Olsen-banden overgiver sig aldrig (1979)

Director:

Erik Balling

Writers:

Henning Bahs (writer)
Erik Balling (writer)

Release Date:

26 December 1979 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Plot:

After his anual stay at Vridlose State Prison, Egon Olsen is back with a new plan. This includes braking into EU headquarters in Bruxelles...

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Crime | Denmark | European Union | Slapstick

Cast

Ove Sprogøe	...	Egon Olsen
Morten Grunwald	...	Benny Frandsen
Poul Bundgaard	...	Kjeld Jensen
Kirsten Walther	...	Yvonne Jensen
Axel Strøbye	...	Kriminalassistent Jensen
Ole Ernst	...	Politiassistent Holm
Bjørn Watt-Boolsen	...	Bang-Johansen
Peter Steen	...	Hallandsen
Ove Verner Hansen	...	Bøffen
Buster Larsen	...	Sikkerhedsvagt i EF
Vera Gebuhr	...	Ministerfruen
Willy Rathnov	...	Direktør
Hanne Løye	...	Sekretær
Søren Steen	...	Sekretær
Kirsten Norholt	...	Sekretær

Also Known As:

The Olsen Gang Never Surrenders (International: English title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Brussels, Belgium

Company:

Nordisk Film

Trivia:

During the scene when Egon Olsen is stealing the red case from the vault trunk, the voices from the conference, held in the minister's home, can be heard. These are the original voices of the real politicians during that time; one can clearly distinguish several sentences each from the French president Giscard d'Estaing and the German chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

Goofs:

Continuity: The coup at DanInvest supposedly takes exactly 2 minutes and 43 seconds. However, the actual time count (from the time when the watch hand at the clock above the entrance is moving to 12:23 until Benny leaves the telephone hut) is 5 minutes 40 seconds.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Egon Olsen: This country is too small for me; do with it what you wish to...

Movie Connections:

Followed by Olsen-bandens flugt over plankeværket (1981)

Some minor writing flaws, but overall a great entry

It's around this point that the budget(if not the actual number, then the effort put into making the relatively high amount shine through) and the stakes were raised. The vaults of the ninth, the Copenhagen City Hall Clock in the tenth... and then this one. The gang go to Bruxelles, and there's no doubt that at least much of it was shot on location. They also hijack a tank. The first of those two expenses begets some hilarious scenes. The plot is quite good, even if the main thing at stake is basically the same as it was last time... Denmark's fate. Børge returns, though he's hardly in the film at all. Fie's pregnant, and some attention is placed upon the fact that Kjeld will be a grandfather, though one is left wondering what happened to the first child of the young couple(then again, this *is* the series of the disappearing kids... just watch the transition from the first film to the second). The pacing is quite intense... not a moment is wasted, though I don't think I would say that it goes too quickly. Arthur Jensen portrays the meter maid(Parkeringsvagt) that he did in the ninth, in a very brief but irresistibly funny scene. Solveig Sundborg appears for the last time in one of these films. Interestingly enough, she had very small roles in exactly seven of these films... which makes up half of the entire series(if one counts the '98 reunion film, which, I suppose, one should, as painful for us fans as that can be). Edward Fleming shows up again, in a smaller role, though he does have one gag. Bøffen is hardly in the film at all, though his scene is fairly funny(though his death trap isn't as creative as some of the others seen in the series). As a fun piece of trivia, his character seems to dress slightly differently in each film... new hat, different pieces of footwear and such... but he always wears a blue and white striped shirt with a black leather vest over. Peter Steen has his final role in this film, and with more luck and less of a pitiful overplayed performance than that seen in the three other films(the first three, incidentally) that he appeared in. It's amusing to see Bjørn Watt-Boolsen - in the role of Bang-Johansen - criticizing Holm Hansens big mouth... the very character he played twice, just a few films back. As my father pointed out while we watched, this seems to have more coups than any of the other entries. The opening scene contains what for my money is the single coolest break-in ever committed to film, at the very least for this franchise. The humor is still going strong, in spite of this not being as funny as the former film... the running gag about the police force's view on reporters, the Minister's wife who has a mania to turn out her rooms and the joke pointing out the solemnity of the profession of being a guard all spring to mind. There is poked some fun at the Danes'(and perhaps that of many human beings, in general?) love of good food and beers. The police is parodied, for the umpteenth time. Not much else to say... it's clear that the series is reaching its end at this point, though there is still some creativity left in Bahs and Balling. An entertaining film in the series, and worth watching for at least a few great sequences. I recommend it to any fan of Olsen-Banden and/or Danish comedy in general. Having seen as many of the other films as possible first is a must. 8/10