Thanks for the memories!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Awesome Movie

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This is a pretty good gangster film from MGM, but it certainly doesn't qualify as classic film noir and fans of that genre will be disappointed. There are some noir elements (crime drama, set in big city, a merry band of criminals) but the critical elements are missing. Taylor (who does a good job trying to make viewers forget about "Camille" and "Magnificent Obsession") doesn't fit the profile of the man lured by his own greed or bad judgment into the underworld, nor is he lured and betrayed by a femme fatale. On a more superficial level, there are no rainy scenes nor does the camera work have those shadows and unusual angles we come to associate with film noir Put aside the idea that you're watching film nor and it's an enjoyable film, though a bit too long for my tastes.

. . . 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!

The above Headline is a quote from the Movie to dispel any doubts about the Homosexual elements that are more explicit than sub-textual.MGM couldn't make a true Film-Noir if they tried, and only late in the Genre did they even do that. It never was their Forte. They thought themselves above all that Proletarian, street-level stuff. Once in awhile when they ventured into the Gangster or Crime Movies they made a passable and Entertaining Film. This is one of them.Robert Taylor gives everything He's got trying to change His image and be taken as not just another pretty face, but is quite out of his depth here, although he does manage to tread water amongst a Sea of other Thespians with a young Lana Turner in a small but impressive Role.The Dialog is showy and pretentious and is a bit corny, but Van Heflin's AA is deserving because he is really the one who outdoes all and squeezes every tear drop out of this juicy part. It is the only thing in the Movie that seems molded, and from the Heart. Everything else is too stagy and polished existing only in an Artificial sense.

Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) has a stupid name. He is a reformed criminal who works as a cabbie, only he hasn't done any reforming and pretty much runs the town with politicians and policemen under his influence. The one person who stands against him is John Farrell (Edward Arnold), the prosecutor who previously sentenced him and who is blocking his ability to run a dog-track. Johnny Eager blackmails Farrell by implicating his daughter Liz Bard (Lana Turner) in a murder. I don't know why she's got a different surname to her dad but she does. Anyway, Eager has a change of heart when it comes to affairs of the heart and sets out to kill Julio (Paul Stewart), the man who is integral to the blackmail set-up........and is Eager's one and only friend Jeff (Van Hafflin) a homosexual...? I found that this film went on for too long and it just wasn't very exciting. The cast are all OK but I didn't really connect with Robert Taylor and I felt disappointed with the role played by Lana Turner. I was anticipating a strong female lead role. What a wasted opportunity. She could have given some spunk to this story but she just falls flat. The most interesting character is Van Heflin and he delivers some dialogue gems throughout the film. It's his delivery of these lines that make him an incredibly likable drunk.There are some interesting scenes, eg, the fake killing, but there aren't enough. The film is OK but it somehow left me feeling a bit detached from the proceedings and I didn't care too much for what happened to any of the characters. I watched it and that was that. I'm keeping onto the film to watch at a later date. Maybe, it's one of those films that improves with a second viewing.