As well as Van Heflin who received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Johnny's sad sack drunk and scholarly pal Jeff Hartenett put on quite a show in the MGM glossy crime/drama "Johnny Eager". Director Mervyn LeRoy had good and more films under his belt, with 'Random Harvest', 'Waterloo Bridge' and 'Gold Diggers of 1933' coming out on top, all three wonderful films. Although the film was heavily publicized for "Taylor 'n Turnerr's" pairing, they are second fiddle's... MORE> MORE REVIEWS> | POST YOUR OWN REVIEW> Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Johnny Eager; Robert Taylor portrays a likeable gangster named Johnny Eager. Never before had the audience seen him in such a distasteful role, as such a bad guy that you just wanted to kill him yourself. The role provides superb lines, wide emotional range and an unusual character for a Forties movie. This page works best with JavaScript. Robert Taylor was to lose his pretty boy image in this film about a sociopath gangster "Johnny Eager." In the claustrophobic masculinity of cinema noir and within the rules of a previously structured society, heterosexuality and misogyny are a general rule in its fictions, where male ambivalence is rare. Robert Taylor is a parolee, and she is the daughter of one of the prosecutors (Edward Arnold) who sent him up the river. The whole cast is great. The step-daughter of a district attorney falls in love with a gangster on parole who her father originally imprisoned. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Or, so his parole officer thinks so. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used. 4.7 out of 5. 47 customer ratings. Some officials can't be bought however and a judge (Edward Arnold) with a deep seeded resentment of Eager whom he refers to as "Thief" and humiliates blocks his license. Wow! When Eager goes to her, the scene on the balcony between Taylor and Turner is so sexy, so real that you just knew they were really in love outside of the film. 5 star 64% 4 star 13% 3 star 23% 2 star 0% (0%) 0% 1 star 0% (0%) 0% Johnny Eager [VHS… Earn QUA for FREE by contributing to MovieQUA! Having misspent my childhood afternoons watching black and white oldies (in the days before cable) I was shocked that I had never come across this film. 4.4 out of 5 stars. How annoying. But has Johnny run into an acquaintance he ain't seen for a long long while: his conscience? Parolee John Eager (Robert Taylor) has everybody fooled that he's gone straight and is trying to make an honest living as a taxi driver. DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 file . I wasn't expecting much from this movie but i was surprised. Johnny Eager. Videos Trailers 2; Teasers 0; Clips 0; Behind the Scenes 0; Bloopers 0; Featurettes 0; Login to edit. (Some Spoilers) Davilishly handsome Robert Taylor as paroled crime bigwig Johnny Eager with the eye-popping gorgeous 21 year-old Lana Turner as Lisbeth Brad. Goetan 2013-06-05 . But there is no happy ending here in this 1942 M-G-M early film noir. We use cookies and similar tools to enhance your shopping experience, to provide our services, understand how customers use our services so we can make improvements, and display ads. But the clichéd roles give way to nuanced characters, which have originality within their various slants of their respective stereotypes. Ratings & Reviews. As always Johnny's got an angle - this time it ain't pretty at all. Handsome, quick on his feet and quicker on the draw gangster Johnny Eager (Taylor) meets the hottest-of-hot young Hollywood dames, Lana Turner, here the District Attorney's daughter. He's still a racketeer and he's working to open up a new dog track but is finding opposition from a vigilant district attorney (Edward Arnold). Johnny Eager is an ex-gangster parolee who needs to hide his current criminal activities. A weeping Heflin would be arresting to even a casual viewer. but with Johnny's record it ain't gonna happen. Johnny Eager. A selfish crook like Johnny Eager knows nothing about love or sympathy, but even Johnny Eager needs a friend. ", Hollywood's hottest couple in a hot rod of a movie. However he is unsuccessfully trying to get the license to open a dog racing track. MGM HEADED INTO WARNER BROS.TERRITORY AND MADE A GLOSSY AND SLICK GANGSTER FILM.VAN HEFLIN STEALS EVERY SCENE HE IS IN AND LANA TURNER AT HER SEXIEST .SHE WAS NO GREAT ACTRESS IN THIS FILM BUT SHE PHOTOGRAPHED BEAUTIFULLY.THE PHOTOGRAPHY IS BRILLIANT ,LOT OF NIGHT SCENES THE BEGINNING OF FILM NOIR.TAYLOR GOT OUT HIS GREAT LOVER ROLES AND BECAME A TOUGH GANGSTER AND SPORTED A SMALL DARK MOUSTACHE HE WORE EVER SINCE WATERLOO BRIDGE 1940,AND WORE DARK SUITS,COATS AND HATS IN THIS FILM TO MAKE HIM LOOK MORE SINISTER .TAYLOR WAS NEVER ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIE HEROES TYRONE POWER WAS,BUT THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ART DECO TYPE FILMS THAT MGM DID SO WELL NOT LIKE THE TOUGH REALSM OF WARNER BROS.CRIME FILMS. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Johnny is a ruthless and handsome man and his only friend and partner is the alcoholic Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin). He shows her the so called dead man to cure her hysteria, and then goes out in a hail of bullets, held in the arms of Van Heflin his best, and only friend. This is definitely one of the best of the old-fashioned crime dramas and one that shouldn't be missed. Login to write a review. Reviews There are no reviews yet. Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2019, Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2012. Topics Johnny. The gangster interests her more than the cabbie. "Johnny Eager" reeks with the look and feel of a typical MGM production. In reality, Eager hasn't given up his criminal life at all. However, given that the film is very polished, has somewhat less dark dialog, features big-name actors and is rather pretty to look at, I would consider this almost like "Film Noir-Lite". Robert Taylor doesn't ace every scene but he gives a more than credible performance as Johnny Eager, an inventive pragmatic and violent when called for gangster trying to open a legit dog track from behind the scenes. In the end Johnny realizes that Lizbeth loves him and that for once in his criminal, selfish life he is really in love. Johnny meets Lizbeth (Lana Turner)and uses her to blackmail her father, played wonderfully well by Edward Arnold, the District Attorney trying to put Johnny away for good. In order to avoid being a parole violator Eager pretends to drive a cab while he masterminds the track deal paying off cops and officials to smooth things. Tell the world what you think about Johnny Eager. Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) is an ex-con driving a taxi and reporting to parole officer Verne, who is pleased with his rehabilitation–not realizing the taxi driver gig is a coverup for the big-time gambling operation he runs on the sly. Enchanting film-noir with endearing performances. 'Johnny Eager' had a good cast going for it, though those involved haven't had careers that were consistently good in films and performances in my personal and respectful opinion, and an interesting idea for a story. With Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Van Heflin. I've seen several of Melvin LeRoy's films and i liked most of them. Robert Taylor (as Johnny Eager) is a racketeer on parole; he is posing an honest taxi driver, but actually runs a successful criminal organization. Little details turn something standard into something special. Johnny Addeddate 2017-07-27 15:46:33 Identifier ... Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3. plus-circle Add Review. Favorite line: Lana Turner's character sees Robert Taylor and says "He's got a profile that belongs on a Roman coin." URL. 4.4 out of 5. When he finds out she's the stepdaughter of the D.A., he tries to use his relationship with Lisbeth as leverage against her stepfather. The gangster Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) has a scheme to pose of taxi driver to his parole officer Mr. Verne (Henry O'Neill). but I still want you to kiss me! Genres: Film noir, Gangster Film. His choice of Robert Taylor in this role was outstanding; Taylor played (Johnny Eager),"The House of Seven Hawks",'59, a Taxi Cab driver who wore the uniform in most of the scenes with a small bow tie and cap. He is magnificent in his role, and won the Academy Award for his thought to be homosexual overtoned, portrayal. Find trailers, reviews, synopsis, awards and cast information for Johnny Eager (1941) - Mervyn LeRoy on AllMovie - Robert Taylor toughened up his image considerably… This is a film you will watch again and again. Two star perfomers at the height of their stardom with years more to go - Turner and Taylor are stunning. Heflin won best supporting actor and rightly so. Often mentioned as one of the earliest attempts at film noir, Johnny Eager is really too pretty to count, what with Robert Taylor and Lana Turner both constantly positioning themselves to get the better key lights. Complicated loves, complicated characters with shading that we don't see today, and an undertow of love and loyalty perhaps best echoed (but of course far more violently) in DePalma's Carlito's Way. download 1 file Or is it just his pal (Van Heflin) who's started yapping like some bible-puncher making him on edge? Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) is a recently paroled con who has fooled his parole officer (Henry O'Neill) into thinking he is on the straight and narrow. A guy like Johnny Eager can't have a respectable dame like her falling all over him, right? Then he blackmails Farrell to get his permit to open his dog track. Select Your Cookie Preferences. His companion is Van Heflin (as Jeff Hartnett), an unrequited love-struck alcoholic. ("'Cause even Johnny Eager needs one friend.") Just as Sydney Greenstreet is unforgettable in "The Maltese Falcon", Van Heflin's role in Johnny Eager is memorable. Read cast, crew, and production reviews of Johnny Eager, 1942, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, with Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, 92 Views . The casting of "Johnny Eager" is the secret to its success. But Johnny is a heartless man and lures Lisbeth making her believe that she killed a man to protect Johnny. Taylor as a likeable bad guy with class, you can't help but root for him in the end, wishing for a happy ending, but knowing that this likeable gangster will go out in blaze of glory. Post a Review / Analysis. A fabulous cast, a brilliant screenplay, and a truly dynamic pairing really create TNT here, Taylor and Turner as beautiful a couple as could possibly be on screen during the golden age of cinema. Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2018, Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2013. The coldly practical Eager circumvents the problem by compromising the judge's daughter (Lana Turner) but loses his balance on the tightrope he's walking when he falls hard for her dame. They are attracted to each other, but after Johnny leaves, the skeptical Lisbeth goads Burns into paying a surprise visit to Johnny. Johnny Eager Videos including on stage appearances, live events, award shows, concerts, tv shows and more from BroadwayWorld TV and our extensive Stage Tube coverage. Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2019. Reviews; Share Share Link; Facebook; Tweet; Johnny Eager (1941) ← Back to main. Title. 5 star 75% 4 star 19% 3 star 6% 2 star 0% (0%) 0% 1 star 0% (0%) 0% Johnny Eager. Audience Reviews for Johnny Eager. Movie information, genre, rating, running time, photos, trailer, synopsis and user reviews. 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