Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A Masterpiece!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A mile a minute screenplay roars straight ahead through the wisecracks, sexual innuendo, brittle metaphors and crackling character development where the men are just as sarcastic as the women. In fact, they are more acerbic here, the two sisters (Nina Foch and Evelyn Keyes) too innocent and long-suffering and the other major female character (Ellen Drew) too drunk to even be understood through her slurred words. Drew is obviously modeled after Rita Hayworth's "Gilda" look, especially with her obvious sugar daddy husband (Thomas Gomez) whom she admittedly married for social status. The film sets up its brittle elements with the opening scene introducing the slatternly cop Lee G. Cobb who simply drops his cigar ashes on a hotel reservations desk while a film noir version of Franklin Pangborn's 1930's irritated hotel clerk places an ashtray at his reach. Cobb is looking for professional gambler Dick Powell for questioning in regards to a crooked cop involved in protecting the casino Powell works at for the nefarious Gomez. This leads to several murders (one cleverly disguised as a suicide) and Powell's desperation to not only clear himself of any suspicion, but to protect himself from Gomez's vengeance because of wife Drew's obvious interest in him.While Powell is best remembered as a crooner, he really developed some impressive acting skills when he switched his image mid-career into the newly created genre of film noir. "Murder My Sweet" (1944), his first and most famous of these, is certainly a classic, but "Johnny O'Clock" is really his best. He's obviously very comfortable in the skin of this character, advising the pretty Nina Foch about the crooked cop she's seeing, and finally, comforting sister Keyes over Foch's death. When he takes her to the airport after discovering her inside her sister's room, its obvious that she's forgiven him for the initial rough treatment he gave her and that he's opening up to her even though he's involved in some seriously shady activities of his own. Drew's drunken scene is also extremely memorable, as is another sequence where Cobb discovers Foch passed out after breaking into her apartment. The wonderful Mabel Paige has a wonderful bit part as the nosy old lady who tries to get involved in the investigation, and her dialog with Cobb is equally as crackling as the dialog between Powell and Cobb.This grabs the viewer by the throat almost from the beginning and doesn't threaten. It just drags you in even more as the intrigue grows to enormous points of no return from which you won't want to escape. You could watch this one over and over and never remember all of the jaded dialog which keeps the screenplay sizzling. This moves to a great sequence at the airport where Powell begins to piece everything together, and then rushes towards its very violent conclusion where nobody really comes out the winner. The direction by Robert Rossen of his own screenplay is thrilling, and you really feel that you've entered into a darkened world of Johnny O'Clock where life doesn't begin until its dark and that no sun would be bright enough to interest these night owls in daylight.

In "Johnny O'Clock" Dick Powell has three femme fatales for the price of one. The first is hat check girl Harriet Hobson (Nina Foch), the second Nella Marchettis (Ellen Drew) the gold digger wife of Powell's boss Guido (Thomas Gomez) and finally Nancy Hobson (Evelyn Keyes) the sister of hat check girl Harriet. How the three weave in and out of O'Clock's life forms the basis of this film noir ably directed by Robert Rossen.The name Johnny O'Clock is obviously an alias and although we hear Police Detective Koch (Lee J. Cobb) read off a list of Johnny's known aliases, we never learn his true identity.Johnny is the high living well-dressed junior partner of gambler Guido Marchellis. He runs the gambler's casino for him all the while professing that he himself is not a gambler. When two of the main characters turn up murdered, Johnny is immediately suspected of the crimes. He is dogged unrelentlessly by Inspector Koch who seems to have it in for Johnny. Through it all Johnny becomes involved with the three aforementioned females at various stages of the investigation.This was a different sort of role for Powell. This time around, he is not the hard boiled detective or wise cracking private eye he usually played but a shady sort of character who is out only for himself complete with character flaws and a past. Lee J. Cobb plays the police inspector as only he could, a role he would reprise several times throughout his career.Evelyn Keyes, who had just married John Huston, makes an alluring heroine. Nina Foch is suitably innocent as the Johnny's "blind date" and Ellen Drew is sexy and seductive as the real "femme fatale" of the piece. Others in the cast are John Kellogg as Charlie Johnny's "man", Jim Bannon as brutal cop Chuck Blaydon and a young Jeff Chandler as a gambler named "Turk".Complete with all of the dark shadows and night scenes, "Johnny O'Clock" makes for an entertaining "film noire" murder mystery.

"Johnny O'Clock" is a pleasure to watch as it provides a magnificent example of the visual style which is most often associated with the classic film noirs. It uses many of the familiar motifs (e.g. hats, mirrors, clocks, cigarette smoke etc.) in conjunction with some attention grabbing camera-work and inspired use of light and shadow to create the moody environment within which the action takes place.This crime thriller which was written for the screen by first time director Robert Rossen, tells the story of a casino manager, Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell), who is confident, conceited and shrewd in his business dealings, but who is also surrounded by treachery and consequently has to be sharp witted to navigate his way through the potential pitfalls and dangers that seem to engulf him on all sides. Despite his astute nature, Johnny does keep a great deal of bad company! Chuck Blayden (Jim Bannon) is a corrupt cop whose fiancée is the hat check girl in Johnny's casino. He wants a piece of the action and to do this intends to ingratiate himself with Johnny's senior partner, a gangster called Guido Marchettis (Thomas Gomez), so that he can oust Johnny from his role in the business and pocket Johnny's share of the profits. Chuck has a track record of being quick to use his gun, so when he warns Johnny not to get in his way or he'll kill him, the threat is definitely not an empty one. Chuck dumps the hat check girl and shortly after, she's found dead in her apartment. After Chuck's dead body is also found in a river, Johnny and Guido become the main suspects for having killed both victims.Nancy Hobson (Evelyn Hayes) arrives in New York to find out what happened to her sister Harriet (Nina Foch) who was the hat check girl and Johnny and Nancy enjoy getting to know each other.After Guido discovers that his wife Nelle (Ellen Drew) had given Johnny an identical watch to one that she'd given him, he becomes convinced that she and Johnny are having an affair and so sends some of his henchmen to kill his partner. The plot fails, however, and when Johnny goes to Guido's place to dissolve their partnership and collect his share of the money, there is a confrontation between the two men before their dispute is finally resolved.Dick Powell gives a strong performance as a tough, no nonsense character who has to deal with Chuck's treachery, being betrayed by Charlie (John Kellogg) who was an ex-con that Johnny had been generous to, jealous Guido making two attempts on his life and Nell's vengeance which led her to tell the police that she'd seen him kill a man in cold blood. Fortunately his blossoming romance with Nancy does, at least, provide him with some prospect of better times in the future.Considering the quality of the story, the acting and its stylish look, it's surprising that "Johnny O'Clock" hasn't garnered more acclaim and recognition over the years.

Johnny O'Clock is a film about a man who walks the narrow edge of the fence between the legal and illegal. He's partners with Thomas Gomez in an illegal gambling establishment and they've got a crooked cop in Jim Bannon to do their dirty work insofar as rivals are concerned. Bannon's made several 'legal' killings of rivals which has interested honest cop Inspector Lee J. Cobb who wants very badly to close this particular racket down.Dick Powell plays the title character who never quite gets involved in the dirty end of the business leaving that to Gomez. Bannon's girl friend is Nina Foch, a nice young woman who runs the cigarette and candy counter at Powell's swank hotel. When Foch turns up a very suspicious suicide and Bannon goes missing, Powell goes into action.The other factor in the story is that Powell and Gomez's wife Ellen Drew were once involved and she'd like to get involved again. Powell ain't buying that trouble though, especially after Evelyn Keyes who is Foch's sister comes to town and she also suspects foul play.Powell's character Johnny O'Clock is one of his most cynical, he makes his Philip Marlowe from Murder My Sweet look like Dudley DooRight the Mountie. His cynicism almost costs him because he finds a damning piece of evidence that could lead to the murderer and if would have cooperated with Lee J. Cobb from the gitgo it would have all been solved. But Powell's got other irons in the fire and some conflicting motives. In any event he does a great job in the title role.Making his screen debut in a small part as one of the gamblers is Jeff Chandler. His hair is dark, but would shortly turn that premature iron gray that he was so identified with. There is also a very good small part for Mabel Paige who plays a nosy neighbor of Foch's who keeps offering her unwanted observations and opinions to Lee J. Cobb.Robert Rossen was one film away from his career film as a director with All The King's Men. Powell was impressed with his work and personally had Harry Cohn get him as director for Johnny O'Clock. Rossen creates a moody and trenchant atmosphere for his players to work in and gets a near perfect noir film out of this material.And that's a good reason to not miss Johnny O'Clock when it is broadcast.