Must See Movie...

How sad is this?

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Copyright 19 April 1940 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 12 April 1940. U.S. release: 19 April 1940. Australian release: 13 June 1940. 8,686 feet. 96 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Bob Cain (Power) leaves college when he learns that his dad (Arnold) has been arrested for embezzlement. Bob vows to work for his release and eventually finds a shyster lawyer, Brennan, (Grapewin), who agrees to take the case.OVERVIEW: In the first of his five films with director Henry Hathaway, Power surprised his fans by playing a gangster… Originally titled Dance with the Devil, the film was to have re-teamed Power with Linda Darnell as Lucky DuBarry. But then Zanuck loaned Don Ameche to Paramount in exchange for Dorothy Lamour. Guess who got the better of that deal! COMMENT: The film is so beautifully photographed, it's always a pleasure to watch and it's enacted by one of the greatest and largest casts ever assembled for a film of this type. There are so many excellent cameo portrayals, each making such a positive, unified yet unobtrusively realistic contribution. Power gives an ingratiating and convincing performance in the title role while Nolan is charmingly and fascinatingly reptilian and Charley Grapewin is a stand-out as the alcoholic shyster. Lionel Atwill is exactly right for the part of a lawyer with a double standard, whilst Marc Lawrence looks and acts the part of a cheap hood perfectly.Also seen to advantage in this line-up of principals is Dorothy Lamour, who even has a couple of right-in-the-mood songs, including a little production number with a wow of a chorus. Pleasingly, she is not always photographed from the most flattering angles, so she looks the part as well as she acts it out.However, Edward Arnold is forced to battle valiantly with a role that is not as well-written as the others. It's a key role, but one occasionally has the impression that it's being built up in order to put Arnold on camera for longer than the dramatic potential of his scenes warrants. On TV, the long, boring, extraneous scene in which Power returns home from college and has a long confrontation with his father is usually cut, as there is no essential information in this scene that is not repeated later on. And for all Arnold's mannerisms, Cain is not nearly as interesting a character as Apollo, or Dwyer, or Brennan — or even Lucky.Hathaway makes imaginative use of natural locations (the camera panning up to catch Power looking over the gallery at the railway station and the shot through the glass door framing Power and Atwill — a characteristic Hathaway touch — as they walk to the entrance) and drives the film along at a fast clip. There are also some characteristic touches of violence (Power bringing down Lawrence with a flying tackle; Nolan slapping Lamour around — this sequence was too much for the Australian censor; Brennan's murder in the steam-room, the more chillingly effective for not being shown directly on camera; the climactic prison break).Hathaway's approach is varied. Occasionally he employs long takes, and has an excellent eye for composition in his establishing long shots — sometimes he holds these for most of the sequence, sometimes he breaks them up with medium close-ups. Usually, he eschews reverse angles (though there are a couple of examples in the film) and he can use mirror shots with dramatic effectiveness. In short, his style is admirably varied and shows his usual deftness and skill.In all, this is vintage Henry Hathaway. The best scenes are those filmed on actual locations and the two action scenes (the murder and the prison break). AVAILABLE on an excellent 20th Century Fox DVD.

Sometimes it's best with some films to turn off your brain and just enjoy. You can't think through the plot too much or your head might just explode! This is exactly the sort of film JOHNNY APOLLO is--very entertaining and fun but also with a plot that strains credibility way beyond the breaking point.The film begins with Edward Arnold being arrested for stock fraud. Suddenly, his millions are gone and his son (Tyrone Power) must leave school and fend for himself. In a very odd scene between the two before Arnold is sent to prison, Tyrone expresses disappointment in his father and Arnold responds by disowning him! Considering everything that Arnold had done, his sanctimonious response was perplexing. Despite being disowned, Power did still care about his father. However, he was also shocked to see that Dad's reputation ruined his chance to get a job--as everyone held this against him. Then, after changing his name, his only employer fired him because he DIDN'T acknowledge Arnold as his father! Sometimes you just can't win.Now, without a job AND wanting to earn enough money to hire a shyster lawyer to file an appeal (as responsible ones won't), Tyrone approaches a drunken lawyer who has a history of playing fast and loose with the truth. In the process, he comes to know a notorious hood (Lloyd Nolan) and is soon hired--and he's now on the fast track to be able to afford the lawyer and to "grease the right palms" to get Arnold sprung from jail. Oddly, however, they never really show or talk about Power doing anything especially illegal!Soon after beginning work with Nolan, Power has a reconciliation with Dad when he visits the prison. However, when Arnold learns that his son is working for the underworld, he vows, once again, to have nothing to do with Power. Again, this makes little sense. The first time, he disowns him for not being for accepting of his evil ways and now that Power, too, is a crook the father can't accept him once again! There's a lot more to the plot than this and Power even eventually is imprisoned in the same place as his dad! Along for the ride is Dorothy Lamour as a lounge singer with a heart of gold and Charlie Grapewin (in one of his best roles) as the crooked attorney. All in all the acting (especially Nolan and Arnold) is very good and the film has so many plot elements and twists that it is a decent example of early Film Noir. Entertaining and impossibly improbable--plus it really is a bit hard to believe Power as a mobster.

VHenry Hathaway was a very important director. And the four major performers had long, varyingly impressive careers as well: Tyrone Power was handsome and worked hard. Here is not very believable, though. He plays the son of a superb actor: Edward Arnold. Arnold is a financier who does something crooked and as the story opens gets sent to prison. Power rejects him and starts hanging out with a really bad guy, played by Lloyd Nolan -- was another fine actor. And Dorothy Lamour, always likable and pretty,as always, does well in a role darker than the Road pictures for which is most famous Possibly least believable is everyone's calling Power by the name he's taken on after eschewing his father: the eponymous Johnny Apollo. The police call him this. The gangsters do too. Doesn't it seem a rather unlikely surname to anyone? Doesn't anyone do background checks on his character? It's beautifully filmed and but it's fluffy rather than gritty.

Tyrone is awful in this movie, absolutely without sparkle or charisma. However, Edward Arnold is a delight. His acting and character outshine both Dorothy Lamour who is great and the script which is fairly flat and predictable. Lloyd Nolan is also excellent. What makes it odd is the complete lack of any chemistry between the two leads. Tyrone is totally asexual towards Dorothy and she gives it her sensual best both through song and come-on. I would have liked to have seen Edward and Dorothy make it ! Tyrone redefines wooden in this. It is hard to determine what attracts Dorothy to him. An inflatable doll would have been more animated. Gave it a 7 for Edward.