IMDb RATING
7.0/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
The step-daughter of a district attorney falls in love with a gangster on parole who her father originally imprisoned.The step-daughter of a district attorney falls in love with a gangster on parole who her father originally imprisoned.The step-daughter of a district attorney falls in love with a gangster on parole who her father originally imprisoned.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 1 win total
Joe Downing
- Ryan
- (as Joseph Downing)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRobert Taylor fell in love with Lana Turner on the set of the film and asked his wife Barbara Stanwyck for a divorce, although Turner was not in love with him and tried to discourage him from doing so.
- GoofsJohnny Eager is posing as a cab driver and talks to his parole officer about missing the old ways and his fancy clothes, etc. Then several times he changes his cabby jacket and tie only to switch back to his gangster persona. He doesn't change his shoes, pants or the shirts he is wearing that have very fancy cuff links which makes the disguise less plausible.
- Quotes
Johnny Eager: Oh, now don't turn ordinary on me. I get tired of ordinary dames. And I don't want to get tired of you.
- ConnectionsEdited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
- SoundtracksMelancholy
(1911) (uncredited)
(Also known as "Melancholy Baby" and "My Melancholy Baby")
Music by Ernie Burnett
Played during the opening and closing credits
Played as dance music by the band at Tony Luce's place
Played as background music often
Featured review
Eager's good look goes beyond its stars.
Robert Taylor doesn't ace every scene but he gives a more than credible performance as Johnny Eager, an inventive pragmatic and violent when called for gangster trying to open a legit dog track from behind the scenes. In order to avoid being a parole violator Eager pretends to drive a cab while he masterminds the track deal paying off cops and officials to smooth things. Some officials can't be bought however and a judge (Edward Arnold) with a deep seeded resentment of Eager whom he refers to as "Thief" and humiliates blocks his license. The coldly practical Eager circumvents the problem by compromising the judge's daughter (Lana Turner) but loses his balance on the tightrope he's walking when he falls hard for her dame.
Eager has a crisper look than most noirs and director Mervyn LeRoy deftly handles the storyline and avoids run of the mill by injecting minor but telling incidentals that indicate Johnny's slow transformation. Suspense scenes are well edited and mise en scene is busy and filled with pertinent detail.
While Bogart might seem an apt choice to play Eager I doubt he could have played it with the same nervous authoritative energy or insecurity Taylor does here. Most of all he lacks Taylor's good looks which are crucial to romancing Lana Turner. The glamorous Ms. Turner is at first a little hard to believe as a student studying social work but she does acquit herself well in some powerfully dramatic scenes with Taylor. Paul Stewart, Glenda Farrell and Edward Arnold chip in fine supporting performances while Van Heflin delivers a magnificent one. Heflin as Eager's alcoholic sidekick and pickled conscience is not only effectively moving but also lends a droll sense of wit to the film with his sardonic observations.
Eager has a crisper look than most noirs and director Mervyn LeRoy deftly handles the storyline and avoids run of the mill by injecting minor but telling incidentals that indicate Johnny's slow transformation. Suspense scenes are well edited and mise en scene is busy and filled with pertinent detail.
While Bogart might seem an apt choice to play Eager I doubt he could have played it with the same nervous authoritative energy or insecurity Taylor does here. Most of all he lacks Taylor's good looks which are crucial to romancing Lana Turner. The glamorous Ms. Turner is at first a little hard to believe as a student studying social work but she does acquit herself well in some powerfully dramatic scenes with Taylor. Paul Stewart, Glenda Farrell and Edward Arnold chip in fine supporting performances while Van Heflin delivers a magnificent one. Heflin as Eager's alcoholic sidekick and pickled conscience is not only effectively moving but also lends a droll sense of wit to the film with his sardonic observations.
helpful•222
- st-shot
- Nov 25, 2009
- How long is Johnny Eager?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Der Tote lebt
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $651,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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