Bussen is a 1961 Norwegian comedy film, directed by Arne Skouen and starring Leif Juster, and a strikingly similar 1963 Danish comedy film directed by Finn Henriksen and starring Dirch Passer. The plot and script is essentially the same in both films (and also a couple of names). The Danish version is made suitable for a Danish audience. The music to the Norwegian version was written by Maj Sønstevold and Gunnar Sønstevold, with additional songs written by Alf Prøysen. The original main character was written for Leif Juster. At this point in his career, Juster was a popular movie actor. It is possible that Arne Skouen was inspired by a narrative poem written by the poet Ingeborg Refling Hagen, about a milkman who is constantly running errands because of his good heart.

Norwegian Cast [link]

• Leif Juster - Busschauffeur Thorvald
• Lalla Carlsen - Klara Tallerud, midwife
• Egil Hjorth-Jenssen - Tallerud, Mayor
• Tore Foss - Haugen, Beadle
• Lasse Kolstad - Lars
• Synne Skouen - Kaja
• Frithjof Fearnley - Fjell-Olsen, clerk
• Arve Opsahl - Måsabjønn (Moss collector)
• Ulf Wengård - Måsabjønn
• Olav Bugge - Måsabjønn
• Kari Sundby - Helga
• Lothar Lindtner - Man from bus company
• Rolf Sand - Socialist
• Helga Backe - (as Helga Bakke)
• Randi Brænne
• Einar Vaage
• Harald Aimarsen
• Henrik Anker Steen
• Hans Coucheron-Aamot (as H. Coucheron-Aamot)
• Edel Eckblad
• Bonne Gauguin
• Mette Lange-Nielsen
• Egil Lorck - Måsabjønn
• Tom Remlov

Danish Cast [link]

• Dirch Passer - Buschauffør Martin
• Malene Schwartz - Else
• Lily Broberg - Emma
• Karl Stegger - Sigurd
• Paul Hagen - Kæmneren
• Ove Sprogøe - Vik
• Lone Hertz - Helga
• Axel Strøbye - Lars
• Gunnar Lemvigh - Overbetjent Madsen
• Ole Monty - Inspektøren
• Grethe Mogensen - Marie
• Arthur Jensen - Kromand
• Tove Maës - Sofie
• Valsø Holm - Jesper
• Hugo Herrestrup - Harry
• Aage Winther-Jørgensen - Smeden
• Gunnar Strømvad - Medlem af sognerådet
• Poul Thomsen - Mand der råber efter Lars
• Albert Watson
• Anne Dencker
• Minna Jørgensen
• Lone Lindorff

Plot [link]

The protagonist is a jovial bus driver, well beloved by his passengers, essentially the whole community around him. The bus, however, is old, and needs to be replaced. The bus driver himself is also needed as a handyman for all the people around him, assisting with stray cattle, household machines, children's homework, errands of all kinds, and at one occasion, assisting birth. Progress is however leaving him behind, and the local county council plots on a solution, involving a new bus and driver. The community revolts, and the local midwife (married to the mayor) intervenes with all the locals to keep the bus driver, who ends up keeping his job in a new bus.

Differences [link]

There are, however, some small plot differences, mainly based on the casting of the main character. Leif Juster was older than Dirch Passer, and presents a calmer humour. Juster was turning 51, while Passer was 37 at the time of the respective shootings. Passer's interpretation is more Slapstick-based, and the Danish film is made in a more Chaplin-like tradition. The kind humanity of the chauffeur is more present in the Norwegian version. As Passer was younger, the element of romance is more central in the Danish version as well. In both films, the protagonist saves and cares for a small girl (Kaja in the Norwegian version - played by Synne Skouen, daughter of Arne Skouen), whose mother is falling to pieces. In the Danish version, the protagonist falls in love with the mother, and they form a new family for the girl. In the Norwegian version, the interactment is solely with the daughter, and the mother is passed off as a "lost case". The bus driver is said to have delivered Kaja in the bus, and promises to take care of her as a daughter. "The man being there at birth is the truest father", he says.

The three moss collectors are not present in the Danish version. The moss collectors, earning their way by selling moss (for isolation, one presumes) and then spending their income on booze, serves as a kind of greek chorus in the film, and relates the background of Thorvald the driver. When he feels the community does not need him anymore, he yields to their wish and follows them to their "natural habitat" in the most reclusive part of the area. The three collectors talk and act as one, as two of them just repeat the words of the leader.

The element of criticism towards a kind of progress which tends to de-humanize a society is present in both films, presented in the midwife's speech at the end of the film, identical in both versions:

So, you`re all been hooked up on modernizing? Have you all forgotten? You have a choice between a punched card and Thorvald, and then you reject Thorvald? You did not reject him at times when you sorely needed him. Remember? (she turns to each and one of them). Somebody turning red? Maybe you are in debt? You, bellringer, have seen a lot, just like the old midwife. Thorvald was handy in a lot of troubles, while his bus was kept waiting. Oh, that long goof. He has to be pretty stupid, being fair with you all these years, lending you a hand in all matters. That is the reason he`s getting delayed. But who`s delaying him? Remember when you delayed him, Moen? Much was at stake then. Did you ever thank him? Now we`ll have a streamlined bus, jetdriven, now we will sail into the modern times, with airbags in the bottom and plugged ears. All the old models shall be dumped. And we are in such a great hurry, that the only thing that remains after you and me, are a punch in a card! So we will throw Thorvald to the junkyard. He is, after all of the old sort. He has got the time for your kids every morning when they need him. And if anyone seems to mean they need Thorvald, now more than ever before, call before he is dumped. We could use him as a scarecrow. For he shines, you see. There is something in him that endures all kinds of weather.

A small political statement is made at the very end of the Norwegian movie, while Thorvald is driving his new bus: Hoisting of the Norwegian Flag, only seen briefly from inside the bus. This could be interpreted as a victory for the democratic tradition i Norway (as Arne Schouen was a left-winger of the old sort).

Language [link]

The Norwegian version leans strongly on Eastern Norwegian dialect, somewhere between the old Oslo dialect and the closely related tongue of Romerike, which is the location of the film. The only person to speak regular bokmål is the antagonist, the county clerk (and some members of the council, equally sceptical until they are set straight). This language trait is lost in the Danish version.

Literary reference in the film [link]

The bus driver is seen in his humble home, reading a passage about the greek philosopher Diogenes. As he reads, (sitting on a barrel and wearing a towel), he identifies himself with this philosopher, and relates his own version of Diogenes's words in his meeting with Alexander the great: "Move aside, so that the sun may shine on me". He states that he would like to meet this man.

External links [link]

• Bussen at the Internet Movie Database