Egon Olsen in The Danish Series
In the Danish original, Egon Olsen is the small and wiry boss of the Olsen Gang. His two sidekicks are the merry Benny and the timid, pudgy Kjeld. Kjeld's wife, Yvonne, is the only one who Egon has to fight, as she tends to interfere with his plans. Egon Olsen's hallmark is his bowler hat, pinstripe suit, and an extinguished cigar end in his mouth, even when he is gagged. Egon Olsen is one of the typical antiheros of film history, an eternal loser who wobbles but does not fall over. Some observers have pointed out that "Egon Olsen projects the image of an anarchist, an outcast from the world of established capitalism as well as from the secure world of the petite bourgeoisie."
Egon's involvement in each film follows a similar pattern. Egon constantly develops new and "genius" plans during his stays in prison. His catchphrase is "I have a plan", which he says to his accomplices in all fourteen films after being released from prison. The plan succeeds through the most intricate machinations (Egon's specialty is the cracking of safes with merely a stethoscope and fine feeling) but Egon always loses his object of desire due to some freak accident at the end of the movie, usually caused by the incompetence of his accomplices. Each film (Minus the sixth) ends with Egon's arrest.
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