Radio tekee murron

'Radio tekee murron' is about the time when radio was the greatest everyday entertainment for people. The film presents a reporter who commits a burglary into an art gallery and then waits to get busted while reporting it all to the listeners. Hannes Häyrinen plays a decent role as a radio reporter who due to some misunderstandings is persecuted by the police. Most of the film is about this pursuit and even if there will be no big surprises, the film is as a whole quite enjoyable experience. In many old SF-films there are way too many scenes that are not entertaining to modern viewers but 'Radio tekee murron' does not suffer from this lameness. The film as a whole is very dynamic because nobody tries to be too funny and there will be no overacting either. Modern viewers may compare Häyrinen's character to one of Finland's more recent radio personalities, namely Pertti Salovaara. Those who know military history will spot a WW2 fighter ace Oiva Tuominen in a brief cameo in the beginning of the film.

Toivo Teräsvuori, a radio journalist, is always looking for some great topics he could report of.In the beginning we see him skydiving, and then he gets an idea of the lifetime.He should stage a fake burglary.The superiors of the radio station won't let him do the report, but give it to someone else.Teräsvuori does it anyway.He does the deed with the help of his friend and radio amateur Laakso, who's supposed to call the police when he is in the place.The place he decides to rob is the Helsinki Art Museum.Unfortunately, a real criminal, Mr. Knickerbocker, overhears their conversation at the café.He plans to rob the place with the priceless works by Rembrandt and Rubens with his burglar buddies.So when the police arrives, they find Teräsvuori, the stolen paintings and the knocked out night watchman.And nobody seems to believe the poor radio journalist, and soon he's behind bars.He decides to escape and prove his innocence.He's helped by a pretty colleague called Eila.Matti Kassila is the man behind Radio tekee murron (1951).With him in the writing process was Aarne Tarkas.The movie was influenced by the reports made by Usko Santavuori.It won three Jussi awards for best actor, director and script.Next year they made a sequel called Radio tulee hulluksi.Hannes Häyrinen gives the performance of the lifetime as Teräsvuori.Ritva Arvelo does a great female lead as Eila Ritolampi.Kullervo Kalske plays Police inspector Tammisalo.Kunto Karapää is Mr. Robins, aka Mr. Knickerbocker.Heikki Savolainen portrays a crook called Hämäläinen while Matti Lehtelä is a crook called Lehtinen.Kauko Käyhkö is the magician villain, Hans Lindström alias Monsieur Durando.Uljas Kandolin plays Constable Rytky.Lasse Pöysti plays the part of Radio reporter.Arvo Lehesmaa is Ranta.Kaarlo Halttunen is Leo Rikhard Laakso, radio amateur.Kassila's wife of the time, Aino Mantsas, plays Waitress in restaurant Torni.Kirsti Ortola plays Hooker in the movie.Aarne Tarkas is seen in the movie as Karas, crook.Pentti Irjala is Drunk in jail.Veikko Linna is Night watchman in art museum.The flying ace Oiva Tuominen makes a cameo in the beginning.I recently borrowed the VHS from the library.It has been shown many times on TV, but I have missed those times.Now I finally saw it, and liked it very much.This is one movie Hannes Häyrinen was actually proud of.He found most of his movies junk, but this one, and the sequel, he liked.And what's not to like.This is a smoothly running crime comedy.The movie offers many thrilling moments, starting from the burglary to the art museum.Then the escape is a lot of fun to watch, when he goes to the department store and the cops are chasing him.And there is a lot of humor in Hanski's performance, like when he's dressed in a policeman's outfit he found from the department store.Or when he pretends to be one of the dummies there.And let's not forget the romance.When he releases the girl out of the ties, he kisses her twice.This movie is perfect entertainment, that has something for everyone.

After reporting a parachute jump among other things, a daring radio reporter Toivo Teräsvuori (Hannes Häyrinen) wants to break into an art museum and get arrested for it while recording the whole thing for a radio program. When his idea is accepted but the assignment given to another reporter, Teräsvuori decides to get it done without permission before anyone else can. Unfortunately, real criminals led by the suave Robins (Kunto Karapää) happen to hear about his plans and decide to utilize the poor reporter in their own schemes. Teräsvuori gets framed for the theft of valuable paintings, but manages to flee and tries to clear his reputation while on the run.

The premise of the story is based on a legendary real-life radio reportage by journalist Usko Santavuori, but of course things have been spiced up for the movie. The result is both entertaining and even suspenseful at times, as the funny music and shadowy black & white lighting are always in tune with the storytelling and there are many excellent individual moments. Teräsvuori's dream montage after his arrest, the hectic chase through the snowy streets of Helsinki and the crowded Stockmann shopping mall and the suspenseful sequence of Teräsvuori searching through the locker room of the magician Durando (Kauko Käyhkö) are all very enjoyable scenes in the whole, especially the latter which is all done utilizing only point-of-view shots and voice-overs to show the characters thoughts.

Hannes Häyrinen is very sympathetic and lovable in the lead role, as is Ritva Arvelo as his beautiful lady colleague Eila. The always good Heikki Savolainen is also amusing in his small role as a card-playing crook near the end of the film. All in all, Radio tekee murron is a well-made classic comedy and recommended to any fan of 1950s Finnish cinema.

Writer-director Matti Kassila, who later made what was voted by his countrymen as the best Finnish film of all time ("Inspector Palmu's Error"), demonstrates here that commercial Finnish cinema was already alive and well in 1951. "Radio Commits A Robbery" (1951) is basically a Finnish take on the familiar "The 39 Steps" formula, where a man is wanted by the police for a crime he did not commit, goes on the run, finds a female ally who is the only person who believes he is telling the truth, and tries to expose the real criminals to clear himself. Quality-wise, this is pretty much on the level of a light Hollywood comedy of that era (the male lead even has a Cary Grant-type of hair style); not great art, but fairly amusing. **1/2 out of 4.

A radio reporter out to push the boundaries of his profession gets in serious trouble when he attempts to stage a fake art heist. He wants to capture the police's arrest on air - the one thing he had not planned for was that a real burglary would take place - and such this surprisingly polished and energetic thriller comedy begins to form.

What surprised me most were the apparent influences, and just how exciting this film would turn out to be. Particularly the early portions of the film seemed filled with the energy and charm that defined Ealing comedies at the exact same point of time in Britain, while also incorporating film noir aesthetics. But more so, they incorporated a great sense of suspense.

There is never a dull moment, and no sequence is without either comedy or suspense - typically both. And this is what surprised me the most: Just how well it managed to keep the suspense going. Two major chase sequences are particularly noteworthy - and how the suspense and humor fit together so seamlessly is nothing short of applause worthy.

No, the formula is not something new, and it is clearly made for mainstream appeal - but when it works as well as here this is hardly a negative critique. The film delivers a friendly, exciting, well-shot and just altogether ace package. The conclusion itself could have been handled slightly better - but I'm never the less sold. 8.5/10.