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Olsen Gang on the Track

Olsen Gang on the Track (Danish: Olsen-banden på sporet) is a 1975 Danish comedy-crime film directed by Erik Balling, the seventh entry in the Olsen-banden series about the bumbling criminal trio led by Egon Olsen.1 It was produced by Nordisk Film, written by Balling and Henning Bahs, and released in Denmark on September 26, 1975.2

Key factDetail
Original titleOlsen-banden på sporet; German release title Auf den Schienen ist der Teufel los2
Director and writersErik Balling (director, co-writer) with Henning Bahs (co-writer and production designer)3
ReleaseSeptember 26, 1975 (Denmark); later in Poland on August 29, 19772 • 4
Runtime and format105 minutes, mono sound, 1.66:1 aspect ratio2
Lead castOve Sprogøe (Egon Olsen), Morten Grunwald (Benny Frandsen), Poul Bundgaard (Kjeld Jensen), Kirsten Walther (Yvonne Jensen), Ove Verner Hansen (Bøffen)1
Series positionSeventh of the Olsen-banden comedies made between 1968 and 1981, with a sequel in 19981 • 5
Audience rating7.3/10 on IMDb from about 2,400 voters2

Spoilers

Plot

The story picks up after the gang's only successful robbery in the previous film. Egon, Benny, and Kjeld are living in luxury on Mallorca with their fortune in a red suitcase, but the idyll sours: Kjeld is homesick, Yvonne drinks heavily, and Egon keeps the money chained to himself. The enforcer Bøffen tracks them down and steals the case, and Egon is arrested in Spain.6 • 7

Back in Denmark after his release, Egon devises a plan to steal a railroad car full of gold bars to recover the gang's money.2 Yvonne gives the police a decisive description of the man and the armored wagon, and a car-and-train chase unfolds along Copenhagen harbor railway and the Amagerbanen line.7 The gang regains the gold and launders it through a Norwegian oil company, gaining a controlling stake in the shipping company I.C. Lauritzen, with Egon installed as chairman of the board. Because the tax administration does not see the income in the accounts, the scheme holds for a time, but the film closes with Egon back behind bars, restoring the series' usual status quo.7

Production

Erik Balling directed and co-wrote the film with Henning Bahs, his longtime collaborator who also served as production designer. Bo Christensen produced, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre composed the music, Claus Loof was the cinematographer, and Ole Steen Nielsen edited.3 Filming included locations in Copenhagen; Kjeld and Yvonne's apartment was shot at Asta Nielsen Strædet in Valby.2 The cast also included Axel Strøbye as Detective Jensen, Ole Ernst as Detective Holm, Paul Hagen as traffic assistant Godtfredsen, Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt as traffic inspector Brodersen, and Poul Reichhardt as the chief of police.1

One piece of trivia recorded on IMDb: the train wagon the police rent for their party carries the number PT 1448, and 1448 are the last four digits of the phone number of any police station in Denmark.2

Place in the Olsen Gang series

Balling, working with Bahs, a set designer and special-effects expert, made 13 Olsen Gang films in all, with the final two released in 1981 for the 75th anniversary of Nordisk Film. The gang, the pinstriped mastermind Egon Olsen with his henchmen Benny and Kjeld, became what the Nordisk Film centenary history calls a national treasure.8 Film scholarship counts fourteen comedies in the Danish series, released between 1968 and 1981 with a sequel in 1998, and describes the films as an integral part of Danish collective memory, echoed in street names, commemorative stamps, and slang.5

The series also traveled. While the Danish films proved difficult to export to other Nordic countries, they were popular in the former Eastern Bloc; scholarship on their reception in the German Democratic Republic argues that the gang's suspicion of national authorities, international financial capital, and the EEC resonated with East German audiences.5 The film's material was reused abroad: it was edited into the Norwegian film Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry på sporet (1977).2

Reception and afterlife

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 from about 2,400 votes, one of the higher scores in the series' run.2 • 9 Rotten Tomatoes lists no critic reviews for the film and fewer than 50 audience ratings.10 The film has been released on Blu-ray by Nordisk Film.4

References

  1. The Olsen Gang on the Track, Apple TV
  2. The Olsen Gang on the Track (1975), IMDb
  3. The Olsen Gang on the Track (1975), IMDbPro
  4. The Olsen Gang on the Track (1975), Blu-ray.com
  5. Stephan Michael Schröder, "The Olsen Gang in Denmark – and Abroad," in A History of Danish Cinema (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)
  6. The Olsen Gang on the Track (1975), MyShows
  7. The Olsen Gang on the Track (1975) plot summary, What's After the Movie
  8. Nordisk Film: 100 Years, FILM#50 (Danish Film Institute)
  9. The Olsen Gang (1968) and series ratings, Socinety
  10. The Olsen Gang on the Track, Rotten Tomatoes

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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