Kaks' tavallista Lahtista

Usko Lahtinen (Tommi Rinne) and Toivo Lahtinen (Leif Wager) are neighbors who happen to have the same last name.They're also the best of buddies and work at the same place.But then one day they happen to fall for the same lady, Irma Virtanen (Maija Karhi).That hurts their friendship big time.Ville Salminen is the director and Reino Helismaa is the writer of Kaks' Tavallista Lahtista (1960).It's filled with musical bits that are often joyful.Tommi Rinne and Leif Wager make a wonderful team in the lead.They're both men full of charisma.No wonder all the ladies fall for them.The young Pirkko Mannola is radiant as Pirkko Järvinen.Leni Katajakoski in the role of Eeva dazzles with beauty.The brilliant Eemeli plays Janitor Vepsäläinen with his inimitable style.Vesa Enne is his singing son.Pentti Irjala plays producer.Toivo Mäkelä is managing clerk Puntti. Ville-Veikko Salminen plays European champion in boxing, Leo Jokela is his assistant.Also Masa Niemi is seen in the movie which was sadly his last before he took his own life.I would have wished they had given a bigger role for this great comedian.He doesn't even have any lines! That is my only complaint I have about this movie.Otherwise it's a cheerful experience.

Usko and Toivo Lahtinen (Tommi Rinne and Leif Wager) are two best friends who share not only a surname, but also an apartment building and even a workplace at a clothing store. One day they happen to meet a beautiful woman called Irma Virtanen (Maija Karhi) and both fall in love with her. Their friendship is put to test that even causes them to lose their jobs, but luckily their high spirits are not brought down by such minor incidents, as both soon have new careers on their minds: Toivo auditions for a singing job while Usko believes he might have a chance as a boxing champion's training opponent.

The plot is mostly secondary to the cheery musical numbers that are too numerous to be listed here; the funniest of them all might be "Sheikki ben-Ahmed" that first introduces us to Usko and Toivo's fun-loving habits. Rinne and Wager do their parts well, but the show is constantly stolen by child actor Vesa Enne as the young son of the apartment building's senior janitor (Eemeli) – the kid's energetic ditties ranging from "Pikku talonmies" to his rock-jazz performance at the audition should win any musical fan over. The always good Pirkko Mannola also has a perky role as Toivo's new romantic interest. Besides the songs and dances that are at least somehow related to the plot, we also see an acrobatic dance performance which awkwardly breaks the flow of the story, but still deserves praise for its fascinating contortion choreography.

While it is definitely true that the plot mostly exists only to tie the songs together and realistic situations have not been on Reino Helismaa's mind when he was writing the movie, I have always had a soft spot for these silly nonsense musicals that just don't get made anymore. A film like this is only as good as its songs, but in this case the whole works magnificently as featherlight entertainment. A delightful experience!