Johnny Cool a Rat Pack adjacent crime noir movie from 1963. This was my choice (Jayson). Therefore, planning ahead, I stopped at Banger Brewing in downtown Las Vegas and picked El Heffe, their Jalapeno Hefeweizen, as the beer to drink while we pontificated on everything from Sammy Cahn to the religious underpinnings of the movie.
The movie was directed by William Asher who was married to Elizabeth Montgomery are the time. Both of us indicated, we had crushes on ‘Samantha Stephens’ while growing up. Who didn’t?
The movie is based on The Kingdom of Johnny Cool a book by John McPartland published 1959.
The movie starts during WWII in Sicily. Operation Husky, the code-name for the invasion of Sicily, began on July 10, 1943. The young Salvatore Giordano has a brutal beginning and joins the resistance lead by Salvatore Giuliano, a historic bandit figure.
Michael brings up Pygmalion and Eliza Doolittle in regard to how Salvatore Giordano is transformed into Johnny Cool. We discussed what Johnnny Colini (Marc Lawrence) taught Salvatore during his two years becoming the angel of vengeance for this exiled syndicate leader. Our list includes: cameras mechanics, how to make a suitcase bomb, attaché/briefcase 101, and advanced disguises.
Johnny Cool is played by Henry Silva. We are both fans.
I kept track of the drinks ordered by Johnny during he movie:
• Sidecar with imported Brandy and make it ½ sour
• Whiskey and Water
• Martini
• Champagne
The cast is fantastic from Jim Backus to Mort Sahl. Worth watching just to see these people.
We are puzzled by the intricate schemes that Johnny Cool develops to kill of Colini’s adversaries. They seem overly complicated. In addition, the syndicate on one hand is so powerful, they’re able to connect Dare Guiness and Johnny within in hours, but they couldn’t figure out he didn’t have an army.
Michael does not care for the theme song The Ballad of Johnny Cool sung by Sammy Davis Jr. I kind of digged it.
Michael and I are going to need to take a class on the game Craps.
Another perplexing part of the movie is the timing of events, the movie seems to take place over 3 days, but Johnny does a lot, and I mean a lot, of bicoastal travel. I’m assuming during his Eliza Doolittleing under Colini’s tutelage, he learned to overcome jet lag.
There are several comic interludes that cracked us up: from Joey Bishop as a used car salesman to Henry Hank as a tour bus driver to Jim Backus slowly descending into Mr. Magoo.
We discussed the movie in terms of underlying conspiracy theories, religious connotations, and class. Yes, sometimes we get deep. I even mentioned Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
We both recommend the movie and definitely track down El Heffe from Bangers Brewing.
Intro music for this episode is a mix of (1) Turn on The Funk (Story Blocks Audio subscription), (2) sample 1961’s The Phantom Planet [in the public domain], and (3) sample 1968’s Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women [in the public domain]. Outro music Vintage Background Jazz Atmosphere by Volodymyr Piddubnyk (Story Blocks Audio subscription).
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