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The Man on the Roof
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The Man on the Roof (Mannen på taket) is a Swedish 1976 crime/action movie based on the 1971 Sjöwall-Wahlöö novel "The Abominable Man" (org. "Den vedervärdige mannen från Säffle"), (literary: "The repulsive man from [the city of] Säffle"). It follows Homicide detective Martin Beck (Carl Gustaf Lindstedt) in his investigation of a brutal murder of a fellow policeman. The investigation eventually leads to a shootout in downtown Stockholm where a mad gunman fires on anyone wearing a police uniform.
The movie was directed by Bo Widerberg and stars Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt as Martin Beck, Sven Wollter as Lennart Kollberg, Thomas Hellberg as, Gunvald Larsson, Håkan Serner as Einar Rönn, Ingvar Hirdwall as Åke Eriksson and Carl-Axel Heiknert as Palmon Harald Hult
The following weapons were used in the film The Man on the Roof:
Error creating thumbnail: File missing WARNING! THIS PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Smith & Wesson Model 52
Detective Gunvald Larsson (Thomas Hellberg) carries a Smith & Wesson Model 52 pistol during the movie. Although the S & W M52 only fires the "wadcutter" round, (for paper-targets only), the gun itself looks enough like a deadly piece of hardware for the unitiated.
Walther PP
Police Lieutenant Martin Beck (Carl Gustaf Lindstedt) and uniformed police carries a Walther PP pistol, which was the most common service pistol of the Swedish police until it was replaced by the SIG-Sauer P226 (and later SIG-Sauer P-models) in the mid to late 1980's. In the movie the Walther PP is never fired by any character.
Walther or Hammerli .22 LR competition pistol
In both the novel and the movie the gunman is quite specific as owning (and using) a Hämmerli International pistol. The movie version looks like a "Walther/Hämmerli Olympia", or it could be a pre-war Walther Olympia.
Colt Woodsman pistol
When it's time for the final storming of the gunman's position, Detective Gunwald Larsson asks for volunteers to come up with him. A civilian who owns his own 1st Series Colt Woodsman volunteers to go up with the police task force. This "deputizing" of a civilian is strictly forbidden in Sweden, both then (1976) and present time, which is confirmed by Larsson's boss. Larsson, being a maverick, goes ahead anyways.
Carl Gustav M/45
The Carl Gustav M/45B is used by members of the Swedish "Piketenheten", (literary Picket Unit, which is the Swedish version of S.W.A.T), during the shootout. It is also called "Piketen".
Carl Gustav M/45BET
The Swedish S.W.A.T uses specially modified Carl Gustav M/45BE (called BET) to fire tear gas at the gunman.
"Swedish Mauser" 6.5x55mm
In the shootout the gunman is both seen and described as using a bolt-action rifle, described only as a "Mauser" in-movie, fitted with a scope. The gunman is most likely using the 6.55 mm "Swedish Mauser" due to its long popularity and availability in Sweden. This particular rifle (including variants) was used in the Swedish Armed Forces from 1896 and throughout most of the 20th century. In 1976, there would have been no lack of Swedish Mauser's available for filming of the movie. The version shown in the movie has a bent down charging handle which probably makes it a 1930's (and beyond) version. In both the novel and movie, the gunman is described as specifically using a Swedish Mauser bayonet to kill his first victim.
FN FAL (M1944 Johnson machine gun mockup)
In the original novel the gunman uses a M1944 Johnson machine gun throughout the shootout. For the movie, a FN FAL rifle was modified to look like a Johnson machine gun. The charging handle is on the right side on the original but on the left in the FN FAL movie version. The carrying handle of a standard FN FAL is also obvious in the movie-version of the 1944 MG. The original Johnson has a left side ammo feed, but in the movie version of the MG a false magazine housing had been welded (or otherwise attached) on the left side of the FN FAL. For scenes that required the FN FAL mockup to actually be fired the camera was angled or the weapons bottom part (which housed the necessary FN FAL magazine not present on the 1944 MG) was otherwise concealed. The fake magazine used appears to be of Sturmgewehr 44 type.
