The Song of the Scarlet Flower (1938 film)

The Song of the Scarlet Flower (Finnish: Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta, Swedish: Sången om den eldröda blomman) is a 1938 Finnish romance and drama film. It is based on the novel The Song of the Blood-Red Flower by Johannes Linnankoski, telling the story of a glib log driver Olavi Koskela, who spends his free time flirting with young maids. Film is directed by Teuvo Tulio and it stars Kaarlo Oksanen, Rakel Linnanheimo (sister of Regina Linnanheimo), Mirjami Kuosmanen, Nora Mäkinen, Birgit Nuotio and Maire Ranius. The film was the first Finnish adaptation of the book, with the two previous adaptations being Swedish.

Tulio said he was interested mainly in the book's intense and sensuals love scenes but also in the rafting sessions, which he then used in three later films as well. The film's rafting scenes were shot at the Mankalankoski rapids in Iitti.

The film was premiered in Finland on December 4, 1938. Tulio got his work distributed in Sweden, where the first performance was on October 16, 1939 in Stockholm. In Finland, the audience success of the film was the best of the domestic premieres of 1938, although the film received a rather mixed reception from critics. By the time the 1980s came, the tone of the film's reviews had turned more positive.