Noirvember: Johnny Eager (1942)

Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) is an ex-con turned straight. At least that’s what he pretends to be. He walks around in a cabbie uniform and drives a taxi to his parole hearings. He swears up and down to all the right people that he’s given up his criminal ways. In reality, he’s still the head of a gambling syndicate.

One day, his parole officer pays an unscheduled visit to his home (which isn’t really his home, but he pays a couple of ladies to stay there pretending to be his mother and sister, and luckily he’s got someone on the parole board’s payroll who gives him a heads-up when an unscheduled visit is planned). The officer brings along a couple of dames, including Lisbeth Bard (Lana Turner), a socialite and sociology student interested in how former criminals live.

Naturally, they fall for each other. Unfortunately for him, her father is the prosecutor who put him away the first time and is gunning to do it again. Things are further complicated by the fact that Eager has dropped a lot of dough into a dog racing track he hopes to open, but is being blocked by Lisbeth’s father (he doesn’t know Eager is the actual owner of the joint, but he still doesn’t like it)

Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin) is Eager’s friend and confidant. He’s also not so subtly in love with Eager. Naturally, being a film from 1942, they can’t come right out and say that, and the story existing in the same time period means Jeff wouldn’t say it anyway. But it is there just the same. To hide his feelings, he drinks a lot.

Heflin is so good in this. Jeff is an intelligent man, prone to quoting great literature, and cunning. But he’s terribly unhappy. He can’t stand to be with Eager (and not actually be with him, and see him destroy his life), but he can’t stand to not be with him either.

The plot isn’t really about them, but about Eager and Lisbeth. Once he realizes who her dad is, he manipulates things into blackmail so he can get his dog track going. But of course he’s really in love with her.

Eager is a curious character. He’s undoubtedly a bad guy. We see him straight up kill a guy. He treats his girlfriend terribly and ushers her away so he can seduce Lisbeth. He refuses to help someone he could easily help simply because he doesn’t want to be bothered. Yet, he’s also the hero of the film. We want to root for him and his relationship with Lisbeth.

Robert Taylor is good. He’s often stiff, but here he seems much more at ease, and he shows a range of emotion. Lana Turner isn’t given much to do. But really, this is Van Heflin’s movie. He won an Oscar for it, and you can see why. He steals every scene.

Hello friends, and welcome to Noirvember 2016. It is funny because by the time I actually get to Halloween, I’m usually sick of watching horror films, and I’m always excited to start Noirvember. Let’s get ready for a great month.

Once a Thief (1965)

Once a Thief

Ever since Eddie Pedak (Alain Delon) got out of prison six years ago, he’s been straight as an arrow. He’s married to Kristine (Ann Margret) and has a cute-as-a-button little girl. He’s got a good job. He’s happy.

Except for Detective Mike Vido (Van Heflin). He got shot trying to catch a thief several years back, and he’s certain it was Eddie who did it. But the culprit was wearing a mas and Mike only saw his eyes, so the courts let Eddie go. Ever since, Mike has had it out for Eddie and is constantly trying to prove that he’s committed various crimes.

When a store robbery goes bad and a woman is killed, Mike thinks he’s got Eddie dead to rights. A witness description matches Eddie, and he was seen in the exact type of coat Eddie wears, and he drove away in the same model car. Mike takes him in, but his witness says it wasn’t Eddie who did it.

Meanwhile, Eddie gets a visit from his brother Walter (Jack Palance), a man who has definitely not given up the gangster life. He says he’s got a job for Eddie, something that pays big for just a day’s work. Eddie says, “No.” He doesn’t do that work anymore.

But then Eddie gets fired from his job. Mike told his boss about his past. This has happened before. Eddie has trouble finding a new job. Kristine has to take a job as a waitress. She tells Eddie she’s slinging hamburgers, but really she’s a cocktail waitress at some nightclub. She has to wear a skimpy thing.

This drives Eddie crazy. He is supposed to be the breadwinner. He’s not supposed to wash the dishes and make sure the kid is in bed on time. I always find these things fascinating. I guess I’m what you’d call a modern man. My wife and I take turns cooking. I wash dishes. I fold laundry. For a few years, I was a house husband while my wife worked. I was a stay-at-home dad for the first three years of our daughter’s life. I liked it. I don’t really understand these forced issues of masculinity.

But I do understand that it is a thing. It was a much bigger thing in the 1960s, and people like Eddie felt emasculated when they couldn’t work. But it doesn’t exactly make me feel for Eddie. It doesn’t put me on his side. It is fun to watch Delon in this role. I’m so used to him as the icy cool guy from his French films; to see him so hot with emotion here is interesting. He also has a tender side, too. He dotes on the girl, and he is tender with his wife. His character is also Italian, which is just weird.

You can probably tell where this story is going. The film does a nice job with it. Heflin is good as the cop. He’s obsessed with Eddie, but he’s also got a detective’s instincts and knows when he’s made a mistake. Palance is menacing. John Davis Chandler is the dark, kinky sidekick that always seems to be in this type of film. He’s terrifying.

Ann Margret is a little too weepy and screachy for my tastes. But the rest of the film more than makes up for it.

Act of Violence (1948)

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Robert Ryan was made to play tough guys and villains. He just had that look about him. In Act of Violence, he plays a guy who is menacing another man played by Van Heflin. At first, Ryan’s character seems like a villain, he’s stalking Heflin’s character for no apparent reason. Heflin’s character seems like good guy, he’s helped the community and has an ice wife (played by a young Janet Leigh). We’ve seen that sort of thing a million times in movies.

But this film has something else in mind. Ryan’s character is more complex, he’s more justified in his acts of terror. While the seemingly nice guy Heflin is playing has a dark past.

It is a terrifical little crackerjack film noir and you can read my full review here.