Olsen-banden går i krig (1978)

This time, Egon gets out of prison without a plan because he has been released early. He has been let out on the occasion of the Queen’s birthday, which makes him very angry, since he was supposed to have a meeting with a High Court barrister. While Egon has been in prison, Yvonne has found a job. Egon therefore has no plan, so they have to use Benny’s plan—something Kjeld is not at all comfortable with, as he is sure it will go wrong. And it does go wrong: Egon deliberately sabotages Benny’s heist so he can get back into prison and have the aforementioned meeting with the High Court barrister. When Egon gets out of prison, Benny is naturally angry with him, but this time Egon has a big plan. The barrister has tipped him off that consulting engineer Bang-Johansen (Bjørn Watt Boolsen) is willing to pay a large sum of money for a very special microfilm kept in the so-called National Registry. With the help of three pilsners and six pieces of open-faced sandwich with carefully chosen toppings, the gang manages to steal the microfilm. But when Egon is about to hand the film over to Bang-Johansen, he lets slip that he knows what is on it: the master plan for the top-secret Operation Daisyland. The European Community has decided that Denmark’s only useful purpose is to serve as a holiday region in Northern Europe, and that all Danes must find work in the tourist sector. Germany’s holiday industry wants to know about the plan in advance so it can buy up the right properties in good time and make a fortune when Operation Daisyland is put into effect. It is willing to pay Bang-Johansen 100 million Deutsche Marks for the film, of which Egon is to receive 10 percent for obtaining it. Horrified that Egon knows too much, Bang-Johansen instead orders his chauffeur and henchman, “The Beef” (Ove Verner Hansen), to get rid of Egon. The Beef tries to gas Egon in an abandoned warehouse in Copenhagen’s Free Port, and Benny and Kjeld have to rescue him. Bent on revenge and on getting what he is owed, Egon now has a new plan: he will snatch the 100 million Deutsche Marks from the German holiday industry’s henchman, the Black Baron (Edward Flemming), who is supposed to deliver the money to Bang-Johansen in cash. By getting the Baron’s plane to taxi off course at the airport, the gang manages to grab the suitcase amid the confusion. But a furious Bang-Johansen uses his political connections to have an arrest warrant issued for Egon. The police promptly show up at Kjeld and Yvonne’s home, and when the gang flees through the back door, The Beef and the Black Baron are lying in wait and snatch the money from Egon, who has to flee the police empty-handed. Bang-Johansen puts the suitcase in his safe and gives the film and the safe key to the Black Baron as security, so that he cannot make off with the money. He will get the key back only after the film has been screened and approved by representatives of the German holiday industry’s board. But the gang steals both the key and the microfilm from the Black Baron while he is sightseeing in Copenhagen: the Royal Life Guards at Rosenborg, the statue of Absalon at Højbro Square, the Little Mermaid, and Amalienborg. Egon now intends to sell the film to Bang-Johansen for the payment he is rightfully owed, despite the objections of Benny, Kjeld, and especially Yvonne. But when Egon screens the film, he discovers to his horror—and to the “Germans’” astonishment—that Yvonne has replaced it with private holiday pictures of her and Kjeld at the beach. Egon tries to escape, but is caught by The Beef and the Baron. The Germans leave City Hall very dissatisfied shortly before nine o’clock and give Bang-Johansen 30 minutes to produce the real film and prevent the deal from being called off. To make Egon reveal where the real film is hidden, The Beef ties him to the clock face on a platform at the six o’clock position of the City Hall clock, where he is at risk of being pushed off by the large hand. Benny and Kjeld manage both to open Bang-Johansen’s “Nyrop” safe and to rescue Egon by making the City Hall clock run backwards. This also makes the clock mechanism go completely haywire, knocking out The Beef and the Baron.