A train pulls into Copenhagen Central Station, and 16-year-old Dorte gets off. She needs to find some people on a road somewhere near Svanemøllen. Here, in a beautiful villa, lives Asger Haensen, a director who runs a large company in Copenhagen. He lives with his two children, Margot and Steen. Asger Haensen lives a superficial and overly expensive life—among other things, he has an expensive girlfriend. In the evening, the doorbell rings at the director's house. Outside stands Dorte with a letter that must be delivered to him personally. The letter reveals that Dorte is the result of a small youthful mistake on the part of the director. So Dorte stays in the house. Dorte does not quite fit into the elegant home. But she is feisty—and brings life to the house!
Acting
Ilselil Larsen's Dorte—gangly, defiant, utterly winning against polished adults.
Production
The villa itself: a character, a cage, a stage for class warfare.
Director
Jon Iversen
Ib Schønberg
Direktør Asger Hansen
Ilselil Larsen
Dorte
Preben Neergaard
Steen
Nina Pens Rode
Margot
Johannes Meyer
Prokuristen
Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt
Olsen
Sigurd Langberg
Direktør Herbert Christoffersen
Ove Sprogøe
Hr. Smith
Maria Garland
Kortspiller hos Hansen
Henning Moritzen
Doktor Sørensen
Else Jarlbak
Fru Sedenius
Christen Møller
Politikommisær
Henry Nielsen
Drager
Katy Valentin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
"Lystspil" was Denmark's post-war comfort food—light comedies that let audiences laugh at bourgeois manners while secretly aspiring to them.
Ib Schønberg was Denmark's most beloved character actor; casting him as the flawed patriarch added layers of audience sympathy the script barely earned.
DK
