Mjeteconer
Just perfect...
Stellead
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
tomsview
An oddity from the 60's that has more the look and feel of a television show of the period such as "The Untouchables" or "77 Sunset Strip" only not as good.There are few reasons to watch "Johnny Cool" these days, certainly not for Henry Silva; he made a great heavy when he was four or five down the cast list – just fine in "The Manchurian Candidate" – but he's deadly as the lead in more ways than one.The main attraction for me was in spotting the host of familiar faces that pop up throughout the movie. It's almost a who's who of character actors of the time; Joe Turkel, Elisha Cooke Jnr., Brad Dexter, John McGiver; the list goes on and on. There is even Mort Stahl, Jim Bacchus and Joey Bishop, mainly as gangsters who get whacked by Johnny Cool. Most interesting are a couple of stars before they made it big on television: Elizabeth Montgomery and Telly Savalas. Sammy Davis Jnr. gets some scenes too, and sings the title song.The story of a young Sicilian outlaw who is mentored by an exiled American gangster, then sent to America to wreak vengeance on his enemies, actually seems to have too much plot, which isn't helped by a choppy script – nothing is developed before we move on to the next plot point. Director, William Asher, was the king of the TV sitcom. The shows he directed, produced and wrote read like a catalogue of TV shows of the 1950's through to the 1980's but his approach seemed pretty flat when translated to the big screen ("Beach Party" doesn't count). Despite being packed with incident, "Johnny Cool" generates little tension – "The Godfather" it is not.Asher may not have had the eye of an Elia Kazan or a Francis Ford Coppola, but he had an eye for beautiful women. This is where he met and married Elizabeth Montgomery; a year later, her career took off with "Bewitched".Now it's difficult to see her in anything without the memory of Tabitha, but she is stunning in "Johnny Cool" playing a naïve divorcée who gets caught up in the titular character's criminal activities. I think Elizabeth Montgomery was not unlike Grace Kelly, and like her, attracted men like moths to a flame – seeing her here, it's easy to see why. Although she gives it everything she's got in "Johnny Cool", it was tough going with the erratic script.The film is full of violence, which probably bucked against the censorship of the day, but now looks tame. There is a touch of irony at the end, but I can't help feeling that the central character is so one-note that it cancels out the good performances that surround it. However, "Johnny Cool" is just quirky enough to be watchable, but maybe just once.
trevixarama
I finally got to watch Johnny Cool for the first time today and i was so surprised how great this movie is, i can honestly say its way way ahead of its time and had me glued for the entire 101 minutes. Im a huge fan of Elizabeth Montgomery and watched a few of her performances outside Bewitched (which i love) hadn't been able to find a copy until recently. Its a top casted movie and many of the past greats are found here in this classic gangster style movie which all played a great part and don't think Elizabeth Montgomery ever looked more beautiful. Its starts with a great building foundation from the old country and then gets right into the gangster style it very well succeeds at. I strongly suggest everyone who is a fan of the beautifully talented Elizabeth Montgomery or simply anyone who enjoys a great classic 10/10..i hope this movie and all that had Elizabeth Montgomery star in become available for us to buy on DVD or even better blu-ray. Johnny Cool is up there with the BEST of the classics and it deserves to be presented to us completely restored to be enjoyed forever. Once again i have no problem in giving this a 10/10 for enjoyment and pure talent.. If anyone has a good copy can you please let me know..Thanks
SquirePM
This is an entrancing film in which you get lost and don't even thinkabout getting out again until its stunning conclusion. I've been aHenry Silva fan ever since I saw him in it. And it features ElizabethMontgomery in her most enticing roll ever.
The story starts a little rough, and you just have to stick with it for awhile, but it ripens into a headlong thriller and finally cruises to itswrenching climax. What do you think? Can a guy like this getaway with a relentless series of assaults on such powerful peopleforever?
All that said, and still giving it a high rating, this movie is definitely a1963 film. What passed for heavy action back then has long beeneclipsed. There is somehow almost an innocence to theslaughter, if that's possible. Henry Silva's character, however, willalways stand up as a smart, remorseless, merciless andinexorable visitor of revenge. And he's so cool.
noir guy
'Lost' classic crime movie, with 'Rat Pack' member Peter Lawford as Executive Producer, and featuring Rat Packers Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop in single scene cameos, this is an often brutal mob movie featuring glacial Henry Silva as a pitiless, downbeat anti-hero pitting his wits and weaponry against a variety of slick-suited, big-city mobsters operating behind an outwardly respectable veneer. Opening the movie as a Salvatore Giuliano-type Sicilian folk-hero (the early scenes show a young 'Johnny' being taken under Giuliano's wing in World War II after witnessing his mother's death at the hands of the Nazis), 'Johnny' is reinvented and resurrected by Marc Lawrence's exiled 'Lucky Luciano' type syndicate boss, who has arranged his faked death in order to set him loose against the former Stateside associates who are now lining their pockets with his ill-gotten gains. Swiftly acquiring Elizabeth Montgomery's thrill-seeking, well-heeled moll (a cinematic half-sister to the similarly enthralled Claire Trevor in Robert Wise's BORN TO KILL), Johnny sets about his one-man vendetta amidst the boardrooms, casinos and fancy spreads with a singleminded ruthlessness that, in its settings and attitude (if not it's visual style) appears to foreshadow Lee Marvin's similarly brutal rampage through the well-heeled trappings of contemporary corporate America four years later in POINT BLANK. Comparisons aside, this is a slick slice of thick-ear hardboiled crime, aided by a snappy Billy May score and Sammy Davis Jr. theme which adds to the sense of pace and rhythm engendered by William (BEACH PARTY) Asher's snappy direction. And the ending's a killer (pun intended). Undoubtedly worthy of wider (any!) availability, as it's an often cynical, but arresting crime movie (pun similarly intended)with the makings of a cult. Catch it if you can.
