Martha

The oldest ship in the fleet, the Martha, is an ageing Danish tramp steamer working the Mediterranean, and her owners have all but forgotten her. Inside that neglect the odd crew have built a cheerful, slack and thoroughly tolerant order of their own, until the company’s strict boss turns up. In Erik Balling’s ninety three minute comedy Ove Sprogøe leads, with Morten Grunwald and Poul Bundgaard in the cast. The real vessel used in the film was the Margarita, built in Denmark in 1927 as the Aslaug and left idle after a fire in 1966; she was chartered from her Greek owners and was broken up for scrap once shooting ended. The film was poorly received by the first reviewers but became a cult favourite in Denmark.