La revanche du Sicilien

There's murder and mayhem to spare in this wild ride through the underworld of the early 1960s.

There's simply no one who could play a merciless killer better than Henry Silva, with his beady black eyes, and that inimitable smirk which plays across his face as he dispatches his victims. Here he's put to perfect use as a remorseless "messenger boy of death" sent by deported mobster Johnny Colini (Marc Lawrence) to settle scores with Colini's former associates in the US.

In the odd and somewhat awkward opening scenes of "Johnny Cool", we're introduced to Silva's character as a young boy in Sicily. When fascists kill his mother, he's adopted by the hill bandits who rescued him. Next we see him as a bandit chief, a sort of Sicilian Robin Hood who's an honored guest at a local wedding. Which makes Silva's seemingly easy transition to a cold-blooded hit man a bit inexplicable, after Colini on his own initiative bribes the authorities to fake the bandit's death. I have a feeling there's something missing here; maybe the novel explained it better.

But once Silva -- who at the mobster's behest has taken Colini's name for his own -- hits New York, the movie shifts into high gear, and from that point on it never lets up. Bouncing from New York to Vegas to LA and back, the new Johnny Colini -- or "Johnny Cool" as he's inevitably nicknamed -- eliminates his targets with icy aplomb, leaving a trail of corpses to mark his journey through the underworld.

Along the way, he gets involved with bored little rich girl Darien 'Dare' Guiness (Elizabeth Montgomery), who demonstrates dramatic chops which may come as quite a surprise to those who only know her as Samantha from the TV series "Bewitched". Though she's basically a decent person, something within her is fascinated by the darkness she senses in Johnny, and she's swiftly drawn into the violence that swirls around him. He loves her, but of course in traditional "Beauty and the Beast" fashion, it will be his undoing.

Besides being produced by Peter Lawford and featuring a couple of songs by fellow Rat Pack member Sammy Davis, Jr. as well as cameos by Davis and Joey Bishop, this film sports a striking assemblage of actors in supporting roles: from up-and-comers like Telly Savalas to noir and gangster flick icons like Elisha Cook, Jr. and Robert Armstrong, to some not-so-obvious choices for mob bosses in Jim Backus and Mort Sahl. In his brief appearance Sahl leaves quite an impression, as he greets the prospect of his imminent death with a sort of weary, good-humored resignation. He correctly divines Johnny's fate, offering him some rueful advice that he really should have taken.

And Silva's final scene is unbelievably wrenching, incredibly disturbing for all that it lacks any gore or overt violence. I guarantee you, you will never forget it.

This is a neat little film, compact and brutal as a sawed-off shotgun. While not as stylishly executed as later gangster revenge sagas like "Point Blank" or the original "Get Carter", this one still carries one hell of a punch.

This is a really cool gangster film featuring a much under-rated Henry Silva (Why Hollywood didn't use him more is beyond me!) playing an Italian mobster. The beggining of this film is a little awkward & slow but give it 15 minutes and it picks up quickly. Enter Elizabeth Montgomery as a bored socialite who wants some some excitement in her life and boy does she get it. Liz even gets slapped around by two guys which gets her turned on because when Henry comes back and finds her she belts out the line "I need you RIGHT NOW!" WOW! Kind of risque for the era. Good locations throughout, including many shots of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles & Las Vegas in the early 60's. Many, many cameos by Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, Jim Backus, Mort Sahl. William Asher proved he could direct drama as well as comedy (His forte'). This has no Hollywood ending either. It should be on DVD.

'Lost' classic crime movie, with 'Rat Pack' member Peter Lawford as Executive Producer, and featuring Rat Packers Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop in single scene cameos, this is an often brutal mob movie featuring glacial Henry Silva as a pitiless, downbeat anti-hero pitting his wits and weaponry against a variety of slick-suited, big-city mobsters operating behind an outwardly respectable veneer. Opening the movie as a Salvatore Giuliano-type Sicilian folk-hero (the early scenes show a young 'Johnny' being taken under Giuliano's wing in World War II after witnessing his mother's death at the hands of the Nazis), 'Johnny' is reinvented and resurrected by Marc Lawrence's exiled 'Lucky Luciano' type syndicate boss, who has arranged his faked death in order to set him loose against the former Stateside associates who are now lining their pockets with his ill-gotten gains. Swiftly acquiring Elizabeth Montgomery's thrill-seeking, well-heeled moll (a cinematic half-sister to the similarly enthralled Claire Trevor in Robert Wise's BORN TO KILL), Johnny sets about his one-man vendetta amidst the boardrooms, casinos and fancy spreads with a singleminded ruthlessness that, in its settings and attitude (if not it's visual style) appears to foreshadow Lee Marvin's similarly brutal rampage through the well-heeled trappings of contemporary corporate America four years later in POINT BLANK. Comparisons aside, this is a slick slice of thick-ear hardboiled crime, aided by a snappy Billy May score and Sammy Davis Jr. theme which adds to the sense of pace and rhythm engendered by William (BEACH PARTY) Asher's snappy direction. And the ending's a killer (pun intended). Undoubtedly worthy of wider (any!) availability, as it's an often cynical, but arresting crime movie (pun similarly intended)with the makings of a cult. Catch it if you can.

Johnny Muddled might be a more apt title. Too bad the script and direction fail to intensify the premise's rich potential. In fact, there's a ton of potential suspense in the idea of a hit-man taking out some big time gangsters, one-by-one. Unfortunately the narrative muddles the idea without crucially developing Johnny Cool's planning or lead up to the killings. Instead, events merely happen haphazardly, and at an audience distance. At the same time, director Asher fails to draw us in, passively filming the happenings instead. In my little book, the movie's best part are the legion of location shots of NYC, LA, and Las Vegas that lend an involving eye. In that limited sense, the movie's well produced. Also, actress Montgomery lends some much needed spark to the performances even as her role flounders in illogic. And though he has an exotic look about him, actor Silva more or less walks through his role. Maybe someone thought disengagement would be the essence of cool, but instead it adds to the emotional distance. All in all, I'm with the reviewer who thinks the script had to cobble additional players from Lawford's (producer) Las Vegas crowd into the clumsy end result. But whatever the reason, it's no wonder the flick has faded into rank obscurity; and that's despite the peripheral presence of so many familiar names and faces ( Backus, Lawrence, Cook, et al.) from yesteryear. I hope they at least picked up a good payday.

I saw this movie accidentally a number of years ago channel surfing. I missed the first 5 minutes of it. It caught my eye because of Elizabeth Montgomery. It was a very dark movie considering what I knew Elizabeth for (Bewitched!). It was one of the more gripping movies I have ever seen. Henry Silva is one of the best "bad guy" actors I know. In this movie, he outdoes himself - causing the viewer to both loathe him and feel sorry for him in much the same way Elizabeth's character does. I highly recommend this movie.

I was very surprised I had not seen it before, what with all the cameo appearances by rather big name actors and entertainers. If any of you find this on DVD, PLEASE let me know! I would really like a copy for myself.

Regards to all, gadgetcoder