Crime

Drama

Johnny O'Clock

J.E.M. Productions

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

English

Dick Powell

Evelyn Keyes

Lee J. Cobb

Ellen Drew

Nina Foch

Thomas Gomez

John Kellogg

Jim Bannon

Mabel Paige

Phil Brown

Fred Aldrich

George Alesko

John P. Barrett

Fred Beecher

Brooks Benedict

John Berkes

Jeff Chandler

Gene Delmont

Johnny Duncan

Matty Fain

Virginia Farmer

Victoria Faust

Adolph Faylauer

Jerry Frank

Ralph Freedman

Raoul Freeman

Dick Gordon

Jesse Graves

Kit Guard

Robert Haines

Joe Helper

Al Hill

Kenner G. Kemp

Pat Lane

George Lloyd

Cy Malis

Edward Margolis

Charles Marsh

Allen Mathews

Thomas H. O'Neil

Bob Perry

Charles Perry

Robin Raymond

Shimen Ruskin

Carl Saxe

Jeffrey Sayre

Cy Schindell

Sammy Shack

Jack C. Smith

Charles St. George

Bert Stevens

Bill Stubbs

Brick Sullivan

Ralph Volkie

Charles Wexler

George Zouzaniles

Charles Mueller

Kenneth MacDonald

Robert Rossen

Burnett Guffey

Carl Hiecke

Jack Haynes

George Lait

Milton Holmes

George Duning

Warren Low

James Crowe

Jerry Giesler

Newsboy Brown

Joe Palma

Ned Scott

Jean Louis

Bill Black

Edward G. Nealis

Wally Rose

Leo Schlesinger

Cary Odell

Stephen Goosson

Morris Stoloff

Arthur Morton

Al Clark

You play very cute, and nasty!

Johnny O'Clock has everything under control. He has a partnership in a thriving casino and all his little peccadilloes are at ease in his world. Then things start to go awry, his partnership with Marchettis comes under severe pressure on account of Mrs Marchettis' dalliances, and worst of all, the hat check girl he had a soft spot for has turned up dead. Johnny is feeling the heat, from every corner of his world it seems.

At the time of writing this, Johnny O' Clock has under ten reviews written on IMDb and barely 200 votes cast, one can only assume that Johnny is badly under seen! Without knowing the issues of accessibility on TV and DVD, it may just be that this little noir treasure has slipped through the net of many a genre observer. Without pushing the boundaries of noir and its devilish off shoots, it's a film with all the necessary noir components in place, a tightly accomplished film that definitely deserves a bigger audience.

The plot, though very basic in the context of the genre/style it sits in (thus making it easy enough for the casual viewer to enjoy), is a series of double (triple) crosses smothered in a delicate hint of aromatic femme fatale. Throw in crooked and grizzly bear like coppers, get Robert Rossen to make it his directorial debut, and ask Burnett Guffey to photograph it, and you got a lovely helping of noirish stew. All you then ask for is your cast to come up trumps, and thankfully they do.

Dick Powell plays Johnny O'Clock with the right blend of dapper charm and cool calm toughness, Lee J Cobb (grizzly bear copper), Thomas Gomez (Pete Marchettis) and John Kellogg (the muscle) all play it tough without over egging the pudding. The girls are nicely played by Evelyn Keyes ("99 River Street" & "The Seven Year Itch"), Ellen Drew ("The Man from Colorado") and the delicious Nina Foch ("The Ten Commandments") - with Drew showing definite shades of Hayworth at times - though only shades mind!

It's not a dark picture and those hoping for a head scratcher will be sorely disappointed, and I would be a liar if I said that I didn't think the ending needed a more dramatic punch. But I'll be damned if this wasn't a most enjoyable experience, twisty and turny without making the head spin for sake's sake, "Johnny O'clock" is well worth your time. Time! Get it? Groan. 7/10

CinemaSerf

I have to say I was quite disappointed with this. Dick Powell is the eponymous character, a casino manager who on the face of it is as hard as nails, but a little scratching under the surface reveals that he's actually quite a soft old chap. He's had an affair with the much younger wife (Ellen Drew) of his partner (Thomas Gomez) and she is determined to get him back. Just what is she prepared to do, though? Meantime, Lee J. Cobb is a detective trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious suicide of a woman that brings her sister (Evelyn Keyes) into town, and onto Powell's radar. The crime mystery elements are all too often subsumed in the half-baked romantic intrigues that really drag down the pace to little better than a melodrama with ever so slightly menacing undertones. Powell is quite good in the role, as is Cobb as the moody, but effective policeman - but it was all just a bit dull for me, sorry.

Johnny O'Clock (1947) Original Trailer [FHD]

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Johnny O'Clock

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Dick Powell

Evelyn Keyes

Lee J. Cobb

Ellen Drew

Nina Foch

Thomas Gomez

John Kellogg

Jim Bannon

Mabel Paige

Phil Brown

Box office

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