''Johnny Dangerously'' is a 1984 American

crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

, and a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of 1930s crime/gangster movies. It was directed by

Amy Heckerling Amy Heckerling (born May 7, 1954) is an American filmmaker. An alumna of both New York University and the American Film Institute, she directed the commercially successful films ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982), ''National Lampoon's Europ ...

. The film stars

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in '' Beetlejuice'' ...

as an honest, goodhearted man who turns to a life of crime to finance his mother's skyrocketing medical bills and to put his younger brother through law school.

Joe Piscopo Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...

Marilu Henner Mary Lucy Denise Henner is an American actress. She began her career appearing in the original production of the musical '' Grease'' in 1971, before making her screen debut in the 1977 comedy-drama film '' Between the Lines''. In 1977, Henner wa ...

, Maureen Stapleton,

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof '' Young ...

Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, film producer, and film director. Dunne studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in '' An Amer ...

, Dom DeLuise,

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

and

Alan Hale, Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...

were in the film. Part of the film's comedic appeal is the clever and frequent use of

malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed t ...

s by Johnny and other crime characters, especially in instances where curse words were intended.

Plot

In 1935, a pet shop owner catches a young boy shoplifting a puppy. To discourage the kid from a life of crime, the owner tells a story by way of a flashback. In 1910, Johnny Kelly is a poor but honest newsboy in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Johnny's mother, Ma Kelly, needs an operation that his family cannot afford. Since Johnny's criminal father was executed, Ma has supported her sons by doing other people's laundry. Johnny's younger brother, Tommy, is fascinated by the law. Johnny gets into a street fight with a boy named Danny Vermin, which attracts the notice of local crime boss Jocko Dundee, who offers Johnny a job. Seeing no honest way to earn the money for his mother's operation, Johnny agrees, even though it would break his mother's heart. He helps rob a rival nightclub belonging to Roman Moronie, a malapropist of swear words. Moronie claims he never forgets a "fargin'" face. When Jocko asks Johnny for his name, he replies Johnny Dangerously. Years pass. With Ma Kelly's continuing medical problems, Johnny decides to work for Dundee full-time. Everyone knows that Kelly is really Johnny Dangerously, except for Ma and Tommy, who think he owns a nightclub. Similarly, the gang knows nothing of Johnny's mother and brother. One day, Johnny comes to Dundee's headquarters to find he has taken on two new gang members: Danny Vermin, and his sidekick Dutch. Danny has become a "total scumbag" who uses opera audiences as shooting galleries. As the two gangs continue to war, Johnny falls for Lil Sheridan, a young showgirl new to the big city. Eventually, Johnny becomes the boss of the Dundee gang and negotiates a truce with Moronie. Eventually, Tommy graduates from law school, unknowingly funded by Johnny's illicit earnings. He goes to work for the District Attorney's office, under D.A. Burr, who is on Johnny's payroll. Burr tries to sidetrack Tommy, who has become a major public figure after hearings look into Moronie's activities. Meanwhile, Burr and Vermin conspire to kill Tommy by cutting the brakes on his car. Tommy is badly injured, but survives. Johnny has Burr killed in revenge, which leaves Tommy as the new District Attorney. Vermin discovers that Dangerously is the D.A.'s brother, and Tommy overhears Vermin chortling about it. Tommy confronts Johnny, who agrees to turn over the evidence against himself to the Crime Commissioner. However, as Johnny enters the Commissioner's office, he finds him dead, and Vermin knocks him out and frames Johnny for the murder. Johnny is arrested, but insists he was framed. He realizes that his lucky cigarette case is missing, and that whoever actually has it is the guilty party. Nonetheless, Johnny is found guilty, sentenced to the electric chair and sent to Death Row. But when Vermin congratulates Tommy, he drops Johnny's cigarette case. Pocketing the case, Tommy realizes Johnny really is innocent, and that Vermin is the actual perpetrator. Johnny arrives on Death Row, where he receives rock star treatment from the starstruck warden. Johnny hears word that Tommy is in danger and plots an escape—with the rather strange request to the warden to move up his execution to that very night. As he is taken to the chair, Johnny assembles what looks like a tommy gun from parts handed to him by inmates. He escapes in a laundry truck driven by Lil Sheridan. Johnny, by way of a wild car chase (involving peeling off several layers of shelf paper on the truck), arrives at a movie theatre where Vermin and Dutch are behind the screen, planning to kill Tommy. Johnny runs to the front row, sees Vermin's gun barrel, jumps in front of Tommy and shoots through the screen. He wounds Vermin, and both learn that Johnny's cigarette case—on Tommy's person at the time—took Vermin's bullet. Vermin is arrested as the governor pardons Johnny. The story returns to 1935. The young shoplifter is starstruck. Johnny wraps up his story and sends the boy off with a kitten and the lesson "crime doesn't pay." When the boy leaves, Johnny changes into a tuxedo and heads off in a limo with Lil, looking at the camera and admitting: "Well, it paid a little!"

Cast

as Johnny Kelly (a.k.a. Johnny Dangerously) **

Byron Thames Byron Thames (born April 23, 1969) is an American television and film actor and musician. Early life Born in Jackson, Mississippi, his family moved shortly after his birth to New Orleans, Louisiana. He moved to Hollywood, California, with his m ...

as young Johnny *

as Danny Vermin ** Georg Olden as young Danny *

as Lil Sheridan * Maureen Stapleton as Ma Kelly *

as Jocko Dundee * Richard Dimitri as Roman Troy Moronie *

as Tommy Kelly ** Troy Slaten as young Tommy * Dom DeLuise as The Pope *

as Burr *

as Arthur *

as the Desk Sergeant *

Glynnis O'Connor Glynnis O'Connor (born November 19, 1956) is an American actress of television, film, radio, and theater. She first gained wide attention in the mid-1970s with leading roles in the television version of ''Our Town'' and in the short-lived series ...

as Sally * Ron Carey as Pat *

Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...

as Vendor *

Neal Israel Neal Israel (born July 27, 1945) is an American actor, screenwriter, film and television producer, and director best known for his comedic work in the 1980s for films such as '' Police Academy'', ''Real Genius'', and '' Bachelor Party''. Biogr ...

as Dr. Zilman *

Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born June 21, 1941) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a writer), and as Harold Weir on '' Freaks and ...

(''uncredited'') as Death Row inmate

Music

The theme song "This Is the Life" was written for the film by

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

, though for legal reasons, the song was not featured on home video releases of the film, until the DVD was released in 2002. The VHS home video version of the film featured a version of the Cole Porter song "

Let's Misbehave "Let's Misbehave" is a song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, ''Paris''. It was discarded before the Broadway opening in favor of " Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love". However, the ...

". The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for Yankovic's song incorporates scenes from the movie.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews and holds a 44% "Rotten" approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews. On Metacritic, it holds a rating of 54 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "Mixed or average reviews." According to Mary G. Hurd, the film "is loaded with sight gags, one liners, numerous sexual jokes, and puns". But many critics found it to be a comedy which relies on sophomoric humor.Hurd (2007), p. 24 According to

Gwendolyn Audrey Foster Gwendolyn Audrey Foster is an experimental filmmaker, artist and author. She is Willa Cather Professor Emerita in Film Studies. Her work has focused on gender, race, ecofeminism, queer sexuality, eco-theory, and class studies. York College of ...

, the film is both a gangster comedy and an homage to 1930s gangster films, but is perhaps too clever for a mainstream audience.Foster (1995), p. 175 According to Leigh Hallisey, the film is a parody of "old-school" gangster films and reveals Heckerling's awareness of their conventions and stereotypes.Hallisey (2002), p. 232 Foster finds the comedies of

to rely on "fast-paced, witty repartee and droll humor", and draws comparisons to those of

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director. He was best k ...

and

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

.Foster (1995), p. 175 Martin F. Norden considers the film to be part of a trend in 1980s comedies, linking disability to humor. He notes that the film contains numerous gags of this nature. He spotlights a

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

, concerning a blind newspaper vendor played by

. He starts out blind but a bundle of newspapers hits him on the head, causing him to regain his sight. A repetition of the accident then leaves him

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. Another repetition restores his sight and hearing but causes him to suffer

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

.Norden (1994), p. 290

References

;Bibliography * * * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnny Dangerously 1984 films 1980s crime comedy films American crime comedy films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Amy Heckerling Films scored by John Morris Films set in 1910 Films set in 1935 Films set in New York City Mafia comedy films 20th Century Fox films 1984 comedy films Films set in a movie theatre 1980s American films