Ballad of the Masterthief Ole Hoiland (Norwegian: Balladen om mestertyven Ole Høiland) is a 1970 Norwegian drama film directed by Knut Andersen, and starring a broad cast of notable Norwegian actors, headed by Per Jansen as Ole Høiland. Ole Høiland was an actual Norwegian Robin Hood-figure in the early 19th century. He steals from the rich and gives to the poor, enjoying numerous affairs with attractive women along the way. The story culminates in the ambitious burglary of Norges Bank, Norway's central bank.
Four men are gathered to play a game of bridge, when the conversation turns to unnatural and occult events.
One autumn day, Ivar goes to the Botanical Garden in Oslo to visit Maria who is the mother of a little girl named Tilla. Ivar is a child psychologist and had Tilla observed a few months earlier. Treatment for her was agreed upon, but Maria has not returned with Tilla. Now Ivar finds her sleeping under a tree in the garden, and he meets Maria bent over a microscope in the laboratory. Maria has become even more nervous and unbalanced than the last time he met her, because nothing has been "corrected" as quickly as she had hoped -- Tilla has not spoken now for a year and a half. Maria herself is on her way to being as closed off as her own little girl. Ivar persuades Maria to come to the pediatric psychiatric clinic with Tilla so they can begin her treatment. There she meets Mimi Backer. But neither does Mimi get Maria to open up about her experiences with Tilla. In the clinic's observation room, however, the first little flicker of light falls on the mystery...
Thorvald runs a local bus route, with a 1923-model bus nicknamed 'Gamla', in the Norwegian country side. Thorvald himself always takes time to make numerous stops along his route to help out with the smallest of problems. The old man is so caring he sometimes forgets to charge money from his travelers. But modern times are lurking on the doorstep - in the figure of a grumpy county official and an offer from an outside bus company.
We meet the young violinist Øyvind Dahl at a time when everything has weighed him down and he is completely desperate for alcohol. He has left his wife and children and has teamed up with emaciated artists and suspicious individuals, and obtains his daily liquor by mortgaging his last possessions, even the wedding ring, and by pitifully barring money.