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The Olsen Gang Long Gone

The Olsen Gang Long Gone (Danish: Olsen-banden over alle bjerge!) is a 1981 Danish comedy-crime film directed by Erik Balling, in which the habitual criminal Egon Olsen and his accomplices Benny and Kjeld pursue a red suitcase holding documents on illegal international arms deals, a chase that takes them from Denmark to Paris.1 It is the thirteenth film in the Olsen-banden series and the second half of a two-part finale that closed the original run of the franchise.2

Key factDetail
Original titleOlsen-banden over alle bjerge! (also given as Olsen-banden over alle bjerge)1
Release26 December 1981 in Denmark; German theatrical release 17 August 19842
Director and writersErik Balling (director and co-writer) with Henning Bahs (co-writer, production design, special effects)1
Runtime and rating100 minutes; IMDb 6.9/10 from about 2,000 user votes1
Place in the series13th of the 14 Olsen-banden films; second part of the two-part finale, apart from the 1998 revival2 • 3
Lead castOve Sprogøe (Egon Olsen), Morten Grunwald (Benny Frandsen), Poul Bundgaard (Kjeld Jensen), Kirsten Walther (Yvonne Jensen)3
StudioNordisk Film Denmark4

Spoilers

Plot

Egon Olsen, the gang's planner, presents Benny and Kjeld with another plan that can only end badly. The target is a red suitcase containing valuables worth five million, carried by the sinister mastermind Bang-Johansen, and the gang follows him to Paris to put their carefully organized scheme into motion.5 The suitcase holds compromising documents on illegal international arms deals, and Egon's repeated attempts to obtain it are framed as a way to assure world peace as well as secure the millions.1 • 3

In Paris the gang raises havoc at the restaurant Maxim's by replacing the Sauce Imperial with traditional Danish gravy.3 The film ends with the gang back in Denmark in time for Kjeld and Yvonne's silver wedding anniversary.3

Cast and crew

The film reunites the series' regular ensemble. Ove Sprogøe plays Egon Olsen, Morten Grunwald plays Benny Frandsen, and Poul Bundgaard plays Kjeld Jensen, with Kirsten Walther as Yvonne Jensen.3 Axel Strøbye returns as Kriminalassistent Jensen and Ole Ernst as Politiassistent Holm, the police pair who pursue the gang.3 Bjørn Watt-Boolsen plays Bang-Johansen and Holger Juul Hansen plays Hallandsen, the antagonists tied to the suitcase, while Ove Verner Hansen again appears as Bøffen, the henchman.3 Paul Hagen plays a French head chef, Bendt Rothe a French headwaiter, and Arlette Didier plays Suzanne.3

Behind the camera, Bo Christensen produced, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre composed the music, Peter Klitgaard was the cinematographer, and Finn Henriksen and Leif Axel Kjeldsen edited. Henning Bahs served as production designer and handled special effects.3

Place in the series

The Olsen-banden series ran as fourteen comedies released between 1968 and 1981, with a sequel in 1998, and is considered an integral part of Danish collective memory and culture.6 The Olsen Gang Long Gone is the thirteenth entry and the end of the original run of the franchise.2 It follows Olsen-bandens flugt over plankeværket (1981) directly as the second part of a two-part finale, and the 1998 revival Olsen-bandens sidste stik came later.3

The series was commercially dominant at home. Three of the Olsen-banden films occupy spots one to three on the all-time list of local cinema admissions, each having sold between 1 and 1.2 million tickets.7 The films also traveled: Norwegian adaptations closely followed the Danish originals story-wise, and the series was extremely popular in the former East Germany and Eastern Europe, where Die Olsenbande passed censorship because it was considered to be making fun of capitalist authorities.7

Reception and legacy

On IMDb the film holds a 6.9/10 rating from about 2,000 votes.1 In a 2024 ranking of all fourteen Olsen-banden films from worst to best, the Danish site Kino.dk placed Olsen-banden over alle bjerge seventh, describing it as the series' farewell with style: the gang says goodbye with flair, and although some metal fatigue is detectable in the thirteen-year-old franchise, everyone seems determined to give it one last go.8 The same ranking notes that the film opens with a roughly ten-minute recap of the previous entry shown at full length, an approach one viewer review on Letterboxd also singles out as awkwardly long.2

The film was shot partly on location in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower among the filming locations, alongside Danish sites including Vridsløselille State Prison, Langebro, and Amager Boulevard in Copenhagen.9 It was released theatrically in Germany in 1984 under the title Die Olsenbande fliegt über alle Berge, and later issued on DVD and Blu-ray there in 2003 and 2014.2 Today it is available for streaming in Denmark and Germany, though not in the United States.5

References

  1. The Olsen Gang Long Gone (1981), IMDb
  2. The Olsen Gang Long Gone (1981), Letterboxd
  3. The Olsen Gang Long Gone – Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide
  4. The Olsen Gang Long Gone (1981), La Cartelera
  5. The Olsen Gang Long Gone streaming: watch online, JustWatch
  6. Stephan Michael Schröder, "The Olsen Gang in Denmark – and Abroad," in A History of Danish Cinema (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)
  7. Paradox to revive and renew The Olsen Gang franchise, Cineuropa
  8. Alle 14 Olsen-Banden film rangeret fra værst til bedst, Kino.dk
  9. The Olsen Gang Long Gone (1981) – Filming & production, IMDb

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

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