Johnny Eager

Enjoyed the movie

Released in 1941. Basically a noire gangster picture. The dark noire style is intense and particularly suitable. Van Heflin got an Oscar for best supporting actor but that doesn’t come close to describing his performance which made me think of Brando. The atmosphere approaches that of The Godfather at times - it’s just business. An awful lot of plot twists in a mere 107 minutes.Oddly, there are some structural similarities to “A Free Soul” (Barrymore &Gable) made a decade earlier.Should be a lot better known than it is. One of the top 10 crime/gangster movies.

I can see why Van Heflin won an Oscar for his performance in this movie. It was outstanding. I have since searched out other works by Heflin and have been equally rewarded by this often overlooked actor. The story is good and so are the performances by the other actors Robert Taylor, Lana Turner and Edward Arnold.

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.

Gambling is the big problem for the city and Judge Edward Arnold wants to end its existence. But Johnny Eager (Taylor) uses his influences with the judge's daughter (Turner), first falling in love with her and then sacrificing that love for a fake killing in which Turner takes place, pulling the trigger and having a nervous breakdown. Taylor tries to make it right with her, telling her the truth. But the big surprise is Van Heflin's performance as Eager's best friend and drinking buddy who tries to steer Johnny on the right road to redemption. But there is no happy ending here in this 1942 M-G-M early film noir.

This is one of the last film noir gangster films & it is worthy to be at the top now and then. These great movies are a thing of the past and they are truly treasures of what movies should be. The stylish & classy men and women of that era will never be again. Thanks to the wonderful Amazon sellers who make these films available. This is at the top of my recommended film noir movie....right up there with Cagney. Get it if you are a film noir fan....you will watch it over & over. This one has it all!

I love love love this movie. I saw it once on TMC or something and instantly fell in love with it. It has an exciting story about a thug gang member trying to get over his hard knock life and trust people instead of fight to survive at any cost. Bonus, Lana Turner is gorgeous! This movie has one of my favorite monologues of all time by Robert Taylor when he is talking to his friend about their life and their place in the world.

great old movie.Jack

One of my favourite films. I an delighted with it.

Strong performance by Robert Taylor as a mobster who moonlights as a Taxi Driver who falls for the daughter of the prosecutor. Strong performance by Van Heflin in an Oscar winning performance as one of Johnny's friends. Eager uses everyone in his path to get to advance in the criminal world.

Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) has a stupid name. He is a reformed criminal who works as a cabbie, only he hasn't done any reforming and pretty much runs the town with politicians and policemen under his influence. The one person who stands against him is John Farrell (Edward Arnold), the prosecutor who previously sentenced him and who is blocking his ability to run a dog-track. Johnny Eager blackmails Farrell by implicating his daughter Liz Bard (Lana Turner) in a murder. I don't know why she's got a different surname to her dad but she does. Anyway, Eager has a change of heart when it comes to affairs of the heart and sets out to kill Julio (Paul Stewart), the man who is integral to the blackmail set-up........and is Eager's one and only friend Jeff (Van Heflin) a homosexual...?I found that this film went on for too long and it just wasn't very exciting. The cast are all OK but I didn't really connect with Robert Taylor and I felt disappointed with the role played by Lana Turner. I was anticipating a strong female lead role. What a wasted opportunity. She could have given some spunk to this story but she just falls flat. The most interesting character is Van Heflin and he delivers some dialogue gems throughout the film. It's his delivery of these lines that make him an incredibly likable drunk.There are some interesting scenes, eg, the fake killing, but there aren't enough. The film is OK but it somehow left me feeling a bit detached from the proceedings and I didn't care too much for what happened to any of the characters. I watched it and that was that. I'm keeping onto the film to watch at a later date. Maybe, it's one of those films that improves with a second viewing.

This is a favourite old movie of mine. You can just feel the sparks between Lana Turner and Robert Taylor.