Johnny O’Clock (1947) [Film Noir] [Drama] [Crime]

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Johnny O’Clock (Dick Powell) is a junior partner in a posh casino with Guido Marchettis (Thomas Gomez). Complicating their longtime working relationship is Guido’s wife Nelle (Ellen Drew), who is still in love with former boyfriend Johnny. She gives Johnny an expensive custom pocket watch, the twin of a birthday present she gave her husband, except Johnny’s has a romantic engraving on the back.

Johnny gives the watch, along with a rejection note, to Harriet Hobson (Nina Foch), a hat-check girl at the casino, to return to Nelle. Harriet, however, apparently commits suicide using gas. Her sister Nancy (Evelyn Keyes) shows up to find out what happened. She becomes attracted to Johnny. They eventually learn from Police Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb) that Harriet was killed by poison.

Harriet was dating Chuck Blayden (Jim Bannon), a crooked cop who is trying to persuade Guido to let him take Johnny’s place. When Blayden also turns up dead, Koch suspects that either Johnny or Marchettis is responsible.
Though Johnny tries to resist, little by little, he falls for Nancy. When Koch shows both Johnny and Marchettis Johnny’s watch and note, Johnny tells Nancy their relationship is through and takes her to the airport. As he is driving away, however, he narrowly survives a drive-by shooting, and Nancy realizes he was only trying to protect her. She refuses to leave him.

Johnny decides to flee to South America with Nancy, but not before brazenly cashing in his share of the casino. Marchettis pulls out a gun when Johnny’s back is turned. They shoot it out; Marchettis is killed and Johnny wounded. Afterward, Nelle offers to testify it was self-defense, but only if he will come back to her. He refuses, so she tells Koch it was cold-blooded murder. Johnny’s first instinct is to run away, but Nancy convinces him to give himself up.

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Directed by Robert Rossen, produced by Edward G. Nealis and Jerry Giesler, story by Milton Holmes, screenplay by Robert Rossen, starring Dick Powell as Johnny O’Clock, Evelyn Keyes as Nancy Hobson, Lee J. Cobb as Inspector Koch, Ellen Drew as Nelle Marchettis, Nina Foch as Harriet Hobson, Thomas Gomez as Pete Marchettis, John Kellogg as Charlie (Johnny’s traitorous flunky), Jim Bannon as Chuck Blayden, Mabel Paige as Slatternly Woman Tenant, Phil Brown as Phil, Hotel Clerk and Jeff Chandler as Turk.

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Source: “Johnny O’Clock” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 20 July 2013. Web. 26 August 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_O%27Clock.

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47 Replies to “Johnny O’Clock (1947) [Film Noir] [Drama] [Crime]”

  1. yes, someone applied a sort of motion 'stabilization' algorithm to this movie which causes it to make nonsensical pans, tilts, zooms and skews surrounding most of the cut points.  i think it was on upload, choosing the anti-shake option intended to smooth amateur handheld work. 

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  7. Fime noir da fase áurea do gênero, produzido e distribuído pela Columbia, com lançamento nos EUA em 23 de janeiro de 1947. Foi exibido no Brasil como "Dama, valete e rei".

  9. I was playing LA Noire and needed some real noir to get the bad taste out of my mouth.  Same time period, amazing how much more civil everyone is.  One of my favorite aspects of Film Noir is the quiet dignity the subtle put downs that were perfected by Hammett and Chandler.  Those guys wrote like Ali, soft as a feather hard as a nail.  Rockstar is all crotch punches.

  10. I remember Jeff Chandler who had a co-star role in this movie. Had a little girl crush on him. He was another under-rated actor. I enjoyed this film very much. Great cast. Love Film Noir-B and W, Always have.

  14. Gorgeous Women Johnny!                                                                                      Great upload!

  16. The film noir – the greatest chapters in the history of cinema! Starting with the 1930 and 1955's film noir created by great directors and actors of high class! Which of the current actors can now replace Hamfreya Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Edmond About Brian …? No one! There are no such persons, who could now mimic film noir. America, as most of these films belong to the film companies of the country, created a fashion, clothes, hats, cigars, whiskey, cars, sparkling night of advertising, casinos, restaurants, and so forth, just yet created ideal breeding ground for crime novels, which served the script for the black-and-white films. Prohibition has created a mafia and gangsters, in their turn became the heroes of many "black" films. The great director Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, John Huston, Robert Siodmak, Rudolph Mate, Billy Wilder and Otto Perminger, Raoul Walsh, Jean Negulesco, Edward Dmytryk, …….. they are not repeatable !!! See the film noir. About 200 of the immortal masterpieces of world cinema! Long live the film noir !!! My eternal love of film noir !!!

  17. Fascinating how this film makes all the women characters out to be foolish or not very intelligent! Even when they're scheming, they're headstrong & rash.

  21. Dick Powell transitioned well from musicals to film noir. I watched the last third of this film on AMC and am happy to have now seen the film in its entirety.

  22. I refuse to watch this film in the state it's presented here. The framing is shot
    to shit by whomever uploaded it in a half-assed attempt to keep it from being
    removed? Then why bother?! This is a very good movie–I know, I've seen it
    before–it deserves its proper presentation. If that can't be done, then take it
    down.

  24. Think I have to go see the eye doctor after watching this print! Either that or someone else who knows about visual hallucinations and twisting, melting, blurring visuals. Can bad hallucinogens be transmitted by YouTube watching these days? Seems at times like the print is being reflected in one of those distorted funhouse mirrors. Aside from the constantly weird warping of the visuals, this film is BORING!!! Tried my yeoman's best but could not endure it past an agonizing 56 minutes. And that was after 3 wasted attempts! Life is way too short to WASTE it trying to watch another 40 minutes of such a disaster through to its most likely BORING end.

  26. I thought I spotted Jeff Chandler. He didn't even get credited, unless the credits were cut from the end of the movie. One thing for sure, he was playing a bit part. Of course his on screen good looks and charisma, would launch him into stardom, and a place on the A list, along with Dick Powell.

  45. Anyone with a modicum of sense knows that this movie and movies of this quality rates an eleven on a scale of 1 to10. The point is how to keep these masterpieces coming and fight the greed of the movie syndicate to stop these movies from being shown. One thing is certain, I salute you Timeless Classics Movies, thank you, thank you and please keep up the fantastic excellent work.

  46. Couldn't sleep last night. Perused the Old Creakers on YT. Thought this looked worthwhile. It was. Most enjoyable movie. However, having read the comments before viewing the film, I got up out of my bed at three-thirty in the AM and dragged my tired ass to an all-night drugstore, got what I needed, and went home to enjoy my flick. Didn't get seasick even once. Thanks, Dramamine!

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