Johnny Cool (1963)

Johnny Cool is a real revelation. that it was produced by Peter Lawford, and directed by a William Asher, whose Beach Party movies seemed to celebrate American life as this film condemns it. It also may seem stranger when one sees the people who participated in it, some in only cameos, like Sammy Davis Junior, or Joey Bishop. However, when you consider that Vitoria De Sica, who had once been considered the Cary Grant of Italian films, you may realize, that some of these people who we looked at as entertainers, may have also had ambitions to create art. Johnny Cool is art.Many have commented that it is similar to Point Blank. This is true in many ways,however, another film that no one seems to have mentioned that has also some connection to, I think is John Frankenheimers Seconds. Those who have seen Seconds I think will know what I mean.Whereas Johnny Cool came out in 63, Seconds and Point Blank came out in 66 and 67. Silva I think was so good in this film as Jonny Cool, that he was encouraged to come to Europe to become a film star their. However, the only film that I think of his European films that matches Johnny Cool at this time as a good film is 'Hail Mafia, that he would make some 2 to three years later with Jack Klugman and Eddie Constantine. Johnny Cool I think also bears resemblances to Machine Gun McCain with John Casavetes, which has a theme Song Similar to John Cools by Sammy Davis Junior. he last killing of Johnny Cool in this film also reminds me somewhat of Seijun Suzuki's 'Branded to Kill', and has some similarities for me to another dark Japanese crime film of the time, 'Blackmail Is My Business.' When we see Johnny Cool, first he is a young Italian boy in Sicily who has just saved his Mother, but it will be to no avail, as she is killed right after wards, and perhaps foreshadows Silva's character's failure at the end of the film. As a young boy, he will meet right after wards Salvatore Gulliano, a real life person who would lead a Sicilian resistance movement. The inclusion of Guilliano is interesting, in that though he was apparently killed in 1950, their was a belief by some that his death was faked, and that he would end up in the US. In this way Johnny Cool runs with this premise, and suggests what might have been of Guilianno in America.That also, the first scenes we see of Silva, as his real person in the mountains of Sicily, will remind one of Neo Realism with its black and white photography. Also, does not Silva as that person not remind one of Fidel Castro, with his beard.Though this is in Sicliy, one cannot help in these scenes to feel that their is some Latin American feel. The people in the village seem more down to earth people, than the ones we will see in America.Also here, Richard Anderson as the American Correspondent, asks Silva's character about having once fought with the Americans, to which Silva's character replies that a man fights for himself. This gives the implications that the Silva character at this time may be fighting against the Americans. When he says, from the Germans we got these guns, holding a machine gun, one can't help but feel some present equation between the Germans of the 40's, to the Americans of the 60's, as they were aiding totalitarian regimes against the communists.When we jump to America, we will be introduced to a very sinister and unpleasant America. Perhaps this film would have had a bigger box office (I don't know what that was) had it been filmed in Color. This is however one film that benefits artistically with black and white, especially when one goes to LA and Las Vegas. With its black and white photography, one does not get a feeling of beauty, but instead a dreary feeling, especially during a swimming pool scene, that might have looked too beautiful in color. Also surprising to me, Las Vegas when one considers the participation of Davis, Lawford, and Bishop, is not shown as a place one should really want to go to, as perhaps the earlier Rat Pack film Oceans 11 did. One gets the feeling that this town is really the place of losers, and people who can't really pay their bills.Elizabeth Montgomery, as the love interest of Silva, is presented as I think the mixed up, naive American. She is drawn to his tough guy persona. However she will bring destruction to him, even though one should consider that he has saved her life from possibly a similar fate that he will have. First, after killing Mort Sahl's character, he will have plans to leave and abandon what he is doing. However, she will sadly convince him to continue. The next two victims that he does in we will have no sympathy for, so we continue to root for him. However, she betrays him stupidly when she realizes two children of one of his victims could have been killed. Instead of calling the police, she will out of her own cowardliness, because she is guilty as an accessory to murder, call the very criminals he has been fighting against. In many ways, her character, represents 'the common American' of the time, just before American involvement in Viet Nam, unaware that even in wars sanctioned by the US, innocent children could get killed, or not have really thought about that. A very dark, disturbing view of Americana, from people you would not expect from. Get a load of one of the law enforcement people, with his glasses, one dark, one regular. What is the meaning behind that. I wanted to writer more, but with only a 1000 limit, could not.

Perhaps this movie is not as realistic or well known as "The Godfather" saga, but I consider it as the most cruel, fierce and interesting film made about the mafia. Henry Silva also gives us perhaps the best performance of his career. A cold, ambitious, ruthless and mechanical killer. Really a vicious, brutal, sadistic but unusual vision of the underworld . And about the end, let me invite you to discover it. You'll never forget it.Note that William Asher, the director, has never shot any better movies since. Only "beach" ones.But that's another story...

This movie doesn't seem to be well known, beyond devoted gangster movie fans. It's a small, black and white thriller, about two or three days in the life of a ruthless contract killer, sent from Italy to America to seek revenge,and demand tribute on behalf of a deported Mafioso. He becomes involved with a thrill seeking society woman, who aids him in his crimes. Whether their unusual relationship can be considered a love affair in any normal sense ,is open to interpretation.The movie was considered quite violent in its day, and still has some pretty nasty action, by implication. It's fast moving, and unpredictable, with an oddly charismatic performance by Henry Silva in the title role. Elizabeth Montgomery's character is a little under developed, but she makes a memorable impression nonetheless. A lot of the cast is made up of familiar faces, some in very odd roles. Jim Backus as a jovial, crooked contractor, John McGiver as a grumpy casino manager, Sammy Davis Jr. as a nervous gambler, all help to make the atmosphere of this picture a mix of humor and ambiguity. More traditional hoodlum roles are played by Marc Lawrence and Telly Savalas, with such crime movie reliables as sleazy Joe Turkel and creepy Elisha Cook, Jr appearing as various mobsters and hangers on.The movie isn't quite like anything I've ever seen. It's hard to define what it is that gives this picture its unique atmosphere, but it makes for a fascinating, if unnerving viewing experience. This is well worth the effort, if you can manage to find it on cable, or home video.

Johnny Cool moves along at a bloody and violent pace. The bad guys are complex and heroic deeds few and far between. Dare's self-revelation about the innocence of her 'dolce vita' friends and the corruption and the prevalence of the underworld is almost understated. 40 years since the film was made, it still intoxicatingly drags the viewer back to a simpler albeit vicious time. The acting is almost uniformly true. Henry Silva is powerful and Elizabeth Montgomery is as sexy as the times would allow.It has some funny moments including Joey Bishop as a very verbal used car salesmanThe murders are mostly quick and effective. Some are sloppy and brutal the way you know they must be in real life.Every moment of this film is a hard little gem. Why films like this are so elusive escapes me.