon the soldiers are fighting each other. However, Svend manages to free Ib.

The entire population of Bomø has gathered for the big day. Finally, after 56 years, the bridge connecting Bomø to the mainland has been completed. With the parish council chairman at the helm and the minister cutting the ribbon to make it official, everything should be in perfect order. However, the county governor is absent, as he has a financial dispute with the ferrymen, brothers Søren and Peter Severinsen.

Lilleper is starting school, and on the last day of summer vacation, his father invites the whole family to a party at Tivoli. But then everything goes wrong. Per doesn't like school. Søs falls out with Peter, Mie is accused of theft, and his father is fired from his job and talks about selling the house. Everyone is looking forward to a sad Christmas, but maybe Lilleper will still go to the "Christmas Ball in Nisseland."

When a high-school girl complains of her inability to reach sexual climax, her doctor suggests that she keep a diary of her sexual encounters. She does just that and soon finds herself caught up in a sexual merry-go-round that includes making a hardcore porno film in Sweden, an escapade with a German sadist and a lesbian encounter.

After his usual stay behind bars, Egon has another cunning plan involving millions. They rob over 4 million from a money transport. The gang keeps a low profile and hide the money. But it's stolen by "Kongen" and "Knægten", who immediately start living it up - in the penthouse suite at the Sheraton. The suitcase with the money changes hands several times, before Kongen's daughter takes of with all the money.

In the year 1646, Denmark is at peace. Only recently have the last occupying troops left Jutland, leaving behind the sad traces of iron heels. The administration has partially collapsed, the kingdom is short of money, and what money there is is unevenly distributed. This is the unusual and sad background to this unpretentious account.

Bank director L.W. Jacobsen resides in a small provincial town. He is not particularly interested in his wife, Elsebeth, but rather in teacher and city council member Miss Mortensen. Thorsen, the town's manufacturer, is a member of the same city council group as Jacobsen. Then Don Olsen comes to town. Olsen is not interested in the upper class, but rather in people. By chance, Thorsen and Olsen meet and soon become drinking buddies. Thorsen drags the milkman's horse home to his apartment in the middle of the night. The scandal is a reality. Thorsen wants to flee, but with Olsen's help, he instead woos the townspeople and Miss Mortensen under the motto "Make good times better."

Bettina Eriksen, manager of her Uncle Teodor's nursing home, is being framed for murder. With the help of 2 older ladies, Bettina sets out to find out the murderer's identity and motive.

"The ship is loaded with" four angry young men, an original skipper, a fashion model, a radio station, a pirate flag and various musical instruments. And the ship is at anchor in international waters and can not sail forward or backward. On the other hand it can emit radio advertising, and it does.

Bastian and Lene are a good couple, as a journalist and press photographer. They take turns to get ideas for how to get a scoop for the magazine "Tit og Lyt". They agree to play husband and wife so that Bastian can get an apartment. Lene is deeply in love with Bastian why she gets their mutual friend Soren to send a man from the housing authority. He says that they most have one child to stay in the apartment.

Among the residents of the boarding house on Fredhvilevej are Børge Blom, a civil servant, the feisty Nelly Smith, and taxi driver Ib Nielsen. Because their house is to be demolished to make way for a parking lot, they are given 14 days' notice to vacate. Good advice is now hard to come by, and after a fruitless visit to the Ministry of Housing, they agree to resort to unconventional methods—they occupy Louisenborg Castle! Upon arriving at the castle with their belongings, confusion reigns supreme—there is moving chaos, a visit from an Arab prince, plenty of drinks, and love in the corners.

In the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean on the island of Troldø lives a single farming family. The grandmother Gunhild is the only woman on the island and her son Enok is unable to find a wife. Gunhild's advanced age causes her to worry for the future of the family. So she initiates a plan to get Enok married, a plan that is put into action when the young Eva becomes stranded on the island. But the community must be shaken by several dramatic events before Gunhild can breathe a sigh of relief.

After a gruesome meeting with the tax authorities Alex Alexander takes a drive in the countryside to calm down. While driving, he accidentally runs into an elephant from a circus. When he is stopped by the police and tells them about the elephant they think he is crazy. He is committed to an asylum by the very authorities his taxes are funding. The doctor tries to convince him that the elephants were not really there, but he gets more help from manic fellow patient Knudsen who makes him realize that everybody in the world is crazy in some way.

A couple who have escaped from the Baltics to Copenhagen are pursued by a KGB officer.

Frede Hansen, a game salesman, is mistaken for a secret service agent on a ferry and kidnapped by enemy agents. He escapes and now the secret service want to use him as bait to track the enemy. They assign their best agent, Smith to be his partner and supervisor. Their main task is to eliminate the head of the enemy conspiracy, the mysterious 'Dr. Pax' who's real identity is unknown. Freddy accompanies Smith to Stockholm where they are to meet Sonja, an agent for Dr. Pax, who is also on Smith's liquidation list. Thanks to his bag of game tricks, Freddy manages to avoid being done in by Kolick, a killer for Dr. Pax. Freddy falls for Sonja, and he, she and Smith are taken as prisoners to Dr. Pax's hideout, a remote island fortress from which a major power is to be attacked by missiles guided by trained pigeons. Freddy manages to teach Dr. Pax a lasting lesson in the difference between trained pigeons and homing pigeons.

During World War I, the engineer Torben returns home with secret papers from the Russian Tsar to the courier Tuschin, Torben's best friend. Tuschin is found murdered, however, and to solve the murder, Torben stays at his hotel. Here he meets several mysterious people, not least the breathtaking stenographer Inge. But in the hotel, no one is who they pretend to be.

Copenhagen around the turn of the century - December 29th, 1899. Great merchant and shipowner Jacob Friis is one of Copenhagen's richest men. His home is the gathering place for family and friends. Since his wife's dead 10 years earlier, he shares sense of family and business acumen with his three daughters. Jacob wants to find a nobleman for his daughter Emily. Baron Claes is a very charming gentleman, but also a great womanizer...

It's not just eels and rubber boots that Søren and Peter catch when they fish in waters teeming with smugglers... The parish council is against serving alcohol at the inn, but luckily for them, brothers Søren and Peter often catch both whisky and cigarettes when they go fishing. The naive brothers believe that their catch is lost property. The parish council chairman, on the other hand, is so tired of the two constantly knocking on doors that he asks them to give away their catch. And then things might start to happen. Not least at the nursing home. But one day, it all comes to an end. The police and customs authorities invade the idyllic Bomø, and all hell breaks loose for the two unfortunate fishermen...

Sabotage of a Nazi factory is carried out by the husband of the lover of a resistance leader.

One day, a young man unexpectedly shows up in the small town, and word quickly spreads that he has inherited a fishing boat and a small house from his uncle. Martin Poulsen is not a fisherman, but he decides to become one. He finds a good helper, Mikkel, who has been fishing for many years, and his nephew, Anders, who has his eye on Marie from Møllegården. One day, Martin meets the oldest girl on the farm, Anna, and quickly falls in love with her. This, along with his interest in fishing, becomes a thorn in the side of the small community's largest cutter owner, who has until now been regarded as a minor king.

Poeten and Lillemor are making their living on his writing, but the general interest in modern poetry is low and their income very small. A creditor is dogging them, when a sudden bequest gives them some breathing-space. They buy an old house in a small village, where living is cheaper than in Copenhagen. The villagers are distrustful towards the newcomers. After a while the baker, the butcher and the grocer won't give Poeten and Lillemor credit anymore. Also the old creditor is back dogging them. Should Poeten renounce his high poetical standards and write simple verses for popular music, to get money?

The series follows the residents of an apartment building on Copenhagen's Christianshavn, as they go about their daily lives and challenges. There is Olsen, a mover with an old fashion view of the world, Clausen who runs the local pet shop, Egon the career focused assistant, their wives who work hard to keep their spouses lives together, the young couple Tue and Rikke who recently moved in, the hard working caretaker Meyer, who never puts in to much effort, and of course Emma, the innkeeper of Rottehullet, where all the important decisions are made while running up the bar tab. The series was produced by Nordisk Film for Danmarks Radio TV station between the years 1970-77. The series' first director was Ebbe Langberg, then Erik Balling and Tom Hedegaard respectively. The series was conceived by an author team of well-known Danish authors such Leif Panduro, Benny Andersen, and Lise Nørgaard.