Treasury Department officials recruit a florist to lead them to a wanted criminal, but once he gets too close, he finds that he's the hunted.Treasury Department officials recruit a florist to lead them to a wanted criminal, but once he gets too close, he finds that he's the hunted.Treasury Department officials recruit a florist to lead them to a wanted criminal, but once he gets too close, he finds that he's the hunted.
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- Sam
- (uncredited)
- Nurse Baldwin
- (uncredited)
- Gray
- (uncredited)
- Servant
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Dr. Jaynes
- (uncredited)
- Man in Basement
- (uncredited)
- Man in Basement
- (uncredited)
- Hotel Guest
- (uncredited)
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Featured reviews
We start with what appears to be a typical Hitchcock setup: an innocent man gets drawn into peril thanks to a leggy blonde. But is Allegro truly as innocent as he appears? Not in the eyes of "Schultzy" the cop (played convincingly by Will Geer, almost unrecognizable to those of us who only remember him as "Grandpa Walton").
So now we have a new plot developing: a crook infiltrating another crook's operation in order to clear his name with the police. He ends up in a swanky manor on a secluded Florida island, trying to track down some counterfeit money that could ruin the US economy.
And finally, we end up with a finale that steals a page or two from "The Most Dangerous Game," as Raft is hunted across the island by a foe with a bow.
In my opinion, Raft was too old for this role, and not terribly convincing as an action figure. The plot seems like a jigsaw puzzle made from three different boxes that don't quite match, and there's nothing outstanding about the visual aspect of the picture. It's got some good moments (mostly thanks to Geer and Foch) but overall it's not satisfying. More like Johnny Andante, not quite up to speed.
Foch is slightly married to the epicene George MacReady whom the Feds want to nab real bad. It's not just his elaborate counterfeiting operation that they want to shut down. MacReady is being financed by the Soviet Union and he's got quite a setup in distributing counterfeit and raking off a big bundle from his Soviet handler Ivan Triesault. MacReady and Foch live in fine style on an unknown Caribbean island that the Feds would like to know the location of to bust MacReady and his operation. In the end MacReady proves too much for his Soviet bosses.
Not so with Raft and his contact Will Geer who plays a Treasury agent. Geer in many spots steals the film from the leads with a nice laconic performance, not unlike his Wyatt Earp in Winchester 73.
Johnny Allegro is typical of the action/noir type films that Raft was doing at this point in his career. Soon he'd be working for Poverty Row Lippert films and Johnny Allegro from Columbia's B picture unit looked like Citizen Kane next to their stuff.
Fans of George Raft will be pleased. Especially with that ending borrowed from The Most Dangerous Game.
It's not so much the plot that demands attention here as it is Columbia's effort to superficially remind its audience of one of its biggest hits of a few years before, Gilda. This is to the extent of casting George Macready as the cultured head of the counterfeiters. (You know he's cultured because he listens to classical music). He also prefers the use of a bow and arrow (a man's weapon) over that of a gun. Ballin in Gilda is now called Vallin.
His wife, whom Allegro desires, of course, is played by a sophisticated Nina Foch. Her character's name? Glenda. Not quite Gilda, but close enough. And then, of course, there are the leading men in the two films, both named Johnny.
With that bow and arrow fetish of Macready the audiences knows, too, that it probably won't be long before another variation of The Most Dangerous Game gets played out. Macready is fun to watch, even if there is a feeling of having seen much of this same act before. Raft is Raft. Did ever a block of wood dress better? And Nina Foch, well, she'll never replace the memory of Hayworth's vamp.
George Raft plays the title character, a reformed hoodlum, who now runs a florist shop (!!) in a hotel. He encounters a mysterious blonde, of the femme fatale variety, and winds up involved in a counterfeiting operation. Most of the action then takes place on an island off Florida where the womens husband is a tall, blonde master-criminal who enjoys hunting with a bow and arrow.
Everything here is above average and the film comes together in all areas very well. The interplay between Allegro and the evil, sophisticated Morgan Vallin, is similar to many a James Bond film with mutual distrust and respect between the two antagonists.
With good performances all round, a brisk plot and the inventiveness of the storyline, 'Johnny Allegro' is well worth watching for B-movie fans. The director was better known as a cinematographer, and his obvious skills are shown to good effect.
Did you know
- TriviaGeorge Macready's character's name in Gilda (1946) is Ballin Mundson who used a walking stick with a bayonet inside. In this movie, his character's name is Morgan Vallin who hunted with a bow and arrow.
- GoofsThe mountainous island where Vallin lives is supposedly located on the Florida coast, but there are no such hilly islands anywhere in or near the state of Florida. In fact, the highest elevation anywhere in south Florida is 50 feet above sea level.
- Quotes
Morgan Vallin: Hello, Glenda.
Glenda Chapman: Morgan.
Morgan Vallin: Welcome home.
[For the first time, he sees there's another man in the room]
Glenda Chapman: Morgan, this is...
Morgan Vallin: How chummy! You brought a friend with you. How hospitable.
Glenda Chapman: I was just going to explain that.
Morgan Vallin: Why trouble to explain? It's so touchingly natural.
Glenda Chapman: This is Johnny Allegro.
Morgan Vallin: You actually know his name! I'm Morgan Vallin. Always glad to meet any of Glenda's friends, though she doesn't usually bring them with her.
Glenda Chapman: I had to bring him here, Morgan. He killed a detective for me so I could get here.
Morgan Vallin: How adventurous! How romantic!
Glenda Chapman: Morgan, don't be foolish.
Morgan Vallin: Forgive me, Johnny whatever your name is. I want to thank you for any assistance you may have given my little wife.
Johnny Allegro: Wife?
Morgan Vallin: She forgot to tell you, of course. She usually does. Or were you afraid he might not have come here with you?
Glenda Chapman: I told you why I brought him here. He had no other getaway. This is Johnny Rock. They want him for escaping a stretch at Sing Sing.
Morgan Vallin: And what have you told him?
Glenda Chapman: Nothing. He doesn't even know where he is.
Morgan Vallin: And how did that minute mind of yours conclude that anyone could be of service to me with his pictures in all the papers, with a number across the front of them?
Johnny Allegro: They took those a long time ago. I've changed a lot since then.
Morgan Vallin: But your type never changes. Just looking at you makes one think of alley fighting, tommy guns.
Johnny Allegro: Is that bad?
Morgan Vallin: It's not for me. You see all this?
[He gestures around the room at the paintings, sculptures, and mounted animal heads]
Johnny Allegro: Nice museum.
Morgan Vallin: You would call it that. But it's my library, my concert hall, my trophy room. Here I have the best the world has to offer, and I don't intend to let anything jeopardize it. I can permit only people around me of whose methods I am sure.
- SoundtracksSymphony no. 3 in E-flat: Finale
(uncredited)
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven
Played on Morgan Vallin's phonograph
Details
- Runtime1 hour 21 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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