Pekka and Pätkä () is the name of several comedy films produced by Suomen Filmiteollisuus in the 1950s in Finland, based on the popular Finnish comic characters Pekka Puupää (played by Esa Pakarinen) and Pätkä (Masa Niemi), who can be said to be the Finnish version of Stan and Ollie. Production history SF film began production of the movies a year after the original cartoonist Ola Fogelberg passed away. While the first movie was directed by Ville Salminen, Armand Lohikoski would go on to direct 11 of the original films. Screenplays were written mostly by Reino Helismaa with Lohikoski also writing several. The final film of the series was directed by Aarne Tarkas, after Lohikoski was fired from SF film. The first movie's success was immediately apparent which is why the fist sequel, Pekka Puupää kesälaitumilla, was produced the very same year. Multiple Pekka and Pätkä films would be produced in the same year, including three in 1955 and 1957 as well as two in 1958. Esa Pakarinen and Siiri Angerkoski had appeared alongside each other in Rovaniemen Markkinoilla, which led to their casting. Pakarinen was not a trained actor and primarily a musician but his on-screen chemistry with Masa Niemi was apparent. Niemi and Pakarinen appeared alongside several movies in 1953, solidifying their working relationship. Pakarinen's biggest contribution to the character was his Savonian dialect. The SF screenwriters couldn't copy the dialogue, so wrote his lines straight and had Pakarinen apply his natural dialect on set. Masa Niemi's alcoholism would cause occasional difficulties as he had a tendency to become emotional and unable to work. Angerkoski reportedly disliked Niemi for this reason. Pakarinen was charged with keeping Niemi in line while the two worked together. The location and appearance of the Puupää-couple's appartment building changed radically during the first seven films in the series, albeit their fictional address, Voikukkakatu 5 (Dandelion Street), remained fairly consistent. A permanent set was built and used from the eighth film, Pekka ja Pätkä salapoliiseina, onward. The movies followed a typical musical comedy structure, focusing on Pekka and Pätkä's quest for work and/or money, while featuring song numbers and often a secondary male and female protagonist in a romantic subplot. The major exception to this was Kiinni on ja pysyy which was an unrelated comedy script which was modified to feature Pekka and Pätkä as its protagonists, resulting in Justiina being absent from the