Holger Gabrielsen's film about a collector and a convicted but innocent young man is a magnificent drama. Ib Schønberg plays Henrik Verle, a middle-aged bachelor who lives alone with his lifelong true maid Mary (Maria Garland). He is an obsessive collector of just about anything. Verle used to go to school with Professor Smith; a scientist who was to be awarded the Nobel Prize for his recent project. However, he was killed before he was able to finish it, and his assistant Erik Menkel played by Angelo Bruun, was accused of having committed the murder. He was sent to prison for 6 years, and was thereby forced to leave his beloved Barbara.
The film begins with Menkel being released from prison. Verle now seeks him out, he suggests to him that he will finance the completion of Professor Smith's project, if Menkel will carry it out. The reason for this being to show his respect to Smith and to rehabilitate himself. Menkel accepts Verle's offer and goes to live with him and Mary in his spectacular country residence. However, Verle is not as trustworthy as he seems at first. It becomes a very interesting story about a sick man, who will do just about anything to prove to others and to himself that he is not just the fat boy, who couldn't do nothing but buy respect. The film is a pearl in Danish film; it has a surprising plot and gives an interesting psychological profile of the collector Verle. The film is very well directed; the characters are sharp and the acting in itself stands out, Ib Schønberg is nothing short of magnificent in the part of Henrik Verle. This film surely deserves to be watched, rarely has Danish film reached such high levels.
