Johnny Angel

George Raft made a lot of films I enjoyed. However, despite enjoying the pictures, I must admit that he had almost no emotional range in films and was prone to appearing wooden. He was at his best when playing a thug...other roles were a bit more problematic, especially love stories. It just wasn't his forte. But somehow, despite his range, I almost always liked his movies...so when I found "Johnny Angel" on TCM, I was sure to watch it as it's one of his pictures I haven't seen.

When the film begins, Johnny Angel (Raft) is the captain of a merchant vessel that comes upon a derelict ship in the sea. It turns out that it's his father's ship...but there's no trace of anyone aboard nor any indication where they'd gone. However, the ship was a mess...as if there was some violent altercation. When the ships arrive back in New Orleans, the tacitern Johnny goes through the French Quarter looking for clues...as well as the woman whose shoe he found aboard the derelict ship. Perhaps she was hidden and managed to slip off the boat and she could explain what happened to the ship and crew. See the film to find out the rest of the story.

Like so many other Raft films, despite his wooden performance, the story was enjoyable and worth seeing. I especially liked the femme fatale role played by Claire Trevor. Worth seeing.

Shades of the "Mary Celeste" as a seemingly deserted ship looms out of the mist off the coast of New Orleans. It's boarded by George Raft whose father was it's captain. Raft (more animated than usual} uncovers a complex plot. The colorful New Orleans backgrounds and good performances make this an above average noir film. Claire Trevor is excellent as a double crossing blonde and Hoagy Carmichael plays to type as a ubiquitous taxi driver and sings "Memphis In June". All very nicely put together.

I couldn't really get into this one, mainly because of the casting of George Raft as the hero. I'm not a big fan of Raft at the best of times, but he was usually convincing as a gangster or something similar. In this movie he looks uncomfortable as a more conventional leading man, and I just didn't find his character believable. With another actor, say Bogart or Robert Mitchum, I might have enjoyed 'Johnny Angel' a lot more, but as it is I found it very difficult to get interested in the plot, and my attention kept wandering. However the movie isn't entirely worthless, Hoagy Carmichael gives an entertaining turn as the wonderfully named eccentric cabbie Celestial O'Brien. And yes he sings. watch this movie for Hoagy if nothing else.

Almost everyone says the same thing about this very-well-done noir mystery. they wish someone other than George Raftrhad performed the part. He played the son of a sea captain., When his father's ship drifts into port with no one aboard, he does not accept that his father had absconded or committed a crime; he goes into action trying to find out what really happened, stay alive, and clear his father's name. Of course the company's owners deny any knowledge of what had happened. So Raft has to end up romancing one of their women and enlisting the reluctant help of a frightened girl who knows more than she is telling before he can ferret out the murderers, who were robbers on a grand scale as well. Frank Gruber and Steve Fisher were responsible for this taut and fast-moving screenplay; the film was directed in B/W by Edward L. Marion, and he deserves most of the credit for the excellence it achieves in many departments. He is helped bu the cinematography of Harry J. Wild, art direction by veterans Albert S. d'Agostino and Jack Okey, the fine set decorations by Darrell Silvera and William Stevens, costume designs by Reni and Leigh Harline's jazz film score counterpointed by Paul Francis Webster's songs and Hoagy Carmichael's prior compositions used in the film. In the very good cast, the viewer should note besides Raft, who as some reviewers have noted, tends not to have nuances but does well as a one-note line reader, Marvin Miller, Margaret Wycherly, Signe Hasso, Hoagy Carmichael as a cabdriver named Celestial O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Lowell Gilmore, J. Farrel MacDonald and Mack Gray. Much of the movie was shot in low light, or simulated night, or fog or cramped quarters. This makes Marin's directing achievement all the more impressive. The pace works like a stopwatch; and the relationships between strong characters is carried out well in dialogue, in actions and in interactions of a peaceable or a violent sort. With a great lead, the film would be a classic; but Trevor and Hasso are very good indeed and Miller has an interesting character to play for once. Catch this one.

Johnny Angel was a movie that gripped me early and tightly, but when all is said and done left me wanting a bit more.

The characters are first rate: George Raft is plays your trademark noir good guy with rough edges leading role and does so very nicely. Claire Trevor plays a calculating woman with a heart of ice that only Johnny can melt. Both give very strong performances; I felt that they could have used some more development, but I almost always do with these types of movies. Hoagy Carmichael is a first rate supporting character in Celestial O'Brien, a quirky, musical taxi driver. He is right up there with my all-time favorite secondary characters. The rest of the cast is decent, not nearly as strong as the above three, but not weak enough either to really detract from the movie.

The overall feel of the movie is superb. The cinematography is generally dark and gritty (as is typical in the genre) and really draws you into the scenes and gets you emotionally involved. The scene where Johnny is searching the ship by himself was especially excellent, it had me on edge the whole time. The director, Marin, really did a first-rate job on the film, and it's worth watching just for the acting and the direction.

The story had good points and bad points. The basic plot line is quite good and fairly fresh, considering the usual formulaic plots noir often gives you (not that I mind terribly). Other comments will give you the basic plot outline, so I'll skip it, but let me say that it is, at first anyways, even more interesting than you might think. The problem is, the movie doesn't quite flesh out all of the aspects of it and leaves several loose ends and plot holes. It's really exasperating, and almost made me rate the movie even lower, but I won't spoil the plot here by mentioning the specific holes. It's hard for me to fathom why the movie starts out so strongly and then ends so sloppily! I believe it was based on a play, so perhaps the play script got a bit mangled as they tried to fit it into the feature film/noir mold, or there were budget problems. It is a rather short movie, they certainly had time for more plot and character development.

But, all that aside, it is a very solid film that is well acted and directed. Even if though the thought of what it could have been is frustrating at times, the plot still never fails to keep you interested for the length of the film. It probably won't go in my collection, but I would still recommend it to anyone who likes classic movies or noirs to give it a watch.