Johnny Cool Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Johnny Cool Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 5, 2020

James (Jimmy) Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn may not have the general name recognition that some of their contemporaries like Rodgers and Hammerstein or even Mancini and Mercer might, but they contributed an almost insane number of standards to the Great American Songbook, especially for the likes of Frank Sinatra, for whom they wrote several signature hits. (In fact, Cahn and Van Heusen's first two Academy Awards for Best Song were huge hits from Sinatra films, "All the Way" from The Joker Is Wild and "High Hopes" from A Hole in the Head.) If they never rose to the heights of Broadway success that Rodgers and Hammerstein did (the two mid-sixties Cahn-Van Heusen musicals, Skyscraper and Walking Happy, only each lasted less than a season), they actually outdid Mancini and Mercer in the Oscar-sweeps of Best Song nominations and wins in the world of film. Cahn and Van Heusen were arguably at a career high in 1963 when Johnny Cool appeared, as they had just won their record making third Best Song Academy Award earlier that year for the memorable “Call Me Irresponsible” from Papa's Delicate Condition (and in so doing, actually denied Mancini and Mercer their opportunity for a “three-peat” themselves with the Theme from Charade, after they had scored back to back victories the two previous years with “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany's and the title song for Days of Wine and Roses). Unfortunately, Johnny Cool may not have been the wisest choice for the duo, despite the presence of the great Sammy Davis, Jr., here playing the part of a character with the rather unusual name of Educated, but who also warbles a Cahn and Van Heusen title tune that, suffice it to say, did not get an Academy Award nomination the following year (ironically, though, Cahn and Van Heusen received not one but two Academy Award nominations for Best Song the following year, for another huge Sinatra hit, "My Kind of Town", from Robin and the 7 Hoods and the title song from Where Love Has Gone ).

Johnny Cool is a definite outlier in the filmographies of all sorts of people involved with this production, not just Cahn and Van Heusen. Co- producer and director William Asher wasn’t quite yet associated with what would probably become his best remembered credit, the long running sitcom Bewitched which of course starred his soon to be wife Elizabeth Montgomery, who is the female lead here (if the internet is to be believed, Asher and Montgomery married a week after Johnny Cool opened). Asher’s “other” claim to fame, the so-called “beach” films of the sixties which frequently starred Frankie Avalon and Annette Funnicello, had begun just a bit earlier in 1963 with the release of Beach Party, which means Johnny Cool was a pretty substantial detour, content and style wise. Probably only inveterate trivia fans may be aware that Asher was a mover and shaker with those surrounding President Kennedy (Asher co-produced Kennedy’s inaugural gala), and that may help to account for Kennedy’s brother-in-law Peter Lawford executive producing this film (and playing a featured part in the film’s trailer, included on this Blu-ray as a supplement). Two other members of the “Rat Pack”, Joey Bishop and the aforementioned Sammy Davis, Jr., are also on hand in somewhat unusual roles.

Without even detailing the roles the play, a mere listing of this, um, eclectic cast includes such varied names as Elisha Cook, Jr., Jim Backus, Telly Savalas, Richard Anderson, John McGiver, and (just for good measure) Mort Sahl. The basic plot details the exploits of one Johnny Colini (Henry Silva in a rare leading role), who is actually born Salvatore Giardano in Italy (the film's opening supposedly takes place there), but who is conscripted more or less to take over for a gangster named Colini who wants Johnny to go to America to exact revenge on Colini's enemies. In America, Johnny meets Dare Guinness (Elizabeth Montgomery), who is instantly attracted to him and who gets swept up in his life of crime.

The film has some interesting stylistic flourishes (there is a ton of aerial footage in the opening sequences, and later scenes exploit some locations rather well), but the pacing here is all over the place, and some of the editing is pretty ham handed (the segue from Johnny as a kid in Italy to an adult is one notable example). Billy May contributes a swingin' score, and some of the performances are fun, but Johnny Cool never completely registers as a crime film or character study.

Johnny Cool Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Johnny Cool is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scorpion Releasing with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Our news announcement for this release states Scorpion culled this from a new master, but the element utilized has some pretty significant damage which has not been addressed. This includes everything from missing frames (one of which sends the soundtrack for the opening theme off kilter), to a lot of scratches and other damage. The opening credits have some pretty bad wobble. Densities also fluctuate and certain moments look considerably more ragged than the bulk of the presentation (see screenshots 18 and 19 for two examples). There is also occasional shimmer on some fine patterns like the checkered coat that Richard Anderson wears in an early wedding scene. All of this said, when these kind of problems are not present, a lot of this presentation gets more toward what I would call 3.5 territory, with generally very good fine detail and well modulated gray scale.

Johnny Cool Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Johnny Cool features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that gets off to a little bit of a rough start, but which improves once the credits sequence ends. The opening theme is hampered by either a skip or missing frame, and there are a couple of similar (non-musical) moments like that later. The opening theme sounds a bit muffled, but some of the other cues have more appealing high end sonics. Dialogue is rendered cleanly for the most part, though the very opening sequence featuring Johnny as an Italian teen have a few moments where sound effects predominate and what I assume is supposed to be Italian can't be made out entirely clearly. Sound effects like the (many) gunshots in the film typically reverberate very well. Optional English subtitles are available.

Johnny Cool Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers includes Johnny Cool (480i; 2:24), along with a truly bizarre assortment of other items. The trailer for this film features a pretty big spoiler about the fate of one character, in what is one of the film's more unintentionally funny sequences (Johnny's method of murder doesn't exactly keep things on the down low).

Johnny Cool Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kind of unbelievably, at least to this particular music fan, another tune Davis sings on the film's soundtrack, "Bee Bom" (not by Cahn and Van Heusen) actually "bubbled under" the Hot 100 on Billboard's charts in June of 1964. The film evidently raised some hackles at the time of its release for its perceived violence, though it seems positively tame and restrained to modern day eyes (note how Asher masks several killings either by framings or moving the camera completely away from the deaths). There are some interesting performances here, but Johnny Cool is probably more of a curio than anything. Video has some issues despite what is reportedly a relatively recent remaster. Audio does a bit better but has a few challenging moments as well, for those who are considering a purchase.