Johnny Apollo (1940)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Strong and Moving!

i must have seen a different film!!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Definitely one of the best gangster movies ever made. As the alcoholic attorney, Charley Grapewin, so memorable as Uncle Henry in "Wizard of Oz," Dorothy Lamour's complete change of pace from the 'Road' pictures to a moll, Edward Arnold, as the father who did wrong and Lloyd Nolan, as a slick gangster, make for an outstanding picture.When Arnold, a stockbroker, goes off to prison for embezzlement, his son, an able Tyrone Power, gets involved with gangsters in order to get his father out on parole. It is a terrific plot with those phenomenal performances. Lamour so aptly sings Beginning of the End. How appropriate that was.A grand story dealing with high collar crime and thugs in general. Interesting to note the deals that can be worked out. The best deal is to capture this worthy 1940 film.

JOHNNY APOLLO was an early attempt by Fox at film noir, but it pales by comparison with other entries during the busy '40s era of crime melodramas. Part of the fault has to be the story itself, which is highly improbable and full of holes, and the casting of handsome and intelligent TYRONE POWER as the kind of guy who would go into a life of crime because his father landed in jail.EDWARD ARNOLD is his crooked father, LLOYD NOLAN is a crime boss and DOROTHY LAMOUR is the nightclub singer who switches her affection from Nolan to Power as fast as a showgirl changes her costumes. She gets to warble a couple of torch songs rather nicely and looks attractive for all her close-ups, but she's not exactly right for heavy dramatic roles and Paramount would be using her more effectively in those "Road" pictures with Hope and Crosby.The story is pure hokum and nothing can disguise the fact that Power's motivations are too thinly sketched to be believable. In this genre, MGM's Robert Taylor had better luck with his JOHNNY EAGER opposite femme fatale Lana Turner. Tyrone deserved a better story and screenplay than he gets here.

I found this to be a fairly interesting crime story, the emphasis being more on the story and less on the action. What little action there is takes place at the end of the movie. Lloyd Nolan plays a low-key gangster and Tyrone Power plays a guy who exhibits good and bad. Dorothy Lamour, Edward Arnold, Charley Grapewin and Lionel Atwill all add to this talented cast. Lamour's tough-talking "dame" character and good cinematography helped this movie be characterized as a very early entry into the film noir genre.The problem with the movie was the believability of the story. There were too many unanswered questions in here. Why was this person arrested? How and why could this happen, and that? There are lots of holes in here and sometimes they were so prevalent they broke up the continuity of the story. Okay for one curious look but not worth a purchase, although it's still not available on DVD anyway, and few people buy new VHS tapes anymore.

Darryl F. Zanuck knew the best way to have a hit was to star Tyrone Power, and star him he did, with each Power film grossing more than the previous one. The actor was 25 when he starred in this crime drama. When we first see him, he's in bathing trunks, Zanuck being no fool. At the time "Johnny Apollo" was made, Power was the #2 box office in the world.There's not much to this movie - it's fairly typical of its genre, similar to what was produced in the '30s. There are, however, some very good performances, including those of Lloyd Nolan and Edward Arnold. Dorothy Lamour, wearing very exotic makeup, plays a street-wise singer involved with Nolan. Naturally she falls for the handsome, well-educated Power, who falls in with crooks and renames himself Johnny Apollo after his father goes to prison for embezzlement. Lamour has two good numbers, "This is the Beginning of the End," and "Dancin' for Nickels and Dimes." Johnny Apollo isn't one of Power's best roles by any stretch, but he's adorable, and his presence made it an enormous hit. This film spawned a lot of "Johnny" movies (Johnny Eager, Johnny Angel, Johnny Doughboy, etc.). It was re-released in 1949.