Review of Johnny Cool (1963) by Kevin R — 15 Feb 2014
Delightfully tawdry early 60s crime drama staring Henry Silva and Elizabeth Montgomery in a pre-Bewitched role. The story is about a deported gangster living in Sicily training an Italian convict, Silva, to take over his US operations.
Silva then proceeded to violently dismantle the US mob operations his mentor had stolen from him. The film has the same sort of trashy appeal as Mamie Van Doren's "Guns, Girls, and Gangsters," except this film is slickly made by director William Asher, who I mostly associate with the vastly different Beach Party films, and has a strong supporting cast of character actors, including Richard Anderson, Jim Backus, Joey Bishop, Brad Dexter, Mort Sahl, Telly Savalas, Sammy Davis Jr.
Elisha Cook Jr. and Joe Turkel. There's even a jazzy Bill May score to boot. Best of all is seeing the gorgeous Elizabeth Montgomery playing Dare Guinness, a beautifulshowgirl-type, miles away from the wholesome image she crafted as Samantha on "Bewitched.
" Tough, violent and sexy, this film plays like a very entertaining Roger Corman ripoff of a "Point Blank." Well worth watching for 60s crime film fans.
This review of Johnny Cool (1963) was written by Kevin R on 15 Feb 2014.
Johnny Cool has generally received mixed reviews.
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