Acting
The Danish Ingen tid til Kaertegn (Be Dear to Me) is heavily reliant on the appeal of its star, 8-year-old Eva Cohn. Our heroine is the neglected child of a businessman father and actress mother. Feeling that happiness lies well outside her own backyard, Eva goes on a search for that happiness. The longer she stays away, the more her parents realize that they've unfairly ignored her. The plot is nothing new: it's what is done with it that pleases the eye and ear. Ingen tid til Kaertegn was one of the more popular entries in the 1957 Berlin Film Festival.
Opposite Regensen lives the brave and well-off coppersmith Smidt with his equally brave wife and their delightful young daughter Rikke, as well as the three journeymen Madsen, Mikkel and Lars, who, according to old craftsman custom, both eat and stay with the master. When an acquaintance of journeyman Madsen comes to visit, he learns that he is unhappily in love with Rikke, and he promises to help him get in touch with her.
Manufacturer Mads Juehl, who together with his partner Møller owns the pram factory "Fortuna", is a man with an appreciation for life's many small pleasures. Despite the fact that the company's foundations are gradually becoming unstable, he does not deny himself large personal expenses, and Møller is keen to sell his share in the company. However, his friendly feelings for Juehl keep him tied to the company, and the young clerk, Victor Pethersen, believes that the company now needs to undergo a rejuvenation process.
The action begins one early summer morning in a hostel, where we see, among others, two young girls, a law student, Ruth, and a small office lady, Ilse. From their conversation, we understand that Ilse has a very bourgeois outlook on life. By chance, these two girls come across one of Ruth's fellow students, Pontus Berthelsen, who is spending the summer holidays in a fisherman's cabin. Ilse, who has little world experience, quickly takes an interest in Pontus, who possesses a lot of innate charm. Pontus does his best to conquer Ilse, but her bourgeois attitude means - at first - that she does not fall for his rather deft approaches.
The young sailor Morten returns home from his travels in the midst of the general strike of 1944, where he is confronted with the occupation. He joins a resistance group and actively participates in the struggle. There is no time for relaxation. He must always be on guard. Only with the sweet and charming young Lise can he relax a little and be himself. During a factory sabotage, the group is captured by the Germans.
The new students Eigil and Arne celebrate the end of school. "You are now grown men and women with a carnal desire that every human being contains. This desire can be like a fire in your body, but don't let yourself burn to death," their old teacher admonishes. Nevertheless, the encounter with Copenhagen and its many temptations turns out to be fateful for the charming Eigil and the otherwise faithful Arne.
Anna Louise is tired of her life as a housewife in the country. So she seizes the opportunity when the vagabond Nick randomly rings the doorbell. She invites him in, and together they do all the work in the summer villa after the maid is sent on vacation. Anna Louise starts raising Nick, but soon the roles are reversed, so that Nick is raising Anna Louise. Then Anna Louise's husband arrives and he has difficulty handling the situation. Anna Louise and Nick leave the summer house together, with Anna Louise staying in the house maid's room without her husband's knowledge.
At the old Copenhagen Castle, a strange drama is played out in the year 1699 - the last year of King Christian V's life. One winter day, the young Junker Friedrich von Kötschau comes from Hesse to Christian V's court. The old gloomy castle is filled with sadness, where the king's increasing weakness puts a damper on all the joy of life. Friedrich von Kötschau is a handsome young nobleman, and even His Majesty is delighted with his many cheerful inventions. In addition, he has a prescription for gold, and the king gives him permission to experiment in the castle cellar with the old palace pharmacist Paulus.
