Just Betzer Movies
Danish producer Just Betzer is best known for producing the internationally acclaimed Babette's Feast (1987). He is also the past president of Panorama Film, a Danish production company. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Shot on location in Denmark, this riveting and inspirational WW II-era drama chronicles the courage of a young Jewish woman who risks her life and that of her family by concealing a wounded resistance fighter in their home in 1943 just prior to the Nazi invasion of Denmark. The girl eventually falls in love with the wounded man. After he heals, he and the other freedom fighters help the imperiled Danish Jews flee to the safety of Sweden. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- D.B. Sweeney, Kelly Wolf, (more)
- 1991
In this family-fun type of film, two brothers who have apparently inherited their recently deceased father's inventor-type genes decide to finish their pop's robot invention, sell it for big bucks, and keep mom out of the poorhouse. They put together the metal man named Newman who somehow has absorbed the dead dad's spirit and can talk. The boys are wowed to find that Dad's back! But then the bad guys arrive (of course) in the form of an electronics company wanting in on the Newman-robot invention and by an abrupt gal reporter who wants the big scoop. Looming out in the troubled fringes too, are the dopes responsible for the kids' dad's demise. These kids are up to all of this and, along with the robot, they're out to rack up one for the 'good guys.' ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joshua Miller, Edan Gross, (more)
In this adolescent-oriented, loose remake of Some Like It Hot, a lovestruck teenage boy is so desperate to be near his new beloved that he dresses up like a girl and joins the women's tennis team. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chad Lowe, Gail O'Grady, (more)
- 1990
Pia has a perfectly fine relationship with her straightforward young lover Michael. She also has a perfectly perverted relationship with her former lover and occasional bedmate Simon: he likes to tie her up and look at her pull against the bonds, and apparently does very little more. The difficulty is, she can't quite decide whether she is happy with either relationship, with both, or if she wants something entirely different altogether. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Sieling, Michael Caroe, (more)
- 1988
- R
The Girl on a Swing, a haunting, mystery thriller with a supernatural twist, is the story of a desperate woman, who will do anything to be with the man she loves. Karin Foster (Meg Tilly), a lonely German secretary, falls in love with and marries Alan (Rupert Frazier) and moves with him to England. There her strange behavior and fears strain the marriage and lead Alan to mistrust his wife and begin to delve into her past. Based on the novel by Richard Adams, the film is not entirely successful due to the leisurely direction of Gordon Hessler and the lack of pace needed to create genuine suspense. But despite this flaw, the sensitive performance of Meg Tilly makes the film well worth watching and is a haunting psychological exploration of obsession, passion and guilt. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meg Tilly, Rupert Frazer, (more)
- 1987
- R
A motley group of routine German prisoners (including David Patrick Kelly, Jay Sanders and Bruce Davison) are enlisted by a Nazi colonel (David Carradine). The government, desperate for fighting men, promises them freedom if they can destroy a targeted train on the Russian front. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Carradine, D.W. Moffett, (more)
The Danish/French Babette's Feast is based on a story by Isak Dinesen, also the source of the very different Out of Africa (1985). Stephane Audran plays Babette, a 19th century Parisian political refugee who seeks shelter in a rough Danish coastal town. Philippa (Bodil Kjer) and Martina (Birgitte Federspiel), the elderly daughters of the town's long-dead minister, take Babette in. As revealed in flashback, Philippa and Martina were once beautiful young women (played by Hanne Stensgaard and Vibeke Hastrup), who'd forsaken their chances at romance and fame, taking hollow refuge in religion. Babette holds a secret that may very well allow the older ladies to have a second chance at life. This is one of the great movies about food, but there are way too many surprises in Babette's Feast to allow us to reveal anything else at this point (except that Ingmar Bergman "regulars" Bibi Andersson and Jarl Kulle have significant cameo roles).. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stéphane Audran, Jean-Philippe Lafont, (more)
- 1986
- R
Trapper (Michael James) leads a group of survivors from a nuclear holocaust in this uneven fantasy adventure. After battling hostile jungle natives, they reach the cave of Goruk (Ken Metcalfe), the keeper of a primitive nuclear reactor, who holds the key to immortality. Trapper and company release the scantly clad slave girls, defeat the villains, and are left to start a new civilization without the power plant or eternal life. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael James, Deborah Moore, (more)
A former Green Beret becomes a low-budget Rambo after he stops a gang from robbing his LA gas station and they retaliate by slaughtering his family. Enraged, the veteran joins forces with a CIA agent and a mercenary band. Together they head to Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle to break up a major drug ring. Much of the film, including the LA sequences, were shot in the Philippines ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Mitchum, John Phillip Law, (more)
- 1984
In this satire on familial relationships, a conniving, selfish grandmother (Bodil Udsen) finds her match in her six-year-old grandson, and the two have a series of conspiracies in her large urban apartment that are meant to keep her widower son from marrying again. Little Sörmand (adroitly interpreted by Mikkel Egelund) is a boy open to bribery and mayhem if it furthers his interests, which often coincide with those of his grandmother. The two make a difficult team to beat in this otherwise safely gray treatment of what was meant to be a decidedly black comedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bodil Udsen
- 1980
Line (Ann-Mari Max Hansen) and her husband (Soeren Spanning) are going through marriage difficulties and a separation appears to be looming on their horizon. They have two chidren, Hoene (Kathrine Helmuth) and Torben (Torbjorn Rafn), but the children themselves are not enough to bridge the gap between their parents. Before a final split can happen, Line discovers she has a virulent form of cancer and suddenly their mutual love for each other takes precedence over all else. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Mari Max Hansen
- 1980
A young couple struggling with sterility is the subject of this below-average Danish kitchen-sink drama typical of the 1970s. Susanne (Karen Lise Mynster) and Morten (Jesper Christensen) want children like anybody else, but Morten proves to be sterile. They go through the inevitable hospital tests and start seeing other people. The marriage is on the verge of collapse, but true love ultimately keeps it together. The film was director Aase Schmidt's first feature after many years of stage work. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen-Lise Mynster, Jesper Christensen, (more)
- 1980
A prominent member of the Danish Parliament is murdered during a house debate on nuclear energy, and the police investigative unit is all too zealous in their pursuit of suspects. Bent Christensen's crime drama -- based on a popular novel by Paul-Henrik Trampe -- works fairly well as a mainstream thriller but fails as the powerful statement against police corruption it was obviously meant to be. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jesper Langberg, Bent Mejding, (more)
- 1979
It is the beginning of the Stone Age in prehistoric times. Five young tribespeople have run away from their warrior tribe and take up life with a peaceful group of river dwellers. Far from stumbling into an idyllic society, they discover that these new people are even more rigidly organized than their tribe was. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Johnny (Allan Olsen) must face the realities of adulthood in this drama with comedic overtones. He tries his hand as an unskilled laborer before facing the trials of unemployment. Johnny breaks away from the socialist ideals held dear by his family and also manages to fall in love. His career as an Army volunteer leads to trouble as he faces life and gains self respect through his experiences. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Olsen, Frits Helmuth, (more)
- 1978
A group of women preparing to give birth meet and bond at the hospital. This drama is based on the best-selling Danish novel by Dea Trie Moerch. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Mari Max Hansen, Helle Hertz, (more)
- 1978
This Danish film explores the same vein as the very similar movie, The Office Christmas Party, and concerns the shenanigans and misdeeds of a crew of otherwise straitlaced factory workers and their bosses during their once-a-year summer picnic at Copenhagen's Deer Park. After an increasingly riotous and strenuously drunken day, miraculously, everyone shows up for work the next day none the worse for wear. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joergen Ryg, Preben Kaas, (more)
