Dynamiittityttö

Many of actress Lea Joutseno's collaborations with director Valentin Vaala belong among the better Finnish films of the Golden Era. In Dynamiittityttö Joutseno plays a rich businessman's sheltered daughter Marja Reijonen who is an avid fan of crime-themed pulp novels and fascinated by the "Dynamite Men", a gang of real-life burglars who are on the loose in the city. Due to a misunderstanding, Marja enthusiastically joins the gang thinking they are just actors hired by her friend Kari Honka (Tapio Nurkka) who plans pulling a prank on her...

The energetic performances of the lead actors are truly the driving force behind the movie. The plot and the jokes are not particularly noteworthy by themselves, but the perky Joutseno and the suave Nurkka never allow the mood to fizzle for a second. I also liked Rauha Rentola as Marja and Kari's naïve friend Lempi, but a special mention must be given to the "Dynamite Men" themselves: Matti Lehtelä, Kaarlo Aavajoki, Veikko Huuskonen and Kyösti Käyhkö fit in the crook roles excellently.

Almost everybody is overacting, but such stylization is perfectly acceptable in a movie that resembles classic Hollywood screwball comedies in many ways: fast dialogue, hidden identities and a silly upper class girl are all there. Besides the performances, the movie doesn't come across as highly memorable but it's a fairly amusing piece of entertainment in any case. Joutseno fans have no reason to miss it out, and I would also recommend it to friends of old talky comedies in general.