Tad Pole
. . . can melt the basest Beast, and JOHNNY EAGER proves to be no exception to this rule. As Johnny fades from view at the end of his namesake movie, you can almost hear him echoing the last whine of Dorothy Gale's nemesis (the Wicked Witch of the West), with something along the lines of, "I'm melting, melting - - who would think a pretty young thing like Lana Turner could destroy all my wonderful wickedness?!" Who indeed. Unlike, say, Ted Bundy, Johnny is not hung up on women. He's an equal opportunity sociopath, who never got kissed by a grandmother of his he wouldn't sell out for the least little advantage. He's akin to a sadistic rich kid playing with six dozen Ken and Barbie dolls, blowing up one or eight with firecrackers just for "the fun of it." Johnny's Eager to add Lana to his endless trail of discarded pawns, from force of habit. But, unlike all his past victims, she doesn't have the decency to stifle her tears. Johnny goes soft, and it ain't a pretty sight!
trimmerb1234
Handsome, quick on his feet and quicker on the draw gangster Johnny Eager (Taylor) meets the hottest-of-hot young Hollywood dames, Lana Turner, here the District Attorney's daughter. Johnny needs a betting licence from the D.A. but with Johnny's record it ain't gonna happen. As always Johnny's got an angle - this time it ain't pretty at all. But has Johnny run into an acquaintance he ain't seen for a long long while: his conscience? Or is it just his pal (Van Heflin) who's started yapping like some bible-puncher making him on edge? Johnny slugs him to shut him up but his pal still wont stop yapping. Or is it his conscience that's screwing things up? Maybe he just ain't got one? Maybe.This movie motors like a hot rod with the pedal to the metal - with three people doing the steering! It sure is going fast but for sure it ain't going far. Johnny's had his crashes before but this time is different. This time there ain't gonna be too many survivors.Robert Taylor and Lana Turner were never better - they were both young and hot and riding in this souped-up racer of a movie. Yet oddly it was Van Heflin who got the Oscar for his role as the drunken, maudlin muttering voice of conscience, a role he was to make his own and reprised from then on. Clearly, the studio understood that the public of the day was not ready for a raw amoral sociopath as a hero and needed the authorial moral commentary that the Van Heflin character provided to licence their lascivious enjoyment. Today the Van Heflin character appears so insufferable that the public would instead be more likely to be willing Johnny to shoot him - and it would have been Robert Taylor who received the Oscar.
wes-connors
Robert Taylor (as Johnny Eager) is a racketeer on parole; he is posing an honest taxi driver, but actually runs a successful criminal organization. His companion is Van Heflin (as Jeff Hartnett), an unrequited love-struck alcoholic. Adversarial district attorney Edward Arnold (as John Benson Farrell) has a tempting step-daughter, luscious Lana Turner (as Liz Bard), who complicates life considerably. Mr. Taylor is charismatic as gangster "Johnny Eager" and Ms. Turner is lovely as "Liz"
Van Heflin (as Jeff Hartnett) is the actor and performer to watch in this film. Every time he is on camera, Heflin is riveting - whether in the background, staring into space; or, when seen in close-up, crying his eyes out. Moreover, he never overplays his hand, or goes "over the top"; instead, he makes the absolute most out of a delicious role. In an otherwise routine production, Heflin delivers an unfolding, landmark supporting performance.Nothing is quite as good as Heflin's performance in "Johnny Eager", but Taylor's drunken crashing of the "poker party" makes the second half much more entertaining than the first half of the gangster story. Lana Turner watchers should know her clothing choices get sexier during the film's running time. Still, keep an eye on Heflin's "Jeff" - by the end of the film, he is unquestionably Taylor's "leading man". ******* Johnny Eager (12/9/41) Mervyn LeRoy ~ Robert Taylor, Van Heflin, Lana Turner
jc-osms
I love the film noir genre and thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced if far removed from reality morality tale on the life and times of reformed (or is he?) gangster Johnny Eager, played at a fair lick by Robert Taylor. The plot fairly flies along, revolving around blackmail, gambling, alcoholism and even strong suggestions of homo - eroticism in Van Heflin's turn as Horatio to Taylor's Hamlet (or is that Iago to Othello?). Anyhow, Lana Turner sizzles on the screen in one of her first starring roles while Edward Arnold does his stock authority figure, this time on the side of good, unlike his role in "Mr Smith goes to Washington". Heflin deserved his Oscar for his booze - soaked portrayal of Eager's side-kick and conscience Jeff Hartnett, but Taylor and Turner deserve top - marks too. Taylor stays in character brilliantly the whole way through and Turner would tempt any crook back to the straight and narrow. The director eschews camera flourishes a la Hitchcock or Lang but keeps the pace up and captures excellently the mobster neighbourhood of cheap clip joints and gambling dens. Recommended.
AD
