“Johnny O’Clock? That’s a funny kind of name.”

It’s also a funny kind of movie as well as the pseudonym/nickname of Dick Powell’s character. He’s a professional gambler but claims not to gamble. He’s really a professional smart ass, which gives Johnny O’Clock much of its charm.

There’s a raging battle among noiristas as to what makes a movie film noir. Some insist that a femme fatale is mandatory and that it must be serious and end tragically. I take a broader view as to what constitutes films noir. In the immortal words of the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it.”

Johnny O’Clock *is* film noir or as I say in the title, snark noir. It’s funny but checks the femme fatale box with Ellen Drew who is married to Dick Powell’s partner in casino crime played by the fine character actor Thomas Gomez. Those three make up Johnny O’Clock’s main triangle.

Ellen Drew looks great in that blurry screen shot, but it’s not Thomas Gomez’s best side. Here’s a shadowy shot of the two disgruntled partners:

Playing the title character allowed Dick Powell to combine his musical comedy chops with his post Murder My Sweet sardonic tough guy persona. Johnny O’Clock never met a wisecrack he didn’t love or make.

The plot is relatively straightforward. A young woman played by Nina Foch is murdered because she knows too much about the doings of a corrupt cop, Powell is a suspect. Her big sister played by Evelyn Keyes is determined to uncover the perpetrator. In pursuit of her sister’s killer, she’s helped by Lee J. Cobb playing a gruff homicide detective named Koch, which leads to this exchange with Dick Powell:

• Inspector Koch: Koch is my name.
• Johnny O’Clock: How do you spell it: C-O-P?

More Cobb-Powell banter followed by a picture:

• Inspector Koch: It says in my book that any confession obtained by so-called ‘third degree’ methods is not admissible in court.
• Johnny O’Clock: It’s nice to know you can read.

How about some snappy patter between Powell and a crying Evelyn Keyes as Nancy Hobbs?

• Nancy Hobbs: What do I do now, Johnny?
• Johnny O’Clock: Dry your eyes and blow your nose in the order named

I told you he was a smart ass. It’s why I identify with the character of Johnny O’Clock even if it’s a funny kind of name.

Robert Rossen’s script makes us jump through a series of plot hoops but what really matters are the ambience, characters, snappy patter, and Dick Powell’s charismatic star performance.

In the end, several of the characters end up dead including Thomas Gomez. Dick Powell is quite rightly suspected of killing him, but it was self-defense, which allows Johnny O’Clock to ride off into the sunset with the gorgeous Evelyn Keyes.

That’s all the plot I’m willing to share. This feature is called Pulp Fiction, not pulp spoilers, after all.

The acting is terrific. Evelyn Keyes should have been a major star instead of being remembered as Scarlett O’Hara’s Younger Sister, the title of her excellent memoir. Dick Powell is suave, funny, and somewhat inscrutable as the title character.

The supporting players are just as good. Thomas Gomez is cranky, Ellen Drew is slinky, and Lee J. Cobb is stellar as the tough but fair cop. There’s also a swell turn by John Kellogg as Powell’s treacherous sidekick, Charlie. He has one of the best lines in the movie spoken while pointing a gun at the star: “You’re dead. Lie down.”

Director Robert Rossen wrote the witty script from a story by associate producer Milton Holmes. Rossen would go on to direct such classics as Body and Soul, All The King’s Men, and The Hustler.

Veteran cinematographer, Bernard Guffey, stuck the landing with some shadowy shots that left me exclaiming: How noir is that? Guffey went on to win Oscars for From Here To Eternity and Bonnie and Clyde, two of my favorite films. That’s no guff…

Grading Time: I give Johnny O’Clock 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B+. It’s snark noir at its sardonic best. It’s streaming at TCM.com and on the TCM app. Johnny O’Clock can also be found in several iterations on YouTube.

Ready to see the posters? Good. You have no choice.

We begin with a side-by-side of two long sheet variations, one green, the other yellow, both with a clock.

I love that Dick Owell. Is he Irish?

It’s quad time. The tagline is cute but wrong: Johnny *did* tangle with women. One could even say he was tangled up in babes.

All this clock talk reminds me that there’s still time to sneak in a snack before the sneak preview. Let’s join the second line and parade to the lobby:

That was refreshing.

Let’s case the lobby cards. The first one is in black and white and features Dick Powell and his nemesis, Lee J. Cobb: Everyone in this movie smokes.

I told you everyone in this movie smoked:

Let’s exit the smoke-filled lobby and enter the smoky trailer:

Am I alone in thinking Johnny O’Clock would be an excellent cat name? Let’s confer with noted cat person Eddie Muller. He gets the last word with his Noir Alley intro and outro: