Johnny O'Clock (1947)

High-class crook gets in trouble with the law.

Director:

Robert Rossen

Writers:

Robert Rossen (screen play), Milton Holmes (original story)

Stars:

Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Powell	...	Johnny O'Clock
Evelyn Keyes	...	Nancy Hobson
Lee J. Cobb	...	Inspector Koch
Ellen Drew	...	Nelle Marchettis
Nina Foch	...	Harriet Hobson
Thomas Gomez	...	Guido Marchettis (as 'S. Thomas Gomez')
John Kellogg	...	Charlie
Jim Bannon	...	Chuck Blayden
Mabel Paige	...	Slatternly Woman Tenant
Phil Brown	...	Phil, Hotel Clerk

Storyline

New York gambling house operator Johnny O'Clock is junior partner in a posh casino with Guido Marchettis and Chuck Blayden, a crooked cop. But Blayden is trying to cut into the casino's profits and warns Johnny not to interfere with his intention of becoming Marchettis' full partner. Blayden ends his relationship with coat check girl Harriet Hobson, then disappears. Later, Harriet is found dead in her apartment, apparently from suicide. Police Inspector Koch begins an investigation.He questions Johnny, Harriet's sister Nancy, who is infatuated with Johnny, and Johnny's associate, Charlie. When Blayden's body turns up in a nearby river, and when it is learned that Harriet death wasn't suicide but murder by poison, Johnny and Marchettis become prime suspects in both cases.To make matters worse, Pete Marchettis discovers that his wife Nelle is having an affair with Johnny. Out of jealousy, he sends hired gunmen to kill Johnny in a drive-by shooting while Johnny is driving Nancy to the ...

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Plot Keywords:

two word title | murder | attempted murder | drive by shooting | lie | 

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Taglines:

Johnny was smart...too smart to tangle with women! (all uppercase on poster)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1947 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

La ultima hora

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, J.E.M. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On August 16, 1977, "Johnny O'Clock" was being televised on KTVU Channel 2's "Dialing For Dollars" (Oakland-San Francisco CA) when word of Elvis Presley's death interrupted the broadcast.

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Quotes

Inspector Koch: You know, any evidence obtained through 'third degree' methods is inadmissable in court.
Johnny O'Clock: I'm relieved you know how to read.

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Connections

Referenced in Broadway by Light (1958)

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Soundtracks

Little White Lies
(uncredited)
Written by Walter Donaldson
[Played by pianist in casino]

User Reviews

Despite best efforts, Powell, Keyes & Cobb can't quite salvage warmed-over noir

As much as more touted actors such as Bogart and Mitchum, Dick Powell helped form the noir cycle, with his assumption -- the first on film -- of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet. He went on to star in such dark and definitive works as The Pitfall and Conflict (not to mention such lesser offerings as Cry Danger and To The Ends Of The Earth). Here, as title character and mid-level gambler/gangster Johnny O'Clock, he sports the thick shell and sub-zero emotional temperature of the noir protagonist, a type he helped to patent. But given a muddled script with noirish shots, situations and symbols thrown in willy-nilly, he fails to convince. Evelyn Keyes, as the sister of a murdered hat-check girl, has (as always) her moments, as does Ellen Drew, as the soused trophy-wife of big mobster Thomas Gomez. Lee J. Cobb puffs his cigar endlesslly, trying to enforce the law. Johnny O'Clock is not quite a bad movie but it's less memorable than many worse-made movies in the cycle. There's just nothing particularly distinctive about it. You feel you've watched it before, at least in bits and pieces, even though chances are (it remains relatively obscure) you haven't.