Johnny Apollo (1940)
8/10
Johnny Apollo - The Best Little Crime Drama You've Never Heard Of
14 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Tyrone Power is Johnny Apollo, or is he? His character's name is Robert Cain, Jr. So how does he become Johnny Apollo?

Edward Arnold, in one of his best performances ever, is Tyrone's father and a stockbroker, who gets in trouble when he embezzles his clients' money. Early on, they have a very heated exchange, and I've never seen Tyrone give such an understated and sincere performance as in that scene and in this whole movie. I was very impressed with Tyrone in this movie and with the movie itself, too. I already knew Edward Arnold was a great character actor before I re-watched this film. (I had not seen this in over 10 years.)

Dorothy Lamour is good, too, but her songs in this movie were really unnecessary. I hate to say anything negative about sweet Dorothy, but she doesn't have much of a singing voice. Or, maybe those songs just got on my nerves. If it weren't for those songs, I'd give this more than an 8.

Back to Ty. He tries to get a job, with his real name. No go! No one will hire him. So, he changes it to something else (not Apollo) and in the process gets fired for lying about it. By the by, he meets Lloyd Nolan who is an ex-con who makes him wise to getting ahead.

Feeling somewhat poetic and/or allegorical in the process, this is probably "the best little crime drama you've never heard of," and has somehow fallen between the cracks and been overshadowed by more classic film noirs. Discover "Johnny Apollo" today.
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