viewing and reviewing the classics
The Olsen gang are back! And this time they have to struggle against the forces that have taken control of the previous film’s loot. As always, Egon has a precision-planned scheme up his sleeve; this one relying on the unwavering punctuality of the Danish national railways. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
This is the first of two 1990s TV-movies that opted to take the plot of classic Austrian comedies and adapt them to modern times. In this case, they took the core plot of 1940’s Meine Tochter lebt in Wien. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
The black&white boarding school comedy Bottoms Up has been spun off from a British TV show. It is a rather silly and unsophisticated affair, but not without entertainment value. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
With the sixth film, the Olsen gang bid their final farewell..... .....only to return again a year later and more than double the franchise’s volume. But as this one was initially intended to be the final film, there is a sense of closure to the narrative that somehow benefits the atmosphere of the film. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
After several months of estrangement, a rural shopkeeper (played by Hans Moser) travels to Vienna to visit his daughter and his new son-in-law (who he has never met). Due to a misunderstanding (and due to his temper and personality), he causes a lot of havoc in this comedy-of-errors. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
A private investigator finds himself out of his comfort zone. And that is even before the first corpse shows up. The police is bothering him as well, as is a nosy junior doctor. Terry-Thomas and Eric Sykes shine in this chaotic caper. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
This fifth film in the franchise offers a fair amount of the usual convoluted heist plots as well as an inept police sting. But, unusually, Egon cannot rely on the full co-operation of his gang. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
This is the first film in a German school-comedy franchise that is both very mainstream and very mediocre. It was highly popular and would grow to 7 films in total, and it would see at least as many copycat productions. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
This brief British film offers a great cast (including Margaret Rutherford and Frankie Howerd), but little else. There are endless plot twists and as a result the logical cohesion of the criminal enterprise at the centre of it all begins to suffer. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
In the fourth film of the franchise, Egon is not only battling his partners’ lack of discipline but also a freeloading rival. An enjoyable heist and comparatively good pacing made this an enjoyable watch. +++ +++ [click title to read review]
Classic Comedy Corner