Johnny Apollo (1940)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Good movie but grossly overrated

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

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

The most interesting part of this film is the complicated relationship between the father and the son and how it develops, the father being a widower of an only son without a mother, spoiled as the father is a millionaire and a business man without scruples, which leads him into trouble as he gets dishonoured and jailed for embezzlement, while the son, heretoforth completely honest, is ruined with his father, sees the injustice of his father's treatment and finds his only means to get him exonerated by turning to elements evading the law. Enter Dorothy Lamour who gets him involved, as she is already involved with those alternative elements. It's a great noir, the story is fascinating, the characters never cease to develop, the action is constantly moving forward, and no one can guess what will become of all this confusion of right and wrong, justice and injustice, seeing what is wrong and turning a blind eye to it as it seems right to do wrong, and so on.Edward Arnold is the great character who somewhat overshadows Tyrone Power, but the character that most will stick in your mind is the old pettifogger, Charley Grapewin as Judge Brennan, who quotes Shakespeare and cuts the only truly tragic character. The final scene somewhat spoils the drama, it would have been better without it, but up to that point it's one of the major and most intriguing noirs - and one of the first.

Definitely one of the best gangster movies ever made. As the alcoholic attorney, Charley Grapewin, so memorable as Uncle Henry in "Wizard of Oz," Dorothy Lamour's complete change of pace from the 'Road' pictures to a moll, Edward Arnold, as the father who did wrong and Lloyd Nolan, as a slick gangster, make for an outstanding picture.When Arnold, a stockbroker, goes off to prison for embezzlement, his son, an able Tyrone Power, gets involved with gangsters in order to get his father out on parole. It is a terrific plot with those phenomenal performances. Lamour so aptly sings Beginning of the End. How appropriate that was.A grand story dealing with high collar crime and thugs in general. Interesting to note the deals that can be worked out. The best deal is to capture this worthy 1940 film.

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.