dglink
A well acted, above average film noir from the late 1940's, "Johnny O'Clock" stars Dick Powell as the title character. His "juvenile" roles in such films as "42nd Street" long behind him, Powell's Johnny is a tough gambling-house operator, who is involved with a mobster named Guido and a crooked cop named Blayden. When Lee J. Cobb as Inspector Koch arrives to investigate the murder of a gambler, the plot thickens. A vulnerable Nina Foch plays a hat-check girl in Johnny's establishment, who is involved with Blayden. However, Blayden disappears, and Foch evidently commits suicide. Convinced of Blayden's involvement, both Koch and Foch's sister, played by Evelyn Keyes, pursue the missing cop. A blood-stained coat fished from the water, an expensive engraved watch, a bright new Mexican coin; the clues surface along with the betrayal and duplicity in Robert Rossen's taut screenplay, which was adapted from a story by Milton Holmes.The sharp tough dialog is delivered by pros, with Powell, Cobb, and Keyes especially good. However, lovely Ellen Drew is a standout as Nelle, the alcoholic moll, who is Guido's wife, but harbors a history with and a persistent yen for Johnny; watching her expressions, even when silently in the background, is a lesson in film acting. Film buffs will spot a young Jeff Chandler as Turk, one of Guido's boys, in a small uncredited part. Nicely directed by Robert Rossen, the film features shadowy black and white photography by Burnett Guffey and a good score by George Duning. While not film noir of the first caliber, "Johnny O'CLock" is nevertheless an entertaining entry in the genre, and watching Powell during his tough-guy period is always a pleasure.
kfo9494
This movie is a fine example of late forties and early fifties crime dramas with all the lines and sayings one expect from this type of genre. It involves a classy gangster, an illegal operation, a determined cop and several beautiful dames. All the makings of a movie from this generation.Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell) is second in command of the mob type gambling operation that is run by the big man, Guido. Guido, a rather large man, has taken a beautiful wife, but it seems the wife has eyes for Johnny. Right from the beginning the viewer knew that this was not going to be healthy for Mr O'Clock.Anyway after the murder of a corrupt cop, that was working for Guido, and the apparent suicide of the cop's coat-check girlfriend -- a loyal cop, Koch (Lee J Cobb), starts sniffing around the business. He believes that if he can turn the mobster on each other the house of cards will fall. And it is not long before words will follow action.The story turned out to be somewhat entertaining. If you can get past Dick Powell's stiff performance and staccato way that Powell learned his lines, then this movie is not bad. One bright note in the movie was Lee J Cobb who did an excellent job of the cop hunting-down the mobsters with his famous cigar always nearby.This is an aged film that represents time gone-by. But if you are looking for a classic Noir movie, then this has all the elements.
blanche-2
A great cast stars in "Johnny O'Clock," a 1947 noir written and directed by Robert Rossen. It stars Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Thomas Gomez, and Nina Foch.Not that many years have passed since Dick Powell was a singing juvenile, but here he is as Johnny O'Clock, a somewhat cold tough guy who has a partnership with Guido Marchettis (Gomez) in a gambling casino. Johnny's a hard guy to figure - with the hat check girl Harriet (Nina Foch), he's helpful and kind, and it's hard to decide which is the real Johnny.There's a crooked cop who works for Johnny and Guido named Chuck Blayden (Jim Bannon), who's making trouble for Harriet and there's an Inspector Kotch (Lee J. Cobb) who wants Johnny to answer some questions. Then there's the gorgeous, sexy wife of Marchettis, Nelle (Drew), who's had an affair with Johnny and wants him back. In the midst of all this, Harriet is found dead and it's assumed to be suicide.When Harriet's sister (Evelyn Keyes) comes along, there's an instant spark between her and Johnny. But Johnny is in trouble, thanks to a couple of watches, and the disappearance of Blayden.For some reason, this films ends up being a disappointment. Despite Rossen's wonderful direction, it's not tight enough, nor is the story strong enough. One sort of has the feeling of being dropped into the middle of something. That doesn't mean there aren't interesting elements. One is the tiniest hint of homosexuality in the character of Charlie (John Kellogg), an ex-con who works for Johnny and lives with him.The performances across the board are very good, led by Powell as an attractive, solid tough guy with hints of humanity, and Keyes as a strong but vulnerable woman.Still worth seeing.
Robert J. Maxwell
Well, it's got all the right trimmings -- Dick Powell, Thomas Gomez, Lee J. Cobb with a cigar. Names that sound phony and semi-ethnic -- "Guido Marchettis," "Johnny O'Clock". Released in 1947, black and white. High-class setting with diversions into the seedier parts of an unnamed city. Tough cop, greasy heavy, lying ex-girlfriend, innocent blond new girlfriend, treacherous jealous friend. Edgy dialog.(Gunshots offscreen) "What's that noise?" "Somebody's got a nasty cough." "I've got a bullet in my gut and fire in my brain." "You were in the army. What did you learn?" "What I already knew." "My man was killed." "Accident?" "Yes -- the war." The photography is neat and crisp. Rossen's direction is efficient. He moves the bodies about with ease. But the plot is simply lacking in real drama and doesn't have much in the way of character development. There seem to be several unrelated subplots. A young woman seems to have committed suicide, but maybe it's murder. Her sister arrives in town and falls for Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell) but will they marry? A bad cop disappears. But we don't really get to know any of them to care much about them. And everything is pulled together with a few offhand words by Dick Powell just before the end.I kind of wanted to like it because I'm fond of noirs and think that Rossen's work elsewhere has sometimes been superb, but this one got by me. People walk around and talk to one another. There are card games and two shootings. Girls smile at men, who dismiss them. It's all on the surface. As the detective says in "Psycho," "If it doesn't jell, it isn't aspic. And this isn't jelling." It's still interesting to watch -- once.
AD
