HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Johnny Dangerously'' is a 1984 American crime comedy film directed by
Amy Heckerling Amy Heckerling (born May 7, 1954) is an American writer, producer, and director. Heckerling started out her career after graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, New York University and entering the American Film Institute, ...
; two of its four screenwriters, Jeff Harris and
Bernie Kukoff Bernie Kukoff is an American television director, producer and writer. He has produced and written for the television series '' Operation Petticoat'', '' A Touch of Grace'', ''The Cosby Show'', '' Thea'', '' Detective School'' and ''Diff'rent Str ...
, had previously created the hit series ''
Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which originally aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and ...
''. The film, a
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
of 1930s crime/gangster movies, stars Michael Keaton 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,
Marilu Henner Marilu Henner (born April 6, 1952) is an American actress and author. She began her career appearing in the original production of the musical ''Grease (musical), Grease'' in 1971, before making her screen debut in the 1977 comedy-drama film ''B ...
,
Maureen Stapleton Lois Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress. She received numerous accolades becoming one of the few actors to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award ...
, Peter Boyle,
Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and Paul Hackett in '' After Hours'' (1985), for which he was nominat ...
, Dom DeLuise,
Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him ...
, Dick Butkus 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 ro ...
were in the film. Part of the film's comedic appeal is the frequent use of
malapropism A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An exam ...
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 newsboy in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. 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 gets into a street fight with a boy named Danny Vermin, which attracts the notice of crime boss Jocko Dundee, who offers Johnny a job. Seeing no honest way to earn the money for Ma's operation, Johnny agrees, even though it would break her heart. He helps rob a rival nightclub belonging to Roman Moronie, a malapropist of swear words. When Jocko asks Johnny for his name, he replies, "Johnny Dangerously." Years pass. With Ma's continuing medical problems, Johnny decides to work for Dundee full-time. Everyone knows that Kelly is really Johnny Dangerously, except for Ma and Johnny's younger brother Tommy, who think he owns a nightclub. Similarly, the gang knows nothing of Ma and Tommy. 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 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 that he was framed. His lucky cigarette case is missing, and whoever 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. Tommy realizes that Johnny is innocent, and that Vermin is the actual perpetrator. Johnny arrives on Death Row and receives rock star treatment from the starstruck warden. Johnny learns that Tommy is in danger and plots an escape, requesting that the warden 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 and bluffs his way out. With Lil Sheridan as his getaway driver, they elude their pursuers in a laundry truck which has been covered in layers of shelf paper, enabling them to change their vehicle's description by peeling it off little by little. They arrive 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 protruding from a slit cut in the screen, jumps in front of Tommy, and shoots and wounds Vermin. Tommy is uninjured, as Vermin's bullet was stopped by Johnny's cigarette case, which Tommy had put in his jacket breast pocket. Vermin is arrested as the governor pardons Johnny. The story returns to 1935. The young shoplifter is starstruck. The pet shop owner wraps up his story and sends the boy off with a kitten and the lesson "crime doesn't pay." When the boy leaves, the owner changes into a tuxedo and heads off in a limo with Lil — revealing himself to be Johnny.


Cast

* Michael Keaton as Johnny Kelly (a.k.a. Johnny Dangerously) ** Byron Thames as young Johnny * Joe Piscopo as Danny Vermin ** Georg Olden as young Danny *
Marilu Henner Marilu Henner (born April 6, 1952) is an American actress and author. She began her career appearing in the original production of the musical ''Grease (musical), Grease'' in 1971, before making her screen debut in the 1977 comedy-drama film ''B ...
as Lil Sheridan *
Maureen Stapleton Lois Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress. She received numerous accolades becoming one of the few actors to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award ...
as Ma Kelly * Peter Boyle as Jocko Dundee * Richard Dimitri as Roman Troy Moronie *
Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and Paul Hackett in '' After Hours'' (1985), for which he was nominat ...
as Tommy Kelly ** Troy Slaten as young Tommy * Dom DeLuise as The Pope *
Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him ...
as Burr * Dick Butkus as Arthur * Alan Hale, Jr. as the Desk Sergeant * Glynnis O'Connor as Sally * Ron Carey as Pat *
Ray Walston Herman Ray Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor. He started his career on Broadway theatre, Broadway earning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Mr. Applegate in ''Damn Yankees'' (1956 ...
as Vendor * Neal Israel as Dr. Zilman *
Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born Joseph O'Flaherty, June 21, 1941 – April 1, 2024) was 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 write ...
as Death Row inmate (uncredited) * Amy Heckerling as Restaurant Patron


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 comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
, 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". The
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
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, 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
Amy Heckerling Amy Heckerling (born May 7, 1954) is an American writer, producer, and director. Heckerling started out her career after graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, New York University and entering the American Film Institute, ...
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 and filmmaker. He was best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' ...
and
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
.Foster (1995), p. 175


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 English-language crime comedy films