
Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt
- Title: Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt
- Popularity: 0.2909
- Known For: Acting
- Birthday: 1906-02-22
- Place of Birth:
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- Also Known As:


Movies7.2 1975 HD
Egon and his two cronies managed to sneak a fortune with them to Spain. Here they live a life in a whirl of pleasures, but they are not truly happy. While Egon always has the money chained to him, Bøffen still manages to steal them. Egon ends up in jail once again, and when he comes out, he has a brilliant plan.
Movies6.6 1967 HD
The oldest ship in the fleet, Martha, and her jolly crew, must race Harald and win, or it's the scrappers next.
Movies5 1965 HD
The landowner couple Von Rambow are experiencing significant financial difficulties and are therefore forced to leave their residence and their happy life in Copenhagen. Instead, they must settle for the more down-to-earth life of farmers. The young maiden Marie Møller is deeply in love with Von Rambow's cousin Count Frantz, but he prefers the estate inspector's beautiful Louise. The unfortunate Triddelfitz, on the other hand, is madly in love with Marie Møller, which leads to many complications before all the pieces of the puzzle of love fall into place.
Movies4.5 1939 HD
After staying 3 years in America the Countess Ellie Stenholt (Marguerite Viby) returns home to Denmark and the family estate Stenholt. She finds that everything isn't going well noticing that the estate is falling apart and money is short.
Movies6.8 1967 HD
Somewhere on the island of Funen, where the hedgerows surround the meandering fields, lies Uglegaarden. It is the largest and richest farm in the parish, and is owned by the widow Dora and her three brooding stepsons Karl, Viggo and Thomas. Their regular haunt is the village inn, where the crone Sara has to put up with their coarse-grained advances. The three brothers have big plans for the small neighboring farm Mosegaarden. They have discovered that under Mosegaarden's lean fields and high slopes there are large quantities of raw gravel. Chr. Thorup, who owns the site, has mortgaged the farm far above the chimneys. Now the Uglegaards brothers are just waiting for the right time to take over Mosegaarden. But when Thorup's son, Henrik, unexpectedly shows up at Mosegaarden, the three brothers' sinister plans are thrown into disarray.
Movies6.5 1951 HD
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!
Movies6.7 1955 HD
At Helene Dragstrup's 20th birthday, her grandmother Margrethe decides that it is time that Helene learns something about life outside the protective walls of the estate.
Movies6 1955 HD
The young advertising executive Hans and his young wife Grete, who is a dentist, have a considerable annual income between them – and they pay dearly for this to the tax authorities. They calculate that they can save a considerable amount of money by getting divorced. Their friend and lawyer Georg, after much hesitation, agrees to help them with the divorce. However, their "marriage" continues, but it is not long before they each discover that temptation lurks just around the corner—and it is difficult to resist...
Movies3.5 1957 HD
Finn and Claus are best friends and both have a thing for their cute friend Eva. They both go to Copenhagen to study law but Claus would rather study music/piano and takes private lessons and Finn isn't the academic type. Who gets Eva?
Movies5.4 1961 HD
The old doctor, Dr. Bonnesen, is a tired old man. He wants to sell his practice and has been corresponding with the young doctor Jens Winther. Jens arrives in Fjorslev to discuss a possible takeover of Bonnesen's practice and his patients. Bonnesen's beautiful young housekeeper, Anne Mette Krogh, welcomes him. Bonnesen takes a liking to Jens Winther and makes him an offer he cannot refuse.
Movies7.3 1940 HD
The priest in Solby borrows 2,000 kroons from the parish council treasury to pay for one of his parishioners' hospital stays in Germany. Marianne, the rich man's daughter, is to be a bridesmaid in Aalborg and is leaving Copenhagen for Jutland. In Solby, she drives too fast through the town, which is why she has a car accident and ends up in the priest's garden! She immediately starts to lead everyone around the rectory, which Aunt Marie is definitely not happy about. The priest, on the other hand, is attracted to the girl. They swim in the lake and go to a ball together, which leads to Mrs. Larsen coming in to talk to the bishop. After Marianne has returned to Copenhagen, the bishop announces his arrival at the rectory. Where will the priest now find the 2,000 kroons? The priest has a number of friends who are trying to help him, but he also receives unexpected help from the bishop.
Movies4 1958 HD
The sympathetic farmers couple, Mads and Katrine (Hass Christensen and Malberg) are marked by their daughter's death. Katrine has to avoid other children. When Mads invites six city children for the summer holiday, however, old traumas are recovered.
Movies5.5 1941 HD
The world-distant and absent-minded professor Jacob Jensen lives exclusively for his science and his stamps. He has no idea what is going on around him, in his own home. In the 11 years since his wife died, his capable, wise and lovable housekeeper Karen Frederiksen has, with a loving hand, managed the home for him and his 3 children. The aspiring amateur boxer Oscar and the 2 daughters Else-Margrethe and Birthe. She has shared in the children's sorrows and joys and has often lent them money when they have had dry pocket pains. She has praised and scolded them at the right times - in short, she has been in their mother's place. Both the professor and the children take her for granted. They take her services, big and small, for granted, and do not quite understand what she really means to them.
Movies7.5 1968 HD
The young and spirited farmer Ole Offor takes over the Enekær farm on Zealand, along with its stud farm and enormous debt. At the same time, he marries Bente, the daughter of the farm's former owner. Although it is initially a marriage of convenience, the young couple develop strong feelings for each other, and together they take up the fight against debt, Bente's evil stepmother, and her nasty lover, riding master Wilders.
Movies6.7 1958 HD
Marianne has the most amazing blue eyes, so it's no wonder that Per falls head over heels in love with her. Per has just returned from abroad to help his mother run a hotel that she has inherited from her lover and Per's father, the married Albert, who is also Henrik's father. And that's just the beginning of the many complications that need to be sorted out before everything can end well at Det Lille Hotel.
Movies5 1950 HD
In the year 1520, during a violent hurricane in the North Sea, a ship in distress. The sailors are convinced that the abbot they have aboard is causing this. They throw him overboard with his holy scriptures.
Movies1 1976 HD
Old Corfitz and his young wife are plagued by all the visitors who fill their house to wish them luck. But the worst thing for Corfitz is the uncertainty: Is he the father of the child? TV version of Ludvig Holberg's comedy from 1723.
Movies8 1941 HD
In a large shoe store, Erik Hansen is the salesman for a sweet and smart young girl, Edith Bjørnfeldt, with whom he falls head over heels in love. He persuades her to go out with him in the evening. At a dance restaurant, they accidentally meet Edith's brother Willy Bjørnfeldt, a Copenhagener and one of the smart go-out types of the time. When Edith and her brother are alone at the table for a moment, Willy advises her to seize the opportunity and marry Erik, and thus say goodbye to the shoe business, which is hanging over her by the throat.
Movies7 1943 HD
The celebrated actor George Bergmann has four divorces behind him. When his four former wives get the impression that he is cozying up to a very young actress, they feel that they must take action. However, this leads to various misunderstandings and complications, which partly involves the former wives' new men and partly the young girl's strict parents.
Movies5.2 1951 HD
Two rival young men both desire the merchant's pretty daughter, a bad young man robs the merchant's safe and blames it on "mother-in-law's dream", a worldly-wise grandmother directs the battle of love from her living room, and a couple of silly railway workers spread song and joy.
Movies7 1940 HD
Tove (Bodil Kjer) is a modest and ordinary girl dreaming of winning the competition to become the next big movie star. She applies with a photo of her more beautiful sister Grete (Gerda Neumann). The competition, however, is already rigged.
Movies5.5 1969 HD
The third film about the two good-natured brothers Søren and Peter and their family on the small island of Bomø. This time, the brothers have acquired a soccer-loving dog named Bølle, who turns out to be able to predict the results of betting pools. This causes chaos in the betting service, on Bomø, and at Christiansborg.
Movies4.9 1971 HD
Uncle Anders and tiny Per has won a caravan in a contest. It's summer vacation, and the family takes in high spirits off to Jutland with their new home towed behind the car. One morning they discover that the Benneweis circus is setting up tents near the campsite
Movies6.3 1951 HD
H.F.F.M. - "Hands off Mom" - is the name of an association founded by four siblings to keep their mother all to themselves. Now they don't want any more strangers in their private paradise. The small family lives in a cozy attic apartment in Copenhagen. The mother is a writer, and since she is divorced, she has to manage on her own.
Movies4.833 1982 HD
Psychological drama about a doctor who, after taking over a practice in a small community, becomes entangled in some of the local intrigues. This has emotional consequences, including his attraction to a young schizophrenic girl and his wife leaving him.
Movies4 1959 HD
Outside the large hotel, there is a lot of activity. It is teeming with foreigners, buses arrive and depart, and indoors the air is filled with foreign languages. But if you look more closely, you will discover that the doorman, hotel porter, waitresses, and waiters are not "real" hotel staff at all, but just students who take on extra jobs in the summer to earn money for their studies and who live in the "hotel" themselves in the winter, which is actually a student dormitory called "Egmont."
Movies6 1961 HD
An unsuccessful animal impersonator wants publicity and feeds an overly eager journalist a story. The impersonator says he is going to Africa to roar like a lion, and people believe him. The front-page sensation spreads to the foreign press, and in the end, the poor liar has to take out his savings and travel to Africa to prove that the lie was true enough.
Movies6.5 1961 HD
The poet is tired of spring and can't write anything. Meanwhile, Lillemor thinks that spring should be used to get a lot done. Soon, a conflict is brewing. The poet wants to buy a small car, and even though he has no financial sense, he goes ahead and does so without Lillemor's knowledge. She gets angry and wants nothing to do with the car, and this is about to have serious consequences, but thanks to the wise Lillemor, happiness prevails over common sense.
Movies6.2 1968 HD
Police constable Møller'og psychiatrist Dr. Mogensen will have something to watch as the Pusle to everyone's surprise finds out that she can do magic. On her birthday she gets sent an ancient, magical figure from her uncle in South America. On the same day Pusle's parents has to travel to London, and the large family is now left to strict aunt Alma.
Movies7 1940 HD
What might become the greatest challenge for the elderly Brasen couple having opened a summer guest house by the sea? Financial struggle or the sudden influx of demanding residents? Based on Herman Bang's short-story.
Movies6.5 1958 HD
First mate Knud Karlsen has just received sad news from his girlfriend. On board the ship is also chef Valdemar, sailor Ole, owner's confident son Robert and a whole bunch of eager sailors. On board develops the drama out every minute, culminating in the film's climax, when a fire breaks out on board
Movies6.2 1954 HD
At the Copenhagen Conservatory of Music, Mogens Birk passes his organ exam with distinction. Together with his brother Steen Birk, he has supported himself during his studies by playing in the city's small taverns. Editor Jepsen from Bollerupager attends the exam, with a view to hiring a new organist for the city. At the parish council meeting, Consul Møller's daughter Kirsten, who was educated in Paris, is nominated, but Jepsen has Mogens as his candidate for the position, and he gets the job.
Movies6.6 1971 HD
Residents of the old house are quite happy with their existence. But once they find out that the authorities plan to demolish the entire neighborhood including their house in order to build a business center they decide to unite and fight the plan...
Movies6.2 1941 HD
The young talented composer Ole Sand and his wife, the operetta actress Alice Sand, live a very stormy marriage. Due to Ole's bohemian, restless lifestyle, it is shipwrecked. However, they can agree on one thing, the divorce. It proceeds in beautiful harmony. Alice meets the extremely elegant businessman Christoffer Martensen, whom she marries in a small idyllic village church. He casually tells his future bride that he has read that the expression Tobiasnätter dates back to the Middle Ages, and that in this way one paid tribute to one's bride by being as chaste as the prophet Tobias was in the first three days of marriage. Their marriage also remains so, one day slipping away after another, triviality is taking the life of Alice.
Movies6.5 1957 HD
Three girls (around 20 years old) who have grown up in different parts of Denmark get a strange letter. It turns out they are sisters, and will inherit from their late mother, if the can stay together one month in the same house. They end up in a lot of (romantic) trouble, because of speculations of who their father(s) might be.
Movies6.3 1952 HD
Theodor Nielsen lives a peaceful life with his adult daughter Eva. Then the weather vane on the nearby church tower starts squeaking every night. Theodor goes to the priest, who refers him to the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, which in turn refers him to the municipality, which in turn does nothing. Theodor takes advantage of his side job at the radio station and tells all the listeners about the annoying weather vane. Theodor becomes a folk hero and is encouraged to run for municipal office. He is elected but is heavily manipulated by his party colleagues. However, Eva helps him get back on track.
Movies5.7 1951 HD
The film is a sequel to Hold fingrene fra mor (Hands Off Mom). Berthe Quistgaard and Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt play the leading roles in this delightful romantic comedy. Lulu Vänner is about to get married for the fourth time. She is the mother of four children from three different men, but perhaps the fourth time will be the charm. Although the children like Lulu's fiancé, John Carstensen, they are not keen on the idea of marriage.
Movies10 1975 HD
Svante has disappeared and a journalist seeks Benny to hear about his relationship with Svante. In retrospect be seen Benny and Svante with Svante lived with Mrs. Jensen in Copenhagen. When Benny and Svante last meeting would Benny sure to Svante show was released. Benny seek police to report Svante missed and have given a description of Svante. For several years, we follow Benny hunt for Svante including through interviews with Nina. Police seek out the places where Svante traded and the nerve clinic he was hospitalized.
Movies1 1963 HD
The von Ramborgs, a couple who own a big estate, are having some serious money issues. Their estate is run by a bunch of talented folks. The count's nephew Frantz shows up at the estate and immediately falls for Louise, who's the daughter of the estate manager. The maid Marie falls for Frantz, while the handyman Fritz is into Marie. In addition to these complications, two swindlers arrive at the estate. They want to try to cheat von Ramborg out of his estate. However, von Ramborg gets help from Marie and Havermann, who is the estate manager.
Movies1 1965 HD
Mr. Biedermann naively allows two men to stay in his house, which they end up setting on fire.
Movies5 1959 HD
The cheerful, traveling musicians Flink and Villy meet sweet music in the form of two girls. Unfortunately, the chrome nut is tone deaf and chases them away. Luck smiles on them, however, because the nearby castle Bullerborg is abandoned. Flink and Villy move in - and get mixed up in a fight between a cunning lawyer, a bankrupt count and a sausage maker family.
Movies6.5 1939 HD
The young folk singer Peter Jespersen has returned from abroad and is now without a contract. He approaches director Andresen of the Alhambra Theatre, but is rejected, and Peter understands from the conversation that it will be important for him to get an impresario who can take care of the business for him. He approaches the theatre agents Bang and Mathisen, whose motto is: "If you have the talent, we will get you the contract".
Movies8 1941 HD
Baldur Justesen is the owner of an ice cream parlor in a Copenhagen suburb. He is a smooth and unassuming man who works hard to keep it running. It is not quite that easy. He has a beautiful, young wife, Sonja, who likes to dress nicely. A man who works all day in an ice cream parlor can also need some diversion, and it is Baldur Justesen's greatest joy to sing in the choir of the "Lyren" singing association.
Movies7 1946 HD
Author and art critic Martin Berg and his charming wife, Karin, live a happy family life surrounded by their children and in-laws. Ever since he got married, Berg has wanted to write a book about the female figures in Botticelli's art, but the practical demands of everyday life have gotten in the way. There is a constant coming and going of young people in the house. It is the young people who keep him fresh of mind, and he is always ready to help young people, but the question is whether Berg sometimes goes too far in his efforts to help?
Movies4.3 1960 HD
18-year-old Vibeke Henningsen is a student at a large modern school for girls and boys. She is an only child, and her parents, who are both self-employed, have not devoted the necessary time to Vibeke's upbringing. She was born with a combative and difficult character, and when she is demoted from 12th grade to 11th grade after a probationary period, she directs her hatred toward the school's most beloved teacher, Associate Professor Poulsen, whom she directly accuses of refusing to allow her to continue in 12th grade.
Movies6.5 1952 HD
In "Ugens Ekko," the editor's greatest asset is "Aunt Oda," the renowned "love doctor" who provides the magazine's readers with advice and guidance on matters of the heart every week. Only those in the know are aware that "Aunt Oda" is in fact the young poet Ambrosius Hansen, who once impressed editor Vestergaard with some words about women.
Movies6.5 1946 HD
To get a job in a female trio, Per Fagernæs dresses up in women's clothing and calls himself Martha. Together with his "boyfriend" Poul, the four of them travel to the countryside. Martha immediately gets an admirer, which she is not particularly happy about. Martha is drawn into the women's movement by the mayor's wife, and at a women's rights meeting she is nominated as a candidate for parliament. Later, she is elected, beating the mayor of the town by one vote. Meanwhile, both Martha and Poul are having problems with love, as they have both fallen in love with two real women from the trio. But how do you declare your love when you are engaged to Martha, and how do you get rid of Martha?
Movies5.2 1959 HD
A young orphan is sent to live in a Danish village where he is cast out because his mother was a West Indian. With nowhere to turn, the ingenious survivor begins devising a new life outside of town.
Movies6.5 1944 HD
Grete Hansen is looking for work at "Morgenbladet". Here she meets the womanizer Vilmer, who wants Grete to meet him on her first night out on the town, and Bob, a young man who plays private detective. When Bob reads that there are a number of counterfeit 100 kroner notes in circulation, Bob and Grete decide to catch the thief. First they break into the home of a policeman whom they suspect of being a counterfeiter. Later they play servants at the home of another suspect. Then Grete discovers something suspicious about Vilmer - she follows him to a spooky house.
Movies7 1948 HD
The film depicts a series of events that take place in a Copenhagen apartment building while the gate is closed, specifically between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and we encounter a number of human destinies, happy and unhappy, just as in real life.
Movies6 1953 HD
Once upon a time, there was a family consisting of the artist Michael, his wife Lydia, and their son Peter. But the couple divorced, and Lydia, who later married a wealthy businessman who left her so much money when he died that she is now financially independent, now lives in a charming country house, where her old, faithful factotum, Josse, rules the roost.
Movies6.5 1955 HD
The young bank assistant Harald Løve is not particularly suited to sharing his name with the king of beasts. At least, courage and decisiveness have not been his strongest qualities thus far; quite the contrary. Løve is a timid man who is afraid of almost everything and everyone, not least his boss, the arrogant and somewhat eccentric provincial director, bank director Nikolajsen.
Movies5 1944 HD
After a long and arduous life, where she is tyrannized by her husband, the nice old lady becomes a widow. And she inherits a fortune. Now she takes revenge and spends money - much to the outrage of the whole family. They desperately try to have her disenfranchised. The family's attempts to stop the old lady's play with the money give rise to lots of baroque and very comical situations. The laugh muscles are frequently appealed to - and the ending is very surprising...
Movies6.6 1971 HD
When the members of a caravan of pioneers find a daisy growing in the middle of the desert they decide to stop there and to build their town on this very spot. Houses soon spring up like mushrooms, immediately followed by a bank, a saloon, a prison, etc. Daisy Town is born. Unfortunately a city does not go without its bad boys and the peaceful place is soon turned into a lawless place. To restore law and order, a lawman is needed. Lucky Luke, the cowboy who shoots faster than his shadow, will be this man: all the villains had better watch out!
Movies1 1952 HD
It's evening and mother Alice read bedtime stories for her three children.
Movies1 1965 HD
Danish version of Kjeld Abell's successful musical comedy from 1935. Clerk Larsen loses the melody of his youth, which he had when he met his wife. His happiness and dreams have disappeared in a bourgeois existence. "It was supposed to be so good, and then it was actually bad," as one of the play's popular songs - 'The Song of Larsen' - goes. But then the quest to find the melody again begins.
Movies7 1971 HD
Movies1 1963 HD
Vielgeschrey is a fidget merchant constantly prone to believing that he is much more busy than he really is. This eventually makes him suffer a tragicomic fate. TV adaptation of Holberg's satirical play from 1723.
Movies6 1960 HD
A satire and fun farce with songs and various sounds and voices, which attempts to give a picture of good and ordinary people as well as journalists, barbers, countable ghosts, aut. gas and water masters, nannies, a single middle court judge, a robot and not forgetting a professional sweat thief and several others, who together live in the small Danish town of Elleskovsleje.
Movies4.5 1947 HD
Peter and Tove are getting married. Since Peter only has three days' leave from his ship, they decide to go on their honeymoon to Copenhagen. After eating out in town, they check into a hotel for the night. The newlyweds quickly become embroiled in a crime drama. First, Peter finds a dead body in the bed. When the night porter finally arrives, the body has disappeared. The body is seen again in a large trunk, but disappears once more before the night porter can see it. Then Peter is kidnapped in the trunk.
Movies5.5 1943 HD
Director Peter Engel, called "Peter the Great" by his friends, is a very spoiled and spoiled young man. His mother, the general's wife, lives and breathes only for her son after her husband's death, but she is also a woman with a very determined will, and behind her flabby manner Peter has great respect for her. Every Wednesday evening Magda comes to visit Peter in his elegant bachelor apartment on Bredgade. She is a sweet and fresh young girl who lives with her father. Magda loves Peter with all her heart, which is why it hurts her that she is only his Wednesday friend.
Movies6.5 1975 HD
Bertram is very happy with his life, but is encouraged to seek new challenges. Bertram is tasked with getting Merland to sign a contract with the municipality, but it is not easy, as Merland has changed his mind. Meanwhile, Jannie is considering moving out of her parents' house and in with Pelle. Henrik and Louise's relationship is on the rocks. Louise thinks Henrik is having an affair with Lisa. Henrik and Lisa's attraction to each other is obvious, but Bertram doesn't notice anything. Lisa and Bertram's lives take a sudden turn when Henrik dies in an accident. Erling tries to make Bertram the municipal director after Henrik's death, but of course, this doesn't come without a cost.
Movies6 1941 HD
The 74-year-old widow, Juliane Cramer, is a very wealthy lady with an incredible appetite for life. Despite her advanced age, she rushes from one pleasure to another, from mannequin shows to boxing matches, and when her lawyer reminds her that it is time for her to write her will, she firmly rejects him. There is no urgency: "I have decided that I want to live for many more years, that's it". She is more than generous towards her nephews and nieces and their spouses. They all live in a property that belongs to her. That is why they have never paid a penny in rent. They know that, if things get tough, they can always 'borrow' a couple of hundred kroner or three from Aunt Cramer. So everything is very good - apparently...
Movies6 1961 HD
The film tells the story of a boy and his great love for horses, especially a beautiful white stallion, to which he becomes very attached. When he hears that the horse is to be slaughtered, he flees with it, and it becomes an escape that is not without drama.
Movies1 1959 HD
Movies6.5 1952 HD
In "Ugens Ekko," the editor's greatest asset is "Aunt Oda," the renowned "love doctor" who provides the magazine's readers with advice and guidance on matters of the heart every week. Only those in the know are aware that "Aunt Oda" is in fact the young poet Ambrosius Hansen, who once impressed editor Vestergaard with some words about women.
S2 E67 1982 HD
One Big Family is a Danish television series in 12 episodes, first broadcast in 1982-1983. The series was directed by Bent Mejding, while the script was written in turns by Lise Nørgaard, Paul Hammerich and Jane Aamund. The series is produced by Nordisk Film for Danmarks Radio.
S14 E68 1970 HD
The series follows the residents of an apartment building on Copenhagen's Christianshavn, as they go about their daily lives and challenges. There is Olsen, a mover with an old fashion view of the world, Clausen who runs the local pet shop, Egon the career focused assistant, their wives who work hard to keep their spouses lives together, the young couple Tue and Rikke who recently moved in, the hard working caretaker Meyer, who never puts in to much effort, and of course Emma, the innkeeper of Rottehullet, where all the important decisions are made while running up the bar tab. The series was produced by Nordisk Film for Danmarks Radio TV station between the years 1970-77. The series' first director was Ebbe Langberg, then Erik Balling and Tom Hedegaard respectively. The series was conceived by an author team of well-known Danish authors such Leif Panduro, Benny Andersen, and Lise Nørgaard.
S4 E69.2 1978 HD
Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The banker Hans Christian Varnæs, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads Skjern, who arrives in town as the series opens. The name Matador was taken from the localised edition of the boardgame Monopoly, also the series' tentative English title. In addition, in contemporary Danish a "matador" is often used to describe a business tycoon, in the series referring to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur. Directed by famed Danish film maker Erik Balling, Matador was the idea of author Lise Nørgaard who wrote the bulk of the episodes alongside Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and represents the peak of longtime development of Danish TV drama by the public service channel Danmarks Radio. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time; but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.