Johnny Eager (1941) User Reviews (59)

Learning the Meaning of Love

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 25 April 2017]

The gangster Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) has a scheme to pose of taxi driver to his parole officer Mr. Verne (Henry O'Neill). However he is unsuccessfully trying to get the license to open a dog racing track. Johnny is a ruthless and handsome man and his only friend and partner is the alcoholic Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin). When Mr. Verne visits Johnny at home, he brings the social assistant Lisbeth Bard (Lana Turner), who is the daughter of the District Attorney John Benson Farrell (Edward Arnold) that is Johnny's greatest enemy and responsible for sending him to the prison. Johnny seduces Lisbeth that falls in love with him. But Johnny is a heartless man and lures Lisbeth making her believe that she killed a man to protect Johnny. Then he blackmails Farrell to get his permit to open his dog track. Meanwhile Lisbeth is deeply affected by her love for Johnny and for the death of a man. When her former boyfriend Jimmy Courtney (Robert Sterling) offers all his money to Johnny to leave the country with Lisbeth, he has difficulties to understand Jimmy's attitude. But when he visits Lisbeth, he begins to understand the meaning of love and sacrifice. What will Johnny do?

"Johnny Eager" is a great film-noir, with the story of a selfish cold- blooded gangster that learns the meaning of love. Robert Taylor is perfect in the role of a notorious and manipulative gangster and Van Heflin has magnificent performance in the role of his only friend. The twenty-year old Lana Turner is amazingly beautiful. The story and the screenplay are excellent with top-notch direction of Mervyn LeRoy. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Estrada Proibida" ("Forbidden Road")

Eager's good look goes beyond its stars.

[st-shot · 7/10 · 25 November 2009]

Robert Taylor doesn't ace every scene but he gives a more than credible performance as Johnny Eager, an inventive pragmatic and violent when called for gangster trying to open a legit dog track from behind the scenes. In order to avoid being a parole violator Eager pretends to drive a cab while he masterminds the track deal paying off cops and officials to smooth things. Some officials can't be bought however and a judge (Edward Arnold) with a deep seeded resentment of Eager whom he refers to as "Thief" and humiliates blocks his license. The coldly practical Eager circumvents the problem by compromising the judge's daughter (Lana Turner) but loses his balance on the tightrope he's walking when he falls hard for her dame.

Eager has a crisper look than most noirs and director Mervyn LeRoy deftly handles the storyline and avoids run of the mill by injecting minor but telling incidentals that indicate Johnny's slow transformation. Suspense scenes are well edited and mise en scene is busy and filled with pertinent detail.

While Bogart might seem an apt choice to play Eager I doubt he could have played it with the same nervous authoritative energy or insecurity Taylor does here. Most of all he lacks Taylor's good looks which are crucial to romancing Lana Turner. The glamorous Ms. Turner is at first a little hard to believe as a student studying social work but she does acquit herself well in some powerfully dramatic scenes with Taylor. Paul Stewart, Glenda Farrell and Edward Arnold chip in fine supporting performances while Van Heflin delivers a magnificent one. Heflin as Eager's alcoholic sidekick and pickled conscience is not only effectively moving but also lends a droll sense of wit to the film with his sardonic observations.

Enchanting film-noir with endearing performances

[JuguAbraham · 7/10 · 13 January 2003]

Just as Sydney Greenstreet is unforgettable in "The Maltese Falcon", Van Heflin's role in Johnny Eager is memorable. Heflin won an Academy Award for this role that would be a dream role for any serious actor. The role provides superb lines, wide emotional range and an unusual character for a Forties movie. A weeping Heflin would be arresting to even a casual viewer. Several years later, Heflin played a somewhat similar but rugged and drunk Musketeer with a broken marriage in "The Three Musketeers." The casting of "Johnny Eager" is the secret to its success.

Robert Taylor made a name as the good looking good guy in the movies, but he is even better when he plays the bad guy in a handful of films. This is one such example. The strength of this role is his ability to transform from a likable good guy into a steely, gangster with an eye-brow movement and a subtle variation in his voice. Yet amongst the several negative roles ("Conspirator", "Undercurrent", "Ride, Vaqeuro", "The Night Walker"), Taylor in "Johnny Eager" is able to present the versatile actor he was.

The lovely Lana Turner is overshadowed by Taylor and Heflin, not just by the script but their individual performances. Usually Turner overshadows her male colleagues.

The film would never have stood out but for the script (Grant and Mahin) and the direction (LeRoy). The opening sequence and the ending sequence are well crafted and can stand alongside the best of film noir. I am surprised that this work gets often overlooked in discussions about the best examples of the genre. I found the film richly entertaining and well-made.

"You couldn't stop being a thief anymore than a weasel could stop sucking chicken blood."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 11 June 2015]

Parolee John Eager (Robert Taylor) has everybody fooled that he's gone straight and is trying to make an honest living as a taxi driver. In reality, Eager hasn't given up his criminal life at all. He's still a racketeer and he's working to open up a new dog track but is finding opposition from a vigilant district attorney (Edward Arnold). Eager starts dating pretty society girl Lisbeth (Lana Turner). When he finds out she's the stepdaughter of the D.A., he tries to use his relationship with Lisbeth as leverage against her stepfather.

Glossy crime drama from MGM with some film noir touches. Love the dialogue and the cast is terrific. This is one of my favorite Robert Taylor performances. Far more enjoyable to me than all of those sappy romantic melodramas from the '30s. Edward Arnold, of course, can do no wrong. Lana Turner looks gorgeous (no surprise) and does fine in a role that requires little from her but to be a naive lovestruck young woman. Van Heflin plays Taylor's cynical alcoholic friend who has many of the movie's best lines. He's the scene stealer in this, by the way, and deservedly won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. As with any old movie where there's a close male friendship, many reviewers read into it things that may or may not have been intended. Watch it and decide for yourself. The rest of the cast is full of great actors. Just take a gander at the cast list for this and you'll see how much talent was involved here. It's really a quality movie with a solid script, good characters, and a powerful ending.

Cracking entertainment.

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 9 March 2022]

Snappy dialogue by John Lee Mahin and James Edward Grant, good performances all round, (including an Oscar-winning turn from Van Heflin), and excellent direction by Mervyn LeRoy all contribute to making "Johnny Eager" one of the most enjoyable gangster films of the early forties.

A surprisingly good Robert Taylor is Johnny, an ex-con who hides his Mr. Big status from the parole board by posing as a simple taxi driver and a gorgeous, twenty year old Lana Turner is the rich prosecutor's daughter who falls for him. It's not a great film by any means but it's a cracking entertainment that stands up to repeated viewings.

Little-known crime story with two big stars and an Oscar-winning performance

[jimjo1216 · 20 February 2010]

Johnny Eager is an ex-gangster parolee who needs to hide his current criminal activities. He's a classy gangster and always knows how to get what he wants. He runs a dog racing racket and has henchmen to do his dirty work. He seems to have everything figured out until he meets a girl who figures him out but still falls in love with him. A guy like Johnny Eager can't have a respectable dame like her falling all over him, right? Johnny Eager doesn't fall in *love*.

Robert Taylor stars in the title role and is very good as the classy criminal. The lovely Lana Turner plays the love interest Liz Bard. This was still relatively early in Turner's career. She'd feature in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1941) the same year, but make more of an impression later on in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946). Turner's character is a key component of JOHNNY EAGER, but she spends considerable time offscreen.

Van Heflin won the Oscar for playing Jeff Hartnett, a well-read alcoholic and Johnny's best friend and confidant. He's not interested in the criminal activities, but he keeps Johnny company, offers him advice, and keeps his secrets. A selfish crook like Johnny Eager knows nothing about love or sympathy, but even Johnny Eager needs a friend.

Heflin would go on to such movies as SHANE (1953) and 3:10 TO YUMA (1957) in the 1950s, but he actually won an Academy Award for this film early on in his career. Heflin's performance was my favorite part of the movie and he deserved Oscar recognition. He really stood out among the ensemble. His character is always half-drunk, but functional, honest and prone to colorful literary quotations. The performance is subtle and nuanced compared to the rest of the cast. Heflin is able to convey different emotions throughout the movie and even takes a punch, falls to the ground, rolls around, looks up, and leaves, all in (if I recall correctly) one shot.

(Other viewers have pointed out undertones with Heflin's character that are there if you want to take 'em or leave 'em. The film works fine either way.)

A big-time racketeer who uses people for his own advantage, Johnny doesn't understand love and has no real friends except Jeff. He'd never even had a pet dog growing up. Johnny Eager is like an emotionless robot, until Liz comes along. In the end it is Johnny's newfound shred of humanity that ultimately leads to his downfall. (I guess. The ending never made 100% sense to me.)

JOHNNY EAGER is an enjoyable little film from 1941. Part gangster movie, part film noir lite. I really don't know how best to classify this one. But it has somehow fallen out of the public consciousness, available only by on-demand DVD from Warner Archive and occasionally on TCM. It's hard to understand why, since it's a decent enough movie with two notable stars, Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. And it's an OSCAR_WINNER! One would think people would be interested in seeing the film that provided the Best Supporting Actor of 1941, Van Heflin's shining moment.

I caught this on TCM recently and I'd recommend checking it out if you have the time. It's not essential viewing, but it's worth a look. Catch it when you can.

Mervyn LeRoy Directed a Great Picture

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 22 January 2005]

Any picture that Mervyn LeRoy was able to direct, you can always count on him choosing great actors to make his films a success. His choice of Robert Taylor in this role was outstanding; Taylor played (Johnny Eager),"The House of Seven Hawks",'59, a Taxi Cab driver who wore the uniform in most of the scenes with a small bow tie and cap. Eager was also a very tricky crook who did all kinds of things to make a buck, even Dog Racing. In one scene Eager told his girl friend, 'He did not care to make love at 4PM in the afternoon', however, he fell madly in love with Lana Turner,(Liz Bard),"Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde",'41, who looks young and beautiful in her role as a Judge's daughter who is fooled into killing Paul Stewart,(Julio),"The Joe Louis story",'53. Van Heflin,(Jeff Hartnett),"Black Widow",'54, never stopped drinking through out the entire picture and never seemed to get sober. Edward Arnold,(Jeff Hartnett),"The Devil & Daniel Webster",'41, loved his daughter Liz very deeply but Johnny Eager managed to get him involved in his various crimes in the Dog Racing business which almost broke his heart. This is a great Robert Taylor Classic along with great veteran actors and a very worth while film to sit back and enjoy.

Cabbie by day, gangster by night, and hunk - always!

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 15 August 2006]

Robert Taylor is a reformed gangster on parole at the beginning of "Johnny Eager." After meeting with his parole officer and two sociology students - one of whom is the gorgeous Lana Turner - Johnny transforms himself into the gangster he has remained. It's in this identity that he runs into Turner again at a nightclub. The gangster interests her more than the cabbie. Little does he know, her father is the prosecutor who has an injunction to keep a dog track from opening in which Johnny has a financial stake.

According to Lana Turner, she and Taylor flirted and made out, and Taylor told Stanwyck he wanted a divorce. Turner didn't want to break up the marriage and told Taylor it was no go. Stanwyck, however, never spoke to Turner again. Turner and Taylor make a beautiful couple and they sizzle on screen.

Both turn in excellent performances. Turner plays a love-struck, vulnerable young woman who will do anything to protect her man - she's great. Taylor, sporting a mustache, is terrific as Johnny - a goody two shoes around his parole officer, a mean, selfish tough guy around everyone else. He has no idea how to love or to be loved.

Van Heflin won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as Johnny's friend Jeff, an alcoholic philosopher and Johnny's conscience. Heflin plays up the sensitivity of Jeff and his love for Johnny, giving the role gay overtones. He is fantastic.

If you're under the impression that Taylor and Turner were just two of Hollywood's non-acting pretty people, think again. During their careers, both played many worthwhile roles and played them well. If the critics dismissed them because of their looks, or in Turner's case, the headlines she garnered in her private life, too bad, but the audience always got their money's worth with these two pros.

Wonderful film!

Heflin Tears It Up

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 16 September 2007]

Robert Taylor (as Johnny Eager) is a racketeer on parole; he is posing an honest taxi driver, but actually runs a successful criminal organization. His companion is Van Heflin (as Jeff Hartnett), an unrequited love-struck alcoholic. Adversarial district attorney Edward Arnold (as John Benson Farrell) has a tempting step-daughter, luscious Lana Turner (as Liz Bard), who complicates life considerably. Mr. Taylor is charismatic as gangster "Johnny Eager" and Ms. Turner is lovely as "Liz"…

Van Heflin (as Jeff Hartnett) is the actor and performer to watch in this film. Every time he is on camera, Heflin is riveting - whether in the background, staring into space; or, when seen in close-up, crying his eyes out. Moreover, he never overplays his hand, or goes "over the top"; instead, he makes the absolute most out of a delicious role. In an otherwise routine production, Heflin delivers an unfolding, landmark supporting performance.

Nothing is quite as good as Heflin's performance in "Johnny Eager", but Taylor's drunken crashing of the "poker party" makes the second half much more entertaining than the first half of the gangster story. Lana Turner watchers should know her clothing choices get sexier during the film's running time. Still, keep an eye on Heflin's "Jeff" - by the end of the film, he is unquestionably Taylor's "leading man".

******* Johnny Eager (12/9/41) Mervyn LeRoy ~ Robert Taylor, Van Heflin, Lana Turner

T'N'T Turner and Taylor at Their Scintillating Best

[JLRMovieReviews · 9/10 · 14 April 2009]

Robert Taylor as Johnny Eager, gangster/criminal/racketeer, has done his time and turned over a new leaf. Or, so his parole officer thinks so. On one of his surprise visits to Johnny's place of residence to make sure he's following the straight and narrow, the parole officer shows up with two sociology students, played by Diana Lewis (who would later marry William Powell in real life) and Lana Turner, who are there "to see how the other half lives." What happens after that was "TNT," as the MGM publicity posters said. Taylor 'n' Turner make love to the screen and bother each other so much they make Romeo and Juliet seem like toddlers. Their chemistry is enough to make the viewer want to smoke. If you want a scintillating, involving, and very intelligent crime drama with great performances by all, including character actors Edward Arnold, Robert Sterling, Barry Nelson, Paul Stewart, Glenda Farrell, and Van Heflin, in his Oscar-winning role as Johnny's literature-spouting best friend. ("'Cause even Johnny Eager needs one friend.") This is definitely one of the best of the old-fashioned crime dramas and one that shouldn't be missed.

Badge 711

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 24 January 2005]

(Some Spoilers) Davilishly handsome Robert Taylor as paroled crime bigwig Johnny Eager with the eye-popping gorgeous 21 year-old Lana Turner as Lisbeth Brad. As well as Van Heflin who received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Johnny's sad sack drunk and scholarly pal Jeff Hartenett put on quite a show in the MGM glossy crime/drama "Johnny Eager".

Doing his parole as a taxi driver Johnny Eager is still secretly running his old crime organization with that cold and hard-fisted efficiency that he ran it before he was sent up the river to the state penitentiary. At his monthly parole board hearing Johnny meets two sociology students Lisbeth Bard and Judy Sanford, Lana Turner and Dana Lewis, and both fall, Judy outwardly and Lisbeth secretly, for the good-looking former hoodlum.

Later Johnny again meets Lisbeth at a nightclub that he was doing business with and learns that she's the step-daughter of State DA and the man who put him behind bars John Benson Farrell, Edward Arnold. Johnny has all the top police and politicians paid off to allow him to go back to business as top city crime boss. Eeryone but the straight and honest DA Farrell who swore to do everything to put Johnny back in prison.

With Lisbeth madly in love with Johnny he sees a chance to take advantage of her blind passion for him to his benefit. Getting Lisbeth up at his pad he has one of his hoods Julio, Paul Stewart, break in and get into a fight with him. As Julio has Johnny on the floor and is about to knife him Johnny screams to Lisbeth to shoot him with his gun and she does killing Julio saving Johnny's life. Unknown to Lisbeth the gun had blanks and Julio was anything but dead but the thought on her part of killing someone drove Lisbeth into a deep depression.

Johnny uses the fact of Lisbeth's guilt to blackmail her step-father DA Farrell to stop hounding him. At the same time have him approve of Johnny opening the dog racetrack, run by his mob! Something which DA Farrell publicly avowed never to sanction.

Not realizing how much Lisbeth is in love with him this whole plan backfires on Johnny when she tells him that she's willing to take the rap for him! This in order to keep Johnny out of prison for being at the scene of the crime. With Julio alive this would show not only Lisbeth, who Johnny didn't really care that much for, but her step-father the State DA what a low-life louse he is and throw him back in the clink this time for good.

Never really loving anyone Johnny's attraction to Lisbeth and her selfless love for him turned out to be his downfall. Trying to tell Lisbeth that Julio was alive and that she has nothing to feel guilty about only makes Lisbeth fall more in love with Johnny. Lisbeth thinking that he's trying to keep her from going to jail for saving his life by killing Julio. In desperation Johnny now sees that the only way he can get out of this dangerous situation is to make sure that Julio is really dead and this turns out to be a fatal mistake on Johnny's part.

Robert Taylor is darkly handsome and effective as the ruthless Johnny Eager as he finds out that his good looks and success with women turned out to be his Achilles Heel. There was a heart-breaking scene at the dog-track when one of Johnny Eager's former girlfriends Mea, Glenda Farrell, tried to get him to use his influence to get her husband police officer Joe Agridowski, Byron Shores, back on his old beat. That way he can spend more time with her and their three kids. It takes officer Argidowski twice as long to go to work and back from where he's assigned to now and it's injuring his feet from walking the twice as long beat.

Johnny coldly and unfeeling turns the desperate Mea down even though he could have easily helped her husband. Later there ironically turned out to be a bit of poetic justice for Mea and her husband Joe in the final scene of the movie at Johnny Eager's expense.

Robert Taylor is wonderful as the sociopath gangster!

[mamalv · 10/10 · 8 February 2005]

Robert Taylor was to lose his pretty boy image in this film about a sociopath gangster "Johnny Eager." Never before had the audience seen him in such a distasteful role, as such a bad guy that you just wanted to kill him yourself. Johnny meets Lizbeth (Lana Turner)and uses her to blackmail her father, played wonderfully well by Edward Arnold, the District Attorney trying to put Johnny away for good. There is a split second scene when he is going to drive her home, he closes the car door with both hands open on top of the door, as it closes we see his hands seeming to be throwing an imaginary thing away, his distaste for anyone or anything is apparent. No one means much of anything to him and this is the tip-off. A small but affective movement by Taylor. He seduces her, then makes her think she has killed a man, to make Arnold play along with the opening of his Dog Track. Van Heflin plays Johnny's alcoholic friend Jeff, who is constantly trying to make Johnny understand that there is something to be said for helping others and not being so selfish. He is magnificent in his role, and won the Academy Award for his thought to be homosexual overtoned, portrayal. When Johnny is visited by Robert Sterling, Lizbeth's former love, he is stunned to find that Sterling wants to give him money to go away with Lizbeth, because she is so in love with him, and sick over the hidden secret that she holds within. When Eager goes to her, the scene on the balcony between Taylor and Turner is so sexy, so real that you just knew they were really in love outside of the film. A comment was made years ago that there was never a sexier woman than Lana Turner being held in the arms of Robert Taylor, in this scene. In the end Johnny realizes that Lizbeth loves him and that for once in his criminal, selfish life he is really in love. He shows her the so called dead man to cure her hysteria, and then goes out in a hail of bullets, held in the arms of Van Heflin his best, and only friend. This is a great film noir, and I truly believe that Taylor deserved a nomination for this portrayal........See it, you will be a Taylor fan forever.

"My Dame's Gotta Throw a Wing-Ding On Me"

[davidcarniglia · 7/10 · 14 November 2018]

Interesting crime drama with a slick performance from Robert Taylor, a great supporting cast, and smooth plotting and pacing. Taylor's Johnny spends nearly all of the film as a parolee cooking up his gangster empire so brazenly that everyone seems in his pocket. Falling for Lana Turner (as Lisbeth) seems to be nothing more than another ploy in his criminal strategy. Van Heflin, as Johnny's confidant Jeff, is a sort of wayward Dr. Jekyll, with literary witticisms punctuating his emotional empathy. Johnny is all surface charm and exudes confidence; whereas Jeff is physically barely functioning, but acts as Johnny's conscience ("pickled" as one reviewer aptly puts it) and his soul.

Things come so easily for Johnny: he manages to blackmail the D.A. (Lisbeth's step-dad) by implicating her in a simulated murder, fend off Robert Sterling (as her on-again, off-again boyfriend Jimmy), control a criminal gang while keeping rivals at bay, and, as a result of all of these moves, make a quick fortune. In other words, he drives everyone nuts. Exiling his 'dame' Garnet (Patricia Dana) means no more to him than upgrading furniture (to the more classy Lisbeth). What saves the film from being a parade of Johnny's savoir-faire is the comeuppance he gets in the noirish ending.

He finally has the guts, presumably for the first time in his life, to renounce his credo that "we're all fakes." At this point things get more psychological as Lisbeth won't believe she didn't kill the flunky Julio. But Johnny, realizing that he indeed loves her, arranges for her to see the very real Julio, and let her conscience off the hook. It's not really clear why there has to be a gun battle with the rival gang, as we've just seen Johnny 'square' things with them. It even seems absurd, as Johnny still seems to have the upper hand with Lisbeth, and could just leave with her after Julio is identified.

I think, though, that the violent denouement shows Johnny unable to escape who he is; he realizes that Lisbeth would only be dragged down by him. By deliberately putting himself in harm's way, he saves her. He's at last capable of love, but knows that he can't be an ordinary guy like Jimmy. This bit of tragedy comes at us literally in a hail of bullets, dramatically illustrating Johnny's redemptive sacrifice.

If you can survive Johnny's rat-a-tat-tat slang and perpetual living-on-cloud-nine smugness, it's worth waiting for the his emotional awakening and fateful self-destruction. 7/10.

Drivel

[rodinnyc · 3/10 · 10 November 2019]

The plot device is hokum and utterly fantastic and not in a good way. I don't like either Robert Taylor or Lana Turner in this film and I'm cold to their supposed beauty. Turner's opening where she appears to be a smart, perceptive woman is undercut by all that happens after. Women come off pretty stupid in this film. They are all cipher man centered drones and particularly drawn in by Robert Taylor's allure. Van Heflin is interesting but what he's doing here is unclear other than be a drunk, gay man who is also in love with Taylor. He doesn't humanize Taylor. One shot of Heflin bleary eyed and boozily approaching the camera is an odd moment that adds to his character's complete dissipation. Watch for the character actors. Taylor's "niece" is priceless as a hood teenager as is her very NYC working class mother. The pawnshop owner who makes an $11 dollar sale just as he's closing is another fine turn. His honest $ is compared to the high rolling Taylor's Eager. The dog for whom Taylor is indifferent puts in a good performance. Stupid Julio who pulls off his staged murder for Turner. Barry Nelson does a good job as Taylor's turncoat who meets a particularly bizarrely staged and dreary demise. Worth checking out just to see what a stinker it is. If you can spare two hours of your life.

A sesquipedalian Heflin!

[alexandra-25 · 20 December 2008]

The celebrated German philosopher Immanual Kant's premise of theory was that there is no originality, because we are influenced by what we experience. In that case Johnny Eager (1942)is a clichéd gangster film. But the clichéd roles give way to nuanced characters, which have originality within their various slants of their respective stereotypes. Director Leroy achieves this by adding to the clichés of sharp suited mobsters and their dolls anomalies as in the emotional, erudite gangster with ethics.

A classic stereotype, (well observed and researched by the production team) is that of Lana Turner's character; Lizbeth Bard. She is the clichéd sociology student. That is she is a middle class naive ingénue, whose fascination with her subject matter gets her in too deep. This role gave Turner credibility as an actor! Likewise, the film gave Taylor the credibility he deserved as an actor of dimensions. His caricature of the solipsistic gangster gave him an edge which usurped his 'pretty boy' image. Nevertheless Taylor's Johnny Eager seems to have a sense of his beauty that has the women running to him. One example is the scene when the women run to serve him at the desk near the start of the film. This begs the question of was Johnny Eager's looks that had the women eating out of his hand? or was it his 'gangster' image that attracted them? Could Eager have had the women falling for him with just looks alone? His character wouldn't be half as sexy in the role of Bard's other love interest, that of the sweet, well intentioned good -guy as in Robert Sterling's character; Jimmy Courtney.

The other stand out performance (deserved of his Oscar) is that of Van Heflin playing the complex ,sesquipedalian and polymath, Jeff Hartnett. He is the cerebral side kick of Eager. Like the women, he has got in too deep with Eager because of his homo erotic attraction to the latter.

Mention should also go to the excellent turns by Edward Arnald as the over protective Dad, who has come from nothing,making it as a respectable lawyer, with ambitions for his daughter to marry a wealthy socialite with a good name. His over protectiveness as Bard's Dad gives way to a subtext of incest. This has Hartnett (Heflin) mention the famous psychologist Freud.

Also outstanding in this film is the clever script, which is evidently well researched, as in the example of the naive sociology student. The direction of the film is a credit to Mervyn LeRoy who portrays the clichéd caricatures of the characters to almost perfection. . The film takes allot of twists and turns, which defines it as 'film noir'.

This was the film that altered the career of Robert Taylor, transforming him from a 'pretty boy' film star to a credible actor. It definitely is worth seeing.

Tight terror

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 27 March 2019]

'Johnny Eager' had a good cast going for it, though those involved haven't had careers that were consistently good in films and performances in my personal and respectful opinion, and an interesting idea for a story. Director Mervyn LeRoy had good and more films under his belt, with 'Random Harvest', 'Waterloo Bridge' and 'Gold Diggers of 1933' coming out on top, all three wonderful films.

Found myself really enjoying 'Johnny Eager' and finding a lot to like. It is not a flawless film, but the good things far outweigh what doesn't quite work and these good things are actually great. Those who love classic film, films of this type and are fans of LeRoy or any of the cast members are likely to not feel disappointed in 'Johnny Eager', with what the film was seen for in the first place not being wasted at all. A good thing as a bugbear of mine with film and television, and have seen this too many times over-time, is waste of potential.

Sure the story is a little over-complicated in spots and at times the film does feel slightly over-plotted, meaning that not everything makes sense.

Paul Stewart's accent, and this is going to come over as a nit-pick, is pretty indecipherable and his performance was on the odd side.

The rest of the cast are on the money though. Robert Taylor has varied with me as an actor, in some films he's good and in others he comes over as dull compared to stronger colleagues in more interesting roles. His performance is the former in 'Johnny Eager', he is very well cast as one of his more interesting characters and commands the screen with ease. He has a scintillating chemistry with charming and epitome of glamour Lana Turner, making the most of relatively little. Edward Arnold gives a typically strong performance. The acting honours go to Van Heflin, absolutely delicious in a complex role and his Oscar was more than well deserved.

LeRoy's direction is tight yet controlled when needed. 'Johnny Eager' looks very lavish without being overly glossy, particularly the production design while the photography is beautifully slick and atmospheric. Bronislau Kaper's score is suitably haunting, and the script is suitably taut and thoughtful, making an effort to not make the characters and storytelling cliched. The story moves at a lively, but seldom rushed, tempo and has suspense, sensuality and emotion, that pent house balcony scene is very hard to forget.

Summarising, enjoyable film with much to like. 7/10

Pretty People Crime Flick

[bienefes · 6/10 · 9 August 2012]

This is one of the few MGM "gangster" pictures I've seen from the era of great Warner Bros. entries, and while it mostly kept my interest, I was somewhat disappointed. One of the main insights this film gave me was what made the Warner Bros. gangster films so great in comparison to those from other studios like MGM's Johnny Eager. It was their gritty believability. The stars (Robinson, Cagney, Muni, Raft, and Bogart) importantly looked like they could actually BE gangsters. Their love interests weren't just pretty faces, but were generally "hard boiled" dames who were attractive in a rougher sort of way. The dialog was sharp, witty, and crackled. All that said, I found Johnny Eager (where did they come up with that name?) to be a paler imitation of the genre. Though he was really too "pretty" for the role, I thought Robert Taylor did a fine job of playing against type, and probably impressed me the most among the cast. I thought Lana Turner's character should have been better fleshed out, in order to better show why she was so attracted to Eager in the first place. I got the impression that an attempt may have been made to do so, but was lost in the film's editing. Van Heflin's Oscar-winning supporting role was a disappointment. While he had some of the best lines in the film, I found his character unlikeable and pathetic, making me wonder how he and Eager ever connected in the first place. The dialog was a mixed bag, delivered crisply, and with some good zingers, but also with some ridiculous lines that made me laugh out loud. This may have been considered a good MGM entry to the gangster film genre, but compared to the best work from Warner Bros. , it doesn't stand up.

not bad

[kyle_furr · 7/10 · 26 March 2004]

I wasn't expecting much from this movie but i was surprised. I'm not even really a fan of Robert Taylor or Lana Turner but Van Heflin is all right. I've seen several of Melvin LeRoy's films and i liked most of them. This one stars out with Taylor going to the parole board and he's driving a cab but that's just a front because he's still a gangster. The prosecutor who sent him to jail came out of retirement to put the pressure on him and when Taylor falls for Turner who happens to the prosecutor's daughter. The prosecutor is willing to frame Taylor if he doesn't leave taylor alone and Van Heflin is Taylor's only friend he's willing to trust. Heflin won best supporting actor and rightly so.

Robert Taylor driving cabs in the hope of Lana Turner but only wins Van Heflin

[clanciai · 9/10 · 31 October 2018]

The chief interest of this film is the appearance of Robert Taylor as a double and complicated character, part gangster, part renegade, who desperately tries to behave and get ordinary for society standards, as he loves Lana Turner with a father in a very high position - Edward Arnold at his hardest. Robert is not altogether successful in leaving his gangster life behind and trying to scrap it for the sake of Lana, but his ambiguous situation turning into a tragedy is saved by Van Heflin, a drunkard, as his only friend, as it proves, when all is lost. Van Heflin actually saves the film and makes it more than interesting - it's a true noir but very early as such, and Robert Taylor is surprisingly good as the opposite of all you have seen him in before - the stately perfect gentleman and saviour of the world, like the perfect knight in shining armour, here just one case for the gutter among many.

Hollywood's hottest couple in a hot rod of a movie

[trimmerb1234 · 7/10 · 13 February 2008]

Handsome, quick on his feet and quicker on the draw gangster Johnny Eager (Taylor) meets the hottest-of-hot young Hollywood dames, Lana Turner, here the District Attorney's daughter. Johnny needs a betting licence from the D.A. but with Johnny's record it ain't gonna happen. As always Johnny's got an angle - this time it ain't pretty at all. But has Johnny run into an acquaintance he ain't seen for a long long while: his conscience? Or is it just his pal (Van Heflin) who's started yapping like some bible-puncher making him on edge? Johnny slugs him to shut him up but his pal still wont stop yapping. Or is it his conscience that's screwing things up? Maybe he just ain't got one? Maybe.

This movie motors like a hot rod with the pedal to the metal - with three people doing the steering! It sure is going fast but for sure it ain't going far. Johnny's had his crashes before but this time is different. This time there ain't gonna be too many survivors.

Robert Taylor and Lana Turner were never better - they were both young and hot and riding in this souped-up racer of a movie. Yet oddly it was Van Heflin who got the Oscar for his role as the drunken, maudlin muttering voice of conscience, a role he was to make his own and reprised from then on. Clearly, the studio understood that the public of the day was not ready for a raw amoral sociopath as a hero and needed the authorial moral commentary that the Van Heflin character provided to licence their lascivious enjoyment. Today the Van Heflin character appears so insufferable that the public would instead be more likely to be willing Johnny to shoot him - and it would have been Robert Taylor who received the Oscar.

Van Heflin shines in this MGM gangster film

[reelguy2 · 10/10 · 17 November 2004]

MGM produced this well-written, well-produced gangster saga, a type of film that was very unusual for the studio.

As the alcoholic, self-loathing, philosophizing buddy of Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor), Heflin steals the show. He plays his role with great intensity and complexity, making his performance one of the most deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscars in the history of the Academy Awards. His crying scenes are enough to choke a person up, and his possible suggestion of a homoerotic attraction to Eager is unique in a film of this era.

It's unfortunate that Heflin's subsequent roles and performances were generally dull. This actor needed roles that put him emotionally on the edge and exploited his intensity. But at least in Johnny Eager, Heflin set a standard for screen acting that remains a role model to this day.

Robert Taylor plays his scenes with Heflin with some dramatic tension and a hint of subtext, while still remaining comfortably within the confines of a handsome Hollywood leading man. Turner delivers her lines very artificially, coming across as insincere, and her face seems incapable of expressing emotion. Beautiful she is, but given the taut script, the director had the potential of eliciting less formulaic playing from her. Luckily, the rest of the cast is excellent -especially Edward Arnold and Robert Sterling.

Watch this one and you won't be disappointed. Heflin's performance is worth it all.

Too much for Taylor to carry

[mik-19 · 6/10 · 10 September 2004]

Johnny (Robert Taylor), out on parole, hides his thriving gambling and extortion business behind his front as a cabbie, and when he fixes it so that he seems to cover up a crime done by his lover (Lana Turner), he has her father, his nemesis the judge (Edward Arnold) in a spot.

Not a memorable thriller or noir by any stretch of the imagination, the script is tired and unoriginal, the dialogue badly written, the direction aimless, and the acting varies greatly. Turner is asked to do nothing but look gorgeous under her hair-do, and Taylor is asked to carry too much on his shoulders in a role that calls for someone more ambiguous, someone with an edge which, at that stage in his career, at least Taylor had not. Young Van Heflin tries too hard as Johnny's hard-drinking, sentimental friend, and his lines are impossibly stodgy, but Heflin has life and charm, something this film lacks altogether.

Not recommended.

Tough-talkin', 2-timin' & terrific!

[Night Must Fall · 9/10 · 20 June 2002]

First, the few bad points: 1) Paul Stewart's accent – I think he picked it up when it rolled out of a gumball machine. He's a fine actor, and his character (Julio) was interesting, but only half of his dialog is decipherable. If anything, it's even worse than his accent in Citizen Kane, and that's saying something! 2) I normally don't mind character-tinged period lingo, but this film has way too much of it. Don't even try to count all the ‘dames,' ‘doughs,' and ‘suckers.' After a while, it becomes tiresome. 3) Johnny hardly ever refers to his girlfriends by name; instead repeatedly calling them `sugar.' How annoying.

That said, there is much to recommend Johnny Eager. It is one of my favorites of all time.

THE LEADS: Robert Taylor (Johnny Eager), although slightly too young to play this big-boss gangster character, gives a convincing performance, making a great sociopath. He manages to turn that perfect face into a menacing sneer, staring both friends and enemies alike down with a furrowed brow and an icy, cold-blooded glare in his eyes. It is easy to dislike his character, which is rare for Taylor. I have heard that he pushed for the role in order to break out of his pretty-boy mold and expand his range, and Eager is the perfect vehicle for this. I just which he didn't have that silly moustache! GAH!

Van Heflin deserved his best supporting actor Oscar for his role in this film (a rare win for a pathetic character). He plays Jeff Hartnett, the very complex best friend of Johnny -- a self-loathing, alcoholic homosexual -- in an abusive, co-dependent relationship with Johnny. Heflin is the best male crier I've seen in filmdom (see also The Three Musketeers ('48), Madame Bovary ('49), 3:10 to Yuma). He excels in conveying sympathy for his characters and their various plights. Here, as Jeff, his expressive eyes alone speak volumes, as well as do his many philosophical, psychological speeches. (Still, some of his dialog is bizarre, to say the least.) An outstanding performance.

Lana Turner, as Lizabeth Bard, Taylor's love interest, gives a wonderful performance as well. Her character runs the full gamut of emotions, all of which she handles beautifully. (She and Taylor made a great pair -- the posters screamed T-N-T. Unfortunately, they were never paired again.) Her

beauty is so striking, that whenever she is onscreen with others, you find yourself drawn to her. It is a very mature acting job for the tender age of 21.

The homosexual element in the film is extraordinary for 1941. I think the Production Code people must have been on autopilot when they read the script. If this didn't tip them off, then you'd think the finished product would. (SPOILER) The scene where Taylor cradles the dog's head in his hands after fighting with Heflin is mirrored at the end of the film with the two actors, and that's the least of it! (I won't give any more away.) Hello? How it passed, I will never know, but it makes the characters, even that of Johnny, so humane and multi-dimensional. Very impressive, and well ahead of its time.

SUPPORTING PLAYERS: Edward Arnold: Ever dependable, again he does not disappoint. As Turner's step-dad, Arnold, too, expresses a wide range of emotions with ease and total believability as the law-enforcement element of the story. His conflict over Turner's lifestyle is portrayed fabulously. One of my favorite character actors ever! Robert Sheridan: Great as the noble and selfless Jimmy Courtney, Turner's `other man.' I wish his film career would have gone further. Glenda Farrell: Lovely, but wasted in a very small role. Patricia Dane: Her character is unsympathetic, but she manages to inject a high level of humanity into it, evoking concern nonetheless. Barry Nelson: in his very early twenties, and already a decent villain. Paul Stewart: (see above)

Special Mention goes to Gypsy Prince, the retired greyhound dog with such a sweet face, endlessly chasing the squeaky toy!

DO NOT MISS THIS FILM!

Johnny Eager (1941)

[MartinTeller · 7/10 · 3 January 2012]

Johnny Eager is a model parolee by day and a ruthless gangster by night, doing whatever it takes to get his dog racing track up and running... including seducing his prosecutor's daughter. At first this felt like a competent but mediocre picture, but eventually comes into its own, making for an above average experience on the whole. Robert Taylor is good in the title role, charming and snappy. Lana Turner has a smaller role than you would imagine and for the first half kinda seems like a non-entity, but has a couple of great scenes towards the end. Overshadowing them both is Van Heflin as Eager's literate lush of a right-hand man, a marvelous performance. Although it takes a while for the film to develop interesting angles, Johnny's various deceptions are entertaining, and later on his character shows faint glimmers of humanity. Techincally the film is solid but lacking in impressive shots. Worth sticking through the lackluster beginning to get to the good stuff.

Nobody Likes A Whiner

[ccthemovieman-1 · 4/10 · 6 April 2006]

A few twists and turns keep the viewer's interest in this one, although Van Heflin's whining can turn you off. Robert Taylor plays a convincing tough guy with no compromises, but someone who softens up and does the right thing at the end.

Heflin has some interesting lines but, personally, seeing a drunk in major role like this wasn't much fun to watch or hear. He ruined the film for me with his unlikeable annoying character.

Meanwhile, once she changed hairstyles, Lana Turner was a lot easier to watch. Fans of her will be disappointed in her screen time and the amount of lines they gave her to speak. It's not much.

A slightly-below average film noir/melodrama for its period.