''Onnenpotku'' (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Lyckosparken''; 'A Stroke of Luck') is a 1936

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

, notable for being the first feature-length

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

film by a female director.

Background

The film is based on an earlier Swedish one, titled ' (1934). The project was started by director and producer

Erkki Karu Erkki Karu (born Erland Fredrik Kumlander) (10 April 1887 Helsinki – 8 December 1935 Helsinki) was a Finnish film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the pioneers of the Finnish cinema. Career Karu started his career as a member ...

, but when he suddenly died in December 1935, a replacement was needed to continue the work. The production company's CEO

Toivo Särkkä Toivo Jalmari Särkkä (20 November 1890, Mikkeli – 9 February 1975, Helsinki), born Toivo Hjalmar Silén, was a Finnish film producer and director. He was CEO of the production company Suomen Filmiteollisuus. Before his career in filmmaki ...

would have been the obvious choice, but he declined on the basis of lack of directing experience. Instead, the project was given to

Glory Leppänen Glory Leppänen ( Renvall; 28 November 1901 — 26 October 1979) was a Finnish actress, theatre and film director, and writer. She was the first Finnish woman film director. Personal life Glory Renvall was born in Paris to a wealthy Finnish fa ...

, who had many years' experience as an actor and also some as a stage director. She did, however, have something most of the directors at the time lacked: formal training in direction, having attended a course at ''Regieseminar Max Reinhardt'' in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She was ably assisted by the seasoned Yrjö Norta as editor and

sound designer In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

. Much of the crew, as well as the lead cast, were also young and inexperienced. Leppänen later remarked on how difficult it was to direct especially the romantic scenes between the male and female leads, with both actors not only unused to such work but also very shy.

Cast

Ester Toivonen Ester Toivonen (August 7, 1914 Hamina — December 29, 1979 Helsinki) was elected Miss Finland in 1933. She was 19 and working in a bread shop in Helsinki when she was discovered by the director of the Helsinki Golf-Casino, where the Finnish pagea ...

— Maire Rauta * Yrjö Tuominen — K.L. Rauta, industrialist, father of Maire * (credited as Toivo Palomurto) — Reino Aro, engineer *

Aku Korhonen August ”Aku” Aleksander Korhonen (29 December 1892 in Käkisalmi − 5 September 1960 in Helsinki) was a Finnish theatre and film actor. During his career, he appeared in 76 films and received three Jussi Awards. He is buried in the Hietan ...

— 'Hillin Jussi' * Jorma Nortimo — A. Korppi, company director *

Kaisu Leppänen Katri Sisko "Kaisu" Leppänen (13 October 1904 – 4 March 1993) was a Finnish actress. She worked for over 40 years in the Finnish National Theatre and appeared in 41 films between 1929 and 1987. She was born in Turku, and was married to actor I ...

— Eeva

Plot

During the 1930s depression, the poor and unemployed engineer Reino Aro is secretly in love with Maire Rauta, the daughter of the wealthy industrialist K.L. Rauta; however, the father has other suitors in mind for her. Much confusion and many misunderstandings later, the situation finally resolves to a happy ending.

Legacy

Upon its release, ''Onnenpotku'' was a box office hit, with over 407,000 cinema tickets sold to date. As of February 2020, it retains the record for the most cinema-goers of any film by a Finnish female director. The film is in some respects technically flawed, but Leppänen's direction is considered to have brought out good performances of the inexperienced cast. Nevertheless, it remains her only film as a director; although she was invited to stay with the production company, she opted for a theatre career instead.

References

External links

* {{Portal, Finland Finnish comedy films 1936 films 1936 directorial debut films 1936 in Finland 1936 comedy films