''Johnny Angel'' is a 1945 American
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
directed by
Edwin L. Marin and written by
Steve Fisher (adapted by Frank Gruber) from the 1944 novel ''Mr. Angel Comes Aboard'' by
Charles Gordon Booth. The movie stars
George Raft
George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...
,
Claire Trevor and
Signe Hasso
Signe Eleonora Cecilia Hasso ( Larsson; 15 August 1915 – 7 June 2002) was a Swedish actress.
Early life
Hasso was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm in 1915. Her father and grandfather died when she was four, and her mother, gran ...
, and features
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...
.
Plot
A
merchant ship
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
captain finds his father's ship – of the same line – derelict at sea, the entire crew having disappeared. From an unlisted passenger, the only survivor of the hijacking of the ship, he learns of a plot involving secret gold, and searches New Orleans for his father's murderer.
Cast
*
George Raft
George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...
as Johnny Angel
*
Claire Trevor as Lilah "Lily" Gustafson
*
Signe Hasso
Signe Eleonora Cecilia Hasso ( Larsson; 15 August 1915 – 7 June 2002) was a Swedish actress.
Early life
Hasso was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm in 1915. Her father and grandfather died when she was four, and her mother, gran ...
as Paulette Girard
*
Lowell Gilmore as Sam Jewell
*
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...
as Celestial O'Brien
*
Marvin Miller as George "Gusty" Gustafson
*
Margaret Wycherly as Miss Drumm
*
J. Farrell MacDonald as Capt. Angel
* Mack Gray as Mack, the Bartender
Production
''Mr Angel Comes Aboard'' was published in 1944. The ''New York Times'' described it as "a tale of adventure, mystery, treachery, and murder, that reaches a happy ending amid a welter of gore." RKO bought the film rights that year, with
Jack Gross originally signed to produce and
Pat O'Brien mentioned as a possible star.
In July 1944, George Raft signed to play the lead and the film was to be called ''Johnny Angel''.
Ray Enright
Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...
was to direct. Eventually William Pereira became producer and
Edwin L. Marin was the director, his first assignment under a two-picture deal with RKO.
Signe Hasso
Signe Eleonora Cecilia Hasso ( Larsson; 15 August 1915 – 7 June 2002) was a Swedish actress.
Early life
Hasso was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm in 1915. Her father and grandfather died when she was four, and her mother, gran ...
was borrowed from MGM and
Claire Trevor hired to play the main female lead.
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...
, who had just made his film debut in ''To Have and Have Not'', was hired to play a small role and to sing "Memphis in June".
Release
Box office
Although RKO had low expectations for the film it was an unexpected hit, earning the studio a profit of $1,192,000.
[Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p205][Jewell, Richard B. (2016) ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures'', University of California Press]
Raft went on to make a number of films with Marin including three more thrillers for RKO.
[Aaker, Everett (2013) ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, p.116]
Critical reception
The staff at ''
Variety'' magazine gave the film a lukewarm review, and wrote, "Johnny Angel is another in the seemingly never-ending series of maritime intrigues involving murder and lust. It is slow and plodding, with poor story development...Raft is his invariably glowering self as a guy who really handles his mitts - and the dames - while Claire Trevor and Signe Hasso are the romantic interests. Rest of the cast is weighted down too much by the story..."
''
Time Out'' film guide gave the film a positive review and wrote, "The world of ''Johnny Angel'' is very noir indeed...They all inhabit a closed world, where even pastoral idylls reek of claustrophobia and obsession. The men struggle against the towering shadows of their fathers, the women are dangerously enigmatic, and the docks of New Orleans glisten under the diffuse light of a single street-lamp. Even Hoagy Carmichael sounds eerie singing "Memphis in June." There are no black diamonds, but ''Johnny Angel'' glitters like one."
[Staff (2008]
"High and Low"
. '' Time Out'' Last accessed: January 24, 2008.
References
External links
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*
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Johnny Angelat Letterbox DVD
Johnny Angelat BFI
Review of filmat ''Variety''
{{Edwin L. Marin
1945 films
1945 crime films
American crime films
American black-and-white films
American detective films
1940s English-language films
Film noir
Films based on American novels
Films based on British novels
Films directed by Edwin L. Marin
Films set in New Orleans
RKO Pictures films
Films scored by Leigh Harline
Seafaring films
1940s American films
English-language crime films