User reviews

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.

A fun little gangster movie from 1963 that feels very much like a 'rat pack' picture. Henry Silva stars in an early career badass role, playing an gangster seemingly assassinated in Italy, who turns up in America to bump off some mob foes. A good toughness in the 'killer' plot here alongside an exemplary supporting cast that includes such notables as Elisha Cook, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr. And Telly Savalas.

Nice little mob movie. And not a bad little showcase for a few Ratpack members either. Great actors...Elizabeth Montgomery, Henry Silva, Jim Backus, and Telly Savalas to name a few. Silva is in his element here, playing a gangster sent to avenge the deportation of a mob boss who can't get back in the country to settle the score himself. No one plays a better heavy than this guy! So cold and calculating! Silva's Johnny is one creepy character! Perfect! Montgomery is absolutely beautiful and shows the beginnings of a great career. No wonder she became a star!!The film itself I found to be a bit slow and, at times, ever so slightly confusing. Even so, I enjoyed it and would watch it again if only to marvel at the talent of Silva.

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.

The 'hits' just keep a coming' in this curious early '60s crime noir. Arguably more interesting for its casting than for its muddled plot line, the line-up features an engaging performance by Elizabeth Montgomery a year prior to her "Bewitched" fame. Also on hand in brief cameo walk-ons are Rat-Packers Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop, along with Henry Silva in the title role plus many other faces familiar from other Rat Pack films of the period.

One suspects there is an incredible backstory to this film's production, considering that the soon-to-be-ousted-from-the-Pack Peter Lawford was the Executive Producer. The film is effectively brutal and unsentimental, and slick when it needs to be. It's certainly worth a look.

'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.

This noirish crime thriller in the vein of Johnny O'Clock (1947) is fairly typical for the genre but still a decent flick. If for no other reason than for the chance to see cameos of your favorite childhood stars (if you're 50+ like me)! I was drawn to see Elizabeth Montgomery my favorite blonde Wiccan housewife (Bewitched (1964-72)) as the dark haired love interest of a gangster! Henry Silva most known as the "commie" of Manchurian Candidate (1962) is typecast as usual but in this case he carries the film in the titular role as Johnny Cool.

The cast is full of nostalgic favorites. Telly Savalas the deep throated lieutenant of Kojak (1973-1978) plays the organized crime boss and main antagonist. Rat packers, Sammy Davis, Jr. And Joey Bishop play small time crooks. John Irwin McGiver Silva's fellow costar from the Manchurian Candidate who played ill-fated US senator has a brief role as a casino manager. Jim Backus of Gilligan's Island (1964-67) fame expertly plays the corrupt politician and even treats us to a hearty Thurston Howell III chuckle!

The production values are wanting and at times the plot is too convoluted. I certainly lost track of the bad guys. There were too many to care about any. The premise is kind of ridiculous but still I enjoyed it especially seeing all my childhood favorites!

Althoug the production company was called Chrislaw Productions, Frank Sinatra had to behind the scenes somewhere. So many players in Johnny Cool had something to do with Sinatra, can't be a coincidence.

Henry Silva who had played with Sinatra most recently in Ocean's 11 and Sergeant's Three stars in the title role. Silva was a Sicilian partisan as a kid in Sicily and is a bandit chief here now. He's one expert killer and is recruied by a Lucky Luciano type in exile played by Marc Lawrence to go to America and settle old scores.

Taking up with party girl Elizabeth Montgomery that's what Silva does as a lot of familiar looking people fall in a variety of creative ways.

Fast paced and at times ironically funny, Johnny Cool did not make Henry Silva a leading man. But he still enjoys a geat career as one of the best villainous actors around.

It also has Sammy Davis, Jr., singing one dopey title song.

This is classic Henry Silva when he was young and a potentially hot hollywood item running with the 'Rat Pack' and a pre-Bewitched Elizabeth Montgomery. The cultural aspects of the Mafia are touched on before Mario Puzo's novel, which came a few years later. Some cameo support performances from Jim "Mr. Magoo" Backus and Sammy Davis, Jr. make an interesting and dark gangster story. The ending is blunt and may leave you feeling as if you were wandering in the wasteland only to find the key to the exit doesn't work. Check it out.

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

Pure 1963 gangster drama. Not sure if this is on DVD yet, but it should be.

Elizabeth Montgomery as a brunette, looks amazing. She is a bored socialite who wants excitement, and hooks up with Henry Silva.

Some of the scenes are classic. The Beverly Hills Hotel, Las Vegas, a NYC skyscraper. Telly Savalas also has a cameo, and Sammy Davis Jr. Also, John McGiver ("The Manchurian Candidate") as an angry casino boss.

There is also something aesthetic and wild about seeing the streets of Los Angeles and NY in black and white, in the 60's. It just seems so surreal. Don't miss this film, they often show it on TCM channel. 9/10

Johnny Cool moves along at a bloody and violent pace. The bad guys are complex and heroic deeds few and far between. Dare's self-revelation about the innocence of her 'dolce vita' friends and the corruption and the prevalence of the underworld is almost understated. 40 years since the film was made, it still intoxicatingly drags the viewer back to a simpler albeit vicious time. The acting is almost uniformly true. Henry Silva is powerful and Elizabeth Montgomery is as sexy as the times would allow.It has some funny moments including Joey Bishop as a very verbal used car salesman

The murders are mostly quick and effective. Some are sloppy and brutal the way you know they must be in real life.

Every moment of this film is a hard little gem. Why films like this are so elusive escapes me.

This is an entrancing film in which you get lost and don't even think

about getting out again until its stunning conclusion. I've been a

Henry Silva fan ever since I saw him in it. And it features Elizabeth

Montgomery in her most enticing roll ever.

The story starts a little rough, and you just have to stick with it for a

while, but it ripens into a headlong thriller and finally cruises to its

wrenching climax. What do you think? Can a guy like this get

away with a relentless series of assaults on such powerful people

forever?

All that said, and still giving it a high rating, this movie is definitely a

1963 film. What passed for heavy action back then has long been

eclipsed. There is somehow almost an innocence to the

slaughter, if that's possible. Henry Silva's character, however, will

always stand up as a smart, remorseless, merciless and

inexorable visitor of revenge. And he's so cool.

Young Salvatore Giordano kills a Nazi soldier during the war. Exile gangster Johnny Colini grooms him, fakes his death, brings him to America, tasked with killing Colini's enemies, and told that he's the heir apparent. He takes the name Johnny Colini. Darien 'Dare' Guiness (Elizabeth Montgomery) notes that he's not Colini whose nickname is Johnny Cool (Henry Silva).

Everybody is trying to be cool and the fact is that most of these are cool actors. Now, Sammy may be trying too hard with the eye patch. That goes with the name. Johnny Cool is a cartoon name or it may be so on the nose that it becomes cool. I don't know. It's the karate chops. It's the jazzy music. It's the lackluster filmmaking. All of it leaves me feeling that it's fake cool. It runs out of steam and is no more than a B-movie.

Greatly enjoyed this fantastic film from 1963 with plenty of cameos of Marc Lawrence, Elisha Cook Jr.,("I Wake Up Screaming"), Telly Savalas,"Kojak", Joey Bishop (Comedian) and Jim Backus, (Mr. Magoo)

Henry Silva, (Johnny Cool) was given a job from a retired Mob gangster hiding out in Rome,(Marc Lawrence) who wanted him to repay some guys with a nice Mob Hit. Elizabeth Montgomery, gets involved with Johnny Cool and starts going on a killing spree with him doing all sorts of wild things and at the same time falling in love with this guy. There are plenty of great musical sounds in this picture by Billy May which adds a great deal to the entire picture. This is the type of film that will never grow old and will keep you interested right to the very end. Enjoy.

This movie is just bad. Big name stars and great acting throughout from everybody can't save this tedious jumble.

Elizabeth Montgomery is the best I've ever seen her, although the character she is given to play is not all that believable -- a wealthy socialite from Westchester County who falls so ragingly in lust in a matter of hours that she's willing to throw away everything she's ever known to become a gangster moll and commit murder. The movie is almost as much about her as about Johnny. I bet she was recruited from here for Bewitched, which debuted the following year. Her first shot in the movie looks remarkably like Samantha on the first episode, except for her Angela-Lansbury-in-the-Manchurian-Candidate hairdo.

Her acting here, though, is absolutely stunning, showing a depth and power I've never seen her achieve in anything else. This is the only possible reason to watch this movie, and even it is not enough for me to recommend that you do so.

I have liked Henry Silva in most things I've seen him in on TV, so I watched this film, interested in an opportunity to see him in a leading role. The thing that impressed me most about his portrayal was that his Italian accent is appalling. Part Mexican, part Russian, mostly American. It is particularly grating because all the other Italian accents in the film are authentic.

Big names from many generations abound: Elisha Cook (Jr.), Mort Sahl, Jim Backus (doing a couple of Mr. Magoo impersonations in addition to his serious lines), Joey Bishop in a fabulous portrayal of a used car salesman, Sammy Davis Jr., Telly Savalas, Gregory Morton and a couple of TV stars, Richard Anderson and John McGiver. The acting from them as well as the other players I'm less familiar with is top notch.

So how can it be so bad? To start with, it is totally confusing. It is set in Sicily, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Newport Beach and maybe some other locations. It was impossible for me to tell where the action was taking place at any given point, except that when Miss Montgomery is on the boat, you know she's in Newport Beach.

It starts out in Sicily. If you're good at recognizing St. Peter's and the Vatican Palace from the air, you'll know that it has moved to Rome, otherwise you'll think you're still in Sicily. Then it moves to New York. After that, it's anybody's guess, moving from city to city seemingly at random, and without any explanation or even clue that the location has shifted.

I vaguely suspected we were in Las Vegas when I saw The Silver Slipper sign. But before that, there was a craps game, a very enigmatic scene starring Sammy Davis Jr. as a (maybe?) crooked gambler, where Silva holds a gun to Davis's head and makes him shoot winning rolls for some reason that was not comprehensible to me. I don't know if that was in Vegas, or in some illegal place in New York.

Suddenly Elizabeth Montgomery is in LA. Johnny calls her from Idlewilde, which I assumed meant he was in New York, but in the next scene, he is sitting next to her in a convertible, as they drive past a marquee with "PETER LAWFORD" in large letters (second-billed to Jimmy Durante at some LA hotel). Telly Savalas mentions later that he they are Las Vegas, which is the only reason I'm certain some of the movie took place there, but two scenes later, he and the same cronies are in New York. At least, I'm pretty sure they are.

Maybe if you've been to all those cities a lot, so you can recognize any anonymous back street in town, you might be able to follow it, but I sure couldn't.

How can a movie that's "action packed" and confusing be boring at the same time? I blame it mostly on the direction, which is atrocious, but the complete lack of budget and production values are also partly to blame. Lots of useless walking around. Maybe it was supposed to be suspense, which I found completely lacking in the film.

Or any other kind of excitement, for that matter.

Silva kills a lot of people, but the movie is not gory, and he does so completely without emotion, the way he is during most of this stone-faced performance. The rape occurs off-camera, and it takes some extracting to even be sure that's what happened. You see a bit of the explosion, but no aftermath. The stabbings might just as well have been a punch in the stomach. The whole thing is delivered kind of dead-pan, atypical for a gangster movie.

I found nothing about it gripping in any way, although the performances are often riveting. I don't know how many times I looked at the counter to see how many minutes remained. I don't really know why I watched it to the end, which isn't all that great anyway. Like everything else in the film, rather perfunctory, and not much to it. I'm glad Peter Lawford mostly stuck to acting. He only produced four movies, none of which I ever heard of.

Speaking of which, ever wonder why you never heard of this movie, when it has so many big name stars?

I finally got to watch Johnny Cool for the first time today and i was so surprised how great this movie is, i can honestly say its way way ahead of its time and had me glued for the entire 101 minutes. Im a huge fan of Elizabeth Montgomery and watched a few of her performances outside Bewitched (which i love) hadn't been able to find a copy until recently. Its a top casted movie and many of the past greats are found here in this classic gangster style movie which all played a great part and don't think Elizabeth Montgomery ever looked more beautiful. Its starts with a great building foundation from the old country and then gets right into the gangster style it very well succeeds at. I strongly suggest everyone who is a fan of the beautifully talented Elizabeth Montgomery or simply anyone who enjoys a great classic 10/10..i hope this movie and all that had Elizabeth Montgomery star in become available for us to buy on DVD or even better blu-ray. Johnny Cool is up there with the BEST of the classics and it deserves to be presented to us completely restored to be enjoyed forever. Once again i have no problem in giving this a 10/10 for enjoyment and pure talent.. If anyone has a good copy can you please let me know..Thanks