Radio reporter Toivo Teräsvuori gets an idea for an experimental report using a hidden microphone, but he is reported as a madman talking to himself and is taken to the Houruniemi mental hospital. At the hospital, the volatile Toivo is considered insane, and even his wife Eila's testimony does not...
"Mussu" Koikkalainen, a country boy moves to town to find a job. He finds it and is even promoted to head of complaints department. But little he knows.
Eager young radio reporter Teräsvuori stages a one-man burglary into the Helsinki Art Museum, recorded on tape for a later broadcast by his friend Laakso. Things go awry when a gang of real criminals overhear their plans and book their heist to coincide. Teräsvuori gets caught but escapes from...
Two young lovers, Anna and Martti, are split apart but are reunited many years later when their lives have changed considerably. Anna is a war widow; Martti a writer, is married, and has five children.
A man's body is found on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Palmu starts to investigate the case, but the scandalous newspaper story causes problems for the police.
Logger Severi Suhonen is transferred from forestry work to indoor work at the company's paper mill. Unable to adapt to city life, Severi clashes with the autocratic manager Wille Wållberg and meets his girlfriend from decades ago, Anna Tuhkanen, whose daughter Leena Tuhkanen is dating the...
The boyish, temperamental chemistry student Elsa Kassel disapproves of her mother and sisters running after men, but when she hears that she's referred to as "ugly Elsa", she takes on a transformation. The new, charming Elsa tests her attractiveness on men and causes confusion all the way to her...
The story follows Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim and Quartermaster General Airo at the Finnish Defense Forces headquarters in Mikkeli during the decisive moments of the Continuation War in the summer of 1944. With a major offensive on the Karelian Isthmus imminent, Airo gives the order to attack...
In the remote village of Hurula, the mistress of the house has forbidden her henpecked husband from enjoying himself and playing the accordion. The ceremonious host Ernesti courts the Hurulas' daughter Pirkko to be his wife. However, she falls in love with the village's new cantor Pelle, but...
Concertmaster Orasto and his pianist wife Elna hire Maija, who has been treated harshly by life, as their domestic helper. Erkki, the composer son of a noisy family of musicians, falls in love with Maija, but difficulties pile up in the way of the young couple's happiness.
The story of the first elections in Finland. Farmer Topi Romppainen lives a modest life with his family in Kainuu in the early 20th century. While shopping in the village, Topi hears about the upcoming parliamentary elections. His wife Riikka decides to find out more and ends up at a meeting of the...
Two children get involved in the adventure as the bustling caretaker Mrs. Aaltoska and crime reporter "Hawkeye" Lipponen start chasing the mysterious criminal league.
In the farce, the producer has invited people to his place to plan a film celebrating the centenary of independence. They get drunk and come up with three possible films, which they also act in themselves. The topics chosen, in the spirit of Finnish nationalism, are the life of Colonel Sandels,...
Based on the short story of the same name by Mika Waltari. One afternoon, Valter, a middle-aged bank employee, runs into an old acquaintance at Espalla, and a long, boozy evening ensues. Relations with his wife are strained, and there is a young, charming secretary working at the bank. Valter feels...
A comedy about a social studies professor opposing a dockworkers strike ending up working at the docks by mistake and having his worldview turn upside down.
Mika Waltari's novels, short stories, plays or screenplays are the basis for 33 Finnish films. Director Matti Kassila introduces Waltari's role in films.
