''The Unhanged'' ( Finnish: ''Hirttämättömät'') is a 1971 Finnish

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comedy film directed by Spede Pasanen and

Vesa-Matti Loiri Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022) was a Finnish actor, musician and comedian, best known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro, whom he portrayed in a total of 20 movies between the years 1973 and 2004. Loiri made a strong i ...

. It is the sequel to the 1970 film '' Speedy Gonzales - noin 7 veljeksen poika''. In addition to featuring Pasanen and Loiri (originally set to appear in ''Speedy Gonzales'', but unable to appear due to an injury''Speedy Gonzales'' film review at Leffatykki.com
), the film also stars Pasanen's other stock actors, such as

Simo Salminen Simo Veli Atte Salminen (8 November 1932 – 2 September 2015) was a Finnish comic-actor best known for his many performances in movies and television shows by Spede Pasanen, usually playing his sidekick in some fashion. Salminen alongside Vesa ...

and

Olavi Ahonen Kauko Olavi Ahonen (21 July 1923 in Tikkakoski – 1 September 2000 in Helsinki, Finland) was a Finns, Finnish film actor. Ahonen first appeared in film in 1954 and made many appearances in Finnish film between then and 1997. He also appeare ...

. The two main characters are parody versions of The

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

and his sidekick

Tonto Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native Americans in the United States, Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) Friendship, companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western (genre), Western character crea ...

. The film was released the same year as '' Kahdeksas Veljes'' and '' Saatanan Radikaalit'' (which Spede only produced). None of the films were box-office successes leading Spede to not release any movies the following year. Regardless, Spede won a joint producer's

Jussi Award The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hel ...

for his efforts. Based on the film, a remake by the same name directed and starring Andrei Alén was released in 2022.

Synopsis

The Lonely Rider (Loiri) and his Indian sidekick Tonto (Salminen) have captured the outlaw Speedy Gonzales (Pasanen), a ruthless gunfighter from the town of Njietponimaistadi. They embark to the town for the reward. After riding through the desert, without water, and fighting against Indians, they discover their heroism has brought them back, full circle.Film review at imdb.com
/ref>

Cast

*Vesa-Matti Loiri as The Lonely Rider (

) *Simo Salminen as

*Spede Pasanen as Speedy Gonzales * Pirjo Laitila as Margareta Smith *Olavi Ahonen as Bartender/Sheriff

Production

The film was one of the rare instances during Spede's early career when the

Finnish Film Foundation The Finnish Film Foundation (, ) is an independent Foundation (charity), foundation with the task of supporting and developing Finland, Finnish film production, distribution and exhibition. It is supervised by the Department for Cultural Policy i ...

provided financing for the film in the form of a grant. However, the grant was originally meant for an unproduced film called ''Kauhukakara'', then re-allocated when Speedy Gonzales became a hit in 1970. The movie re-uses the Western village sets of the first film (having been previously repurposed from the sketch show Kivikasvot). Following a theme from the first movie, the film pokes fun at the conventions of

Western films The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the Frontier Thesis, new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier b ...

and figures. The Lonely Rider and Tonto are takes on

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

and his similarly named sidekick. The film is stylistically very different from Speedy Gonzales, being considerably more tongue-in-cheek and features a smaller cast. The music was again produced by Jaakko Salo, but featuring a less guitar-heavy score. Jukka Virtanen did not return to produce the music. Olavi Ahonen, who played the bar-tender and undertaker in the first film, returns in a self-referential appearance as a Bartender and Sheriff, who also claims to be a "county clerk, pimp and midwife".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unhanged, The 1971 films Spede Pasanen Finnish comedy films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films Lone Ranger 1971 comedy films 1970s Finnish-language films 1970s Finnish films