Johnny O’Clock (1947)

Johnny O’Clock is a bit odd for a film noir because the title character is something of a good guy for a gangster with a reputation bad enough to keep him on the radar of the local police force. He’s generous with his associates; he doesn’t hold a grudge, at least not very often; and he’s kind to women, although he does slap Nancy Hobson once across the face when she argues with him. This is noir and this is 1947, after all, and Johnny O’Clock is not perfect.

(This blog post about Johnny O’Clock contains some spoilers.)

Another detail that sets Johnny O’Clock apart from other films noir is the romance between Johnny and Nancy Hobson. When Nancy and Johnny meet, it’s love at first sight. The only femme fatale in this noir is a supporting character, Nelle Marchettis, but the only one completely smitten with her is her husband Guido. Nelle is smitten with Johnny, but her attraction is not reciprocated. She inspires murderous jealousy in her husband, however, and that eventually becomes a problem for Johnny.

The film may not be a typical noir, but the cinematography is beautiful and very noir, with its chiaroscuro lighting. I had plenty of screenshots to choose from by the time I was finished watching. And the film’s opening makes it clear that life isn’t always easy for everyone in this world, which is exactly what one expects from a noir. The story starts with Inspector Koch staring up at a clock outside on the street at night. The camera pans down to him at street level. He buys a newspaper from a newsboy who proclaims the main headline: that a local gambler was shot while resisting arrest. Koch enters the hotel behind the clock, and the hotel doorman walks into the frame and tells the newsboy to beat it. Inside the hotel, when Koch reads the article further, viewers learn from the shot of the newspaper that Officer Chuck Blayden shot the gangster.

The killing of criminals resisting arrest is becoming common news in the city, and the police are beginning to suspect internal corruption. Officer Blayden has become friendly with gangsters around the city, and Inspector Koch is asking questions. He wants to talk specifically to Johnny O’Clock. Johnny and Guido Marchettis own a casino together. They and their associates have dubious reputations, but Inspector Koch has a good feeling about Johnny O’Clock. Johnny served four years in the army, which is one of the reasons Inspector Koch is an admirer. He is hoping that Johnny will have some information for him.

Johnny O’Clock lives in the hotel, in a large luxury suite. His business dealings have obviously made him a wealthy man. Charlie, his attendant, wakes Johnny up at 9 o’clock. It’s only later that viewers learn that Johnny sleeps all day and wakes at 9 o’clock at night to work in the casino. Charlie gives Johnny a package that arrived while he was sleeping. It is an expensive handmade watch from a woman, and it is inscribed with “To My Darling with Unending Love.” Johnny is not happy about receiving the gift. The way that subsequent scenes are shot, viewers are led to believe that Harriet Hobson gave the watch to Johnny. The film later reveals that the gift came from Nelle Marchettis, the wife of Johnny’s business partner.

Inspector Koch waits for Johnny O’Clock and stops him in the hotel lobby when Johnny is on his way to the casino. Harriet Hobson is also waiting for Johnny, and she is desperate to talk to him. Koch interrupts them and introduces himself, then asks for Johnny’s help. Johnny asks Harriet to wait for him outside the hotel. The conversation between Johnny and Koch, like many in the film, is filled with snappy one-liners. Here is a brief excerpt:

• O’Clock: “All right. Shoot. Question number one.”

• Koch: “No questions. Proposition.”

• O’Clock: [sarcastically] “I wonder what it could be.”

• Koch: “Simple. In return for certain information—”

• O’Clock: “You’ll do what?”

• Koch: “I’ll give you a break.”

• O’Clock: “My arms or my legs?”

Koch needs information about Blayden. He implies that Blayden is corrupt when he says that he doubts that Blayden will be a cop for much longer. But Johnny refuses to help him. When he returns to Harriet Hobson outside on the sidewalk and they walk away from the hotel entrance, Harriet tells Johnny that Blayden hit her. Harriet is in a relationship with Blayden, but she is still in love with Johnny. Johnny tells her that it’s over between them, but he still offers to help her with Blayden. Harriet works the hat check in the casino, so self-interest may be partly responsible for Johnny’s willingness to help Harriet. Keeping his employees safe and happy is probably good for business, even one owned by Johnny.

Later that evening, when Johnny meets with Blayden in the alley behind the casino, Blayden tells him that he is now Marchettis’s business partner, not Johnny. Blayden threatens to kill Johnny if he gets in his way. Johnny is not concerned: He simply returns the threat. The meeting turned out to be productive for Harriet and Johnny because Johnny was able to learn some business information.

Inspector Koch investigates the discovery of a bloodstained jacket and learns that Harriet Hobson tried to have it dry-cleaned. When he goes to her boardinghouse room to question her, he finds her dead, an apparent suicide by gas. When he questions Johnny O’Clock about Harriet’s death, Johnny knows nothing about it and is visibly upset. Inspector Koch is still a little suspicious because he knows that Johnny and Harriet were close. Nancy Hobson, Harriet’s sister and nearest relative, arrives in town with some questions of her own. Inspector Koch tells Nancy to ask Johnny O’Clock what he knows.

The narrative gets complicated from this point onward with double-crosses, another murder, betrayals by close personal and business associates. Nancy and Johnny fall in love, and Nelle Marchettis makes Johnny’s life difficult by refusing to let go. It’s unclear if Nelle and Johnny ever had a relationship because Nelle is so eager to make trouble. It doesn’t hurt to see Johnny O’Clock more than once to keep track of it all.

Johnny O’Clock is one of my favorite films noir. Dick Powell, another of my noir favorites, shines in the title role. He has the snappiest dialogue of all the characters in the film, but other characters can often match him, which makes the film even more fun to watch. I had seen Johnny O’Clock before on television, when it was cut up by editing and interrupted by commercials. It was a real treat to see it on DVD without any distractions. Johnny may not be perfect, but I was rooting for him and Nancy Hobson.

January 23, 1947, release date  •  Directed by Robert Rossen  •  Screenplay by Robert Rossen  •  Based on a story by Milton Holmes  •  Music by George Duning  •  Edited by Al Clark, Warren Low  •  Cinematography by Burnett Guffey

Dick Powell as Johnny O’Clock  •  Evelyn Keyes as Nancy Hobson  •  Lee J. Cobb as Inspector Koch  •  Ellen Drew as Nelle Marchettis  •  Nina Foch as Harriet Hobson  •  Thomas Gomez as Guido Marchettis  •  John Kellogg as Charlie  •  Jim Bannon as Chuck Blayden  •  Mabel Paige as the boardinghouse tenant  •  Phil Brown as Phil, the hotel clerk  •  Jeff Chandler as Turk

Distributed by Columbia Pictures  •  Produced by J.E.M. Productions