User reviews

George Raft made a conscious decision to play ethical central characters--tough on his pocketbook, perhaps, but doing what was necessary. He turned down parts that others made successful in the popular sense; but "Johnny Allegro" was worth making, as "High Sierra" was not, not as "fiction". And this was a man who had scene first hand the negative influence gangsters could have on lives. In this case, Raft agreed to play a character well within his somewhat-limited range. Johnny Allegro is no saint, no genius. But he is a man willing to do the right thing to square himself with the law, and help the police investigate an "untouchable", a Mr. Big brilliant played by George Macready. Ted Tetzlaff directed this interesting mission film, with his usual skill, from a script by Karen de Wolf, Gene Endore and James Edward Grant. The idea is that Macready smuggles men to a remote Caribbean island, men who need to escape the law, and they then serve his criminal organization loyally because they must. Johnny's police pals set him up as a man on the lam for having killed a policeman to make his escape, all faked; then he is able to join another escapee and find his way to the island through the villain's usual channels. Then he falls in love with someone Macready, the usual Renaissance man and intellectual villainized in US films--holds as his prize possession--lovely Nina Foch, his wife. Investigating the island to which he has been spirited, he finds a way to call in the cops and cover his actions. But then he and Foch must escape Macready and his bow and arrow--with which he kills the disloyal in his empire...The film is attractive in B/W but not stylish; yet the cast is above average. other players include Will Geer as Raft's boss who believes in him,, Thomas Browne Henry as his boss who does not, Gloria Henry, Ivan Triesault, Harry Antrim, Bill Phillips, and many others. George Duning wrote the fine music and Frank Tuttle did the elaborate set decorations. The other element in the film is the noir mission sense of being beyond help, and the growing romance between Raft and the brilliant Nina Foch, who for once is given a sympathetic part in a film. This is a well- paced, interesting and well-mounted "B" effort; and one that bears repeated watching for its mystery, its situation-derived characters and the under-theme of loyalty which is interestingly examined. Above average.

Johnny Allegro has George Raft in the title role as an ex-con trying to go straight. Under an alias he's living life as a hotel florist, but manages to get himself involved with the beautiful Nina Foch and get himself framed for a cop killing.

Foch is slightly married to the epicene George MacReady whom the Feds want to nab real bad. It's not just his elaborate counterfeiting operation that they want to shut down. MacReady is being financed by the Soviet Union and he's got quite a setup in distributing counterfeit and raking off a big bundle from his Soviet handler Ivan Triesault. MacReady and Foch live in fine style on an unknown Caribbean island that the Feds would like to know the location of to bust MacReady and his operation. In the end MacReady proves too much for his Soviet bosses.

Not so with Raft and his contact Will Geer who plays a Treasury agent. Geer in many spots steals the film from the leads with a nice laconic performance, not unlike his Wyatt Earp in Winchester 73.

Johnny Allegro is typical of the action/noir type films that Raft was doing at this point in his career. Soon he'd be working for Poverty Row Lippert films and Johnny Allegro from Columbia's B picture unit looked like Citizen Kane next to their stuff.

Fans of George Raft will be pleased. Especially with that ending borrowed from The Most Dangerous Game.

Good crime/gangster film which, as Leonard Maltin notes, has similar elements to 'The Most Dangerous Game' throughout much of its second half.

George Raft plays the title character, a reformed hoodlum, who now runs a florist shop (!!) in a hotel. He encounters a mysterious blonde, of the femme fatale variety, and winds up involved in a counterfeiting operation. Most of the action then takes place on an island off Florida where the womens husband is a tall, blonde master-criminal who enjoys hunting with a bow and arrow.

Everything here is above average and the film comes together in all areas very well. The interplay between Allegro and the evil, sophisticated Morgan Vallin, is similar to many a James Bond film with mutual distrust and respect between the two antagonists.

With good performances all round, a brisk plot and the inventiveness of the storyline, 'Johnny Allegro' is well worth watching for B-movie fans. The director was better known as a cinematographer, and his obvious skills are shown to good effect.

George Raft is "Johnny Allegro" in this 1949 B movie also starring Nina Foch, Will Geer, and George Macready. Raft plays a florist who is in actuality an escaped prisoner in hiding; he's approached by treasury agent Geer to clear his record by getting cozy with a woman he just met (Foch). Her husband (Macready) is distributing counterfeit (and ripping off his Soviet boss). They live on an island in the Caribbean. While she's trying to get out of town and away from the Feds, Raft kills a police officer to help her. Then he insists that she take him along or he'll be captured. This sets him up with her suspicious husband (McCready).

Not bad; the ending is reminiscent of "The Most Dangerous Game." George Raft couldn't act, but for someone who played gangsters so much, he had a warmth and a smoothness. By 1949, some of his gravitas had gone, but he was still pleasant to watch. When I was growing up, Nina Foch was playing skinny socialites on TV. It's always nice to see her as a young leading woman. Will Geer as the treasury agent is delightful, very laid back.

You might want to see this for the cast.

Johnny Allegro (George Raft) is a florist in Los Angeles with a dark secret. Femme fatale Glenda Chapman (Nina Foch) gets him to help elude the police. Treasury Department agents blackmail him into going undercover to discover her secret plot.

Setting up the plot is a little bit wonky and a little rushed. Raft does fine but this cannot rise above its B-movie nature. There is also an element of James Bond villainy and trying to be high class style. I sorta expected Allegro to order a martini although Raft is definitely no Bond. The movie is trying to be a few things at the same time but it falls a little flat. The tension is never raised that high. The bow and arrow is probably the definition of that. It's a little odd but it's not intense. It's also a little camp like summer camp. I'm giving this a passing grade.

This enjoyable low budget Film Noir thriller is straight forward with no twists.

Of the countless tough guy melodramas that featured George Raft in the late '40s and early '50s, this slick Columbia production ranks a notch or two above most. Raft plays a gangster escaped from prison who is recruited by the Treasury Department to help them land a gang of counterfeiters.

It's not so much the plot that demands attention here as it is Columbia's effort to superficially remind its audience of one of its biggest hits of a few years before, Gilda. This is to the extent of casting George Macready as the cultured head of the counterfeiters. (You know he's cultured because he listens to classical music). He also prefers the use of a bow and arrow (a man's weapon) over that of a gun. Ballin in Gilda is now called Vallin.

His wife, whom Allegro desires, of course, is played by a sophisticated Nina Foch. Her character's name? Glenda. Not quite Gilda, but close enough. And then, of course, there are the leading men in the two films, both named Johnny.

With that bow and arrow fetish of Macready the audiences knows, too, that it probably won't be long before another variation of The Most Dangerous Game gets played out. Macready is fun to watch, even if there is a feeling of having seen much of this same act before. Raft is Raft. Did ever a block of wood dress better? And Nina Foch, well, she'll never replace the memory of Hayworth's vamp.

A decade before TV brought us Johnny Staccato, Columbia Pictures presented Johnny Allegro, a florist with a concession in a fancy hotel who gets wrapped up in a police manhunt.

We start with what appears to be a typical Hitchcock setup: an innocent man gets drawn into peril thanks to a leggy blonde. But is Allegro truly as innocent as he appears? Not in the eyes of "Schultzy" the cop (played convincingly by Will Geer, almost unrecognizable to those of us who only remember him as "Grandpa Walton").

So now we have a new plot developing: a crook infiltrating another crook's operation in order to clear his name with the police. He ends up in a swanky manor on a secluded Florida island, trying to track down some counterfeit money that could ruin the US economy.

And finally, we end up with a finale that steals a page or two from "The Most Dangerous Game," as Raft is hunted across the island by a foe with a bow.

In my opinion, Raft was too old for this role, and not terribly convincing as an action figure. The plot seems like a jigsaw puzzle made from three different boxes that don't quite match, and there's nothing outstanding about the visual aspect of the picture. It's got some good moments (mostly thanks to Geer and Foch) but overall it's not satisfying. More like Johnny Andante, not quite up to speed.

Columbia was known for often having tighter budgets than the other major studios, but this is a worthy effort. One good point is that they use plenty of exteriors, especially with motor boats and on the mysterious island where most of the story takes place.

Raft, Foch and Macready all are very good. The feeling of this movie is much like that of "Key Largo", which was around the same time.

The pacing of the film is enjoyable, and there are no slow stretches. There is a lot of character development for viewers to appreciate. The villain of the story would be worthy of a James Bond movie! The front door to his mansion is the biggest front door I've ever seen, worthy of a castle. Take special notice of the villain's huge library room--it's a virtuoso display of imaginative and evocative set decoration. The designer had a lot of fun with that!

The movie is a fine example of late 1940's film noir. Raft gives a thoughtful, understated performance. Foch is sultry. Well worth seeing.

I know the '49 film "Johnny Allegro" was late in George Raft's career and he was at or near age 54 when he did this picture in Los Angeles, but since the film is in black and white it also hides a lot of aged looks on an actor's face, etc..... However, "Johnny Allegro" is still one of his better starring efforts.....

Odd as it seems, George Raft is one of my top classic gangster figures from the golden age of Hollywood. However, I must admit, George Raft was usually better when he was the supporting actor and not so much as the lead.. I guess the reason is, as a supporter in a film, George Raft had the opportunity of working with guys like James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Paul Muni and Humphrey Bogart... Even if the script was below par, with the aide of an all-star cast it often can lift a poor film up a bit because of the cast of actors appearing in the scenes together.... I noticed that when George Raft was the lead actor, he often was forced to carry the film alone and was working with good but "Lesser" actors who weren't as popular with film viewer's.... Thus, those type of films get reduced to "B" quality.....

I guess that George Raft's peak years in Hollywood was more than likely between 1938 to 1945...... By '45 George Raft was age 50 and fully wearing some upper hair-piece to cover the horse shoe.... Cheers to George Raft....

MR.BILL Raleigh

Ted Tetzlaff is probably better remembered as a high quality cinematographer than as a high quality director but, in truth, he does a good job of JOHNNY ALLEGRO and to that end he is not shy to serve a finale reminiscent of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, the 1932 film featuring Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks as the evil Count Zaroff.

Getting two Georges into the thick of the action was a master stroke. Although Joel McCrea would never make the top shelf in terms of acting, he was a far better actor than the rather limited George Raft. In contrast, George Macready certainly matches the evil inherent in Leslie Banks' portrayal of Count Zaroff.

Somehow, though, the two Georges make credible foes, even if Raft is replaced by a much larger double/stuntman in a fight against watchful Roy, played by the almost lineless, quietly menacing William Phillips.

Last but not least, the still deliciously beautiful Nina Foch at age 41 declaring her love for lucky Raft, who is trying to come straight after doing time as a hoodlum, and so keeps running to a boat belonging to Vallin (Macready) with a ship to shore phone that allows him to keep police detective Will Geer informed about what Vallin is cooking up on his lush but deadly island

I enjoyed JOHNNY ALLEGRO, not least because at 81 minutes long it still allowed me time to do other stuff. Good cinematography by Joseph Biroc and editing by Jerome Thoms, plus a gripping script by Karen Dewolf and Guy Endore, the shameless borrowing of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME finale notwithstanding. 7/10.

Another one of those that is Forced into the Film-Noir Genre and yet Another "Johnny" Crime Movie.

It's a Story about an X-Con Trying to make Amends. The Government is Involved in a Counterfeit Scheme by Foreign Enemies to Weaken America's Economy.

A Fine Production with Sprawling Locations, some Good Sets, and a Villain's Villain George MaCready Playing a Character Named Vallin.

Nina Foch is Not a Beauty's Beauty but is Beautiful Enough to Attract the Dead-Panned George Raft in yet Another Dull Static Performance.

The Film Looks Great but is Hardly Noir and MaCready's Weapon of Choice (a bow and arrow) is just Awkward. Meant to be Eccentric but comes off as Silly.

Worth a Watch for the Overall but Nothing Special.

An ex-gangster (Raft), now a florist, is hired by a federal agent to go undercover and keep tabs on Nina Foch, and after a nifty set-up, Nina takes him to an island where her crime lord husband (Macready), who enjoys hunting humans for sport, playing with his bow and arrow, revelling in the comforts of his room regaled with trophies, and relaxes to classical music, reigns supreme. Cautiously he integrates Raft into his crime ring, and Raft has the tenuous task to get enough info to get Macready arrested.

One of my fave Raft thrillers, Johnny Allegro goes at a nippy pace, is thoroughly engaging, and the ending -a la the most Dangerous Game - is a tense one. Stone-faced tough guy Raft is his usual reliable self, delivering wry quips, countering Macready's sanctimonious and snobby commentary. But Macready, a scene stealer as the bow and arrow-toting villain, has some good lines ("But your type never changes. Just looking at you makes one think of alley fighting, tommy guns."). Just love his voice, has enough menace to shame a rattler. The beautiful Nina Foch is very good as his wife. Highly enjoyable Raft thriller.

This is one more more or less MOST DANGEROUS GAME rip-off, where the main interest is for me the face off between George Raft and George Mcready, the two most notorious villains of those days; I am not sure they played together before or after. Maybe I am wrong.... This is one good film from director Tetzlaff, a good noir adventure movie, but unfortunately too predictable for my taste. Forget it if you wish to really enjoy this movie, focus on the directing and this splendid cast: Mcready - Raft. It is not a wide known feature, such a shame, because it is worth watching, no matter my own taste concerning the ending for instance. Excellent little gem.