Johnny Allegro (1949) August 30, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , trackbackI sat down to this, expecting a pretty routine George Raft noir vehicle, but Johnny Allegro is a little different. For starters, although a crime thriller, it isn’t film noir. It also borrows heavily from The Most Dangerous Game in its last half-hour. You could say it’s a bit of a mish-mash of crime and adventure pictures, but surprisingly, it works pretty well.
Raft is John Allegro, an ex-con who now owns (wait for it; this is priceless) a flower shop. When he gets involved with the beautiful, mysterious Glenda (Nina Foch), the cops suddenly appear and strong-arm Johnny into helping their investigation into Glenda and her criminal husband Morgan Vallin (George Macready). Johnny wangles an invite to Vallin’s secret island hideout, and starts snooping round while the suspicious Vallin gradually begins to trust Johnny as a member of his gang. As mentioned above, the last act steals from The Most Dangerous Game, as Vallin discovers he’s been double-crossed and sets out with bow and arrow in hand to hunt down Johnny and Glenda.
There’s nothing particularly original here - the MacGuffin concerns a plot to smuggle counterfeit currency to the mainland - but it’s a lean, fast-paced 80 minute thriller, Raft provides a solid presence (if not a great performance), Foch sparkles nicely as his love interest and Macready is a suitably hissable villain. It’s just a shame that, as a Columbia picture, Johnny Allegro now falls under Sony’s control and thus has about a flea fart’s chance of getting a DVD release.
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