Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

shakspryn Lots of good film noir motifs here! Plus we get a lot of mystery to follow on a foggy, deserted ship--or is it deserted? Eerie opening sequence sets the story up very well. George Raft is a strong presence and a good hero. He didn't have the acting range and depth of Humphrey Bogart--had Bogart been in this film, it would be one of the most famous film noirs, hands down. As it is--it's still excellent. Fine black and white cinematography, and the dvd print is sharp. Rich in 1940's atmosphere. Recommended.

bkoganbing For those of you who see this title and expect a film built around Shelley Fabares big teen idol hit from the early Sixties, skip this one by. If you're looking for an above average noir film with a World War II background than don't miss Johnny Angel.It was with this film that George Raft entered his B picture noir period of his career. His films vary in quality from now on. Any A films he would be in from this point on were strictly in support of other players most famously in Some Like It Hot.Raft is a sea captain who is out searching and finds a derelict freighter commanded by his father J. Farrell MacDonald. When he tows it into the port of New Orleans a stowaway played by Signe Hasso gets off. Raft of course trails her, but there are some other people after her as well, people who might be able to tell Raft what happened to his father and the rest of the crew.Hasso was the custodian of five million dollars in gold that the Free French have smuggled out of Vichy from Casablanca. Of course that's what is involved in the disappearance of the crew. Claire Trevor is back as a femme fatale, repeating essentially the part she had in Murder My Sweet. In this she's a two timing dame, married to mother dominated Marvin Miller, the owner of the freight line where Raft and MacDonald work. One look at her and you know she's up to no good.And of course the film is graced by the presence of Hoagy Carmichael who contributes his piano and a song to the proceedings.All in all, not a bad way for Raft to begin this new portion of his career.

Chris Hansen Johnny Angel was a movie that gripped me early and tightly, but when all is said and done left me wanting a bit more.The characters are first rate: George Raft is plays your trademark noir good guy with rough edges leading role and does so very nicely. Claire Trevor plays a calculating woman with a heart of ice that only Johnny can melt. Both give very strong performances; I felt that they could have used some more development, but I almost always do with these types of movies. Hoagy Carmichael is a first rate supporting character in Celestial O'Brien, a quirky, musical taxi driver. He is right up there with my all-time favorite secondary characters. The rest of the cast is decent, not nearly as strong as the above three, but not weak enough either to really detract from the movie.The overall feel of the movie is superb. The cinematography is generally dark and gritty (as is typical in the genre) and really draws you into the scenes and gets you emotionally involved. The scene where Johnny is searching the ship by himself was especially excellent, it had me on edge the whole time. The director, Marin, really did a first-rate job on the film, and it's worth watching just for the acting and the direction.The story had good points and bad points. The basic plot line is quite good and fairly fresh, considering the usual formulaic plots noir often gives you (not that I mind terribly). Other comments will give you the basic plot outline, so I'll skip it, but let me say that it is, at first anyways, even more interesting than you might think. The problem is, the movie doesn't quite flesh out all of the aspects of it and leaves several loose ends and plot holes. It's really exasperating, and almost made me rate the movie even lower, but I won't spoil the plot here by mentioning the specific holes. It's hard for me to fathom why the movie starts out so strongly and then ends so sloppily! I believe it was based on a play, so perhaps the play script got a bit mangled as they tried to fit it into the feature film/noir mold, or there were budget problems. It is a rather short movie, they certainly had time for more plot and character development.But, all that aside, it is a very solid film that is well acted and directed. Even if though the thought of what it could have been is frustrating at times, the plot still never fails to keep you interested for the length of the film. It probably won't go in my collection, but I would still recommend it to anyone who likes classic movies or noirs to give it a watch.

Cajun-4 Shades of the "Mary Celeste" as a seemingly deserted ship looms out of the mist off the coast of New Orleans. It's boarded by George Raft whose father was it's captain. Raft (more animated than usual} uncovers a complex plot. The colorful New Orleans backgrounds and good performances make this an above average noir film. Claire Trevor is excellent as a double crossing blonde and Hoagy Carmichael plays to type as a ubiquitous taxi driver and sings "Memphis In June". All very nicely put together.