Eddie Muller likes the style of Johnny O’Clock a lot, although he admits that he couldn’t explain what is going on in the plot even after seeing the film multiple times. I think that is more of a problem than he admits, although it is just barely possible to see the movie as a precursor of the more oblique neo-noirs of the Seventies, such as Night Moves. In any case, I had no idea whatsoever what was behind most of the murders and attempted murders here. It all seemed kind of abstract. The plot device of the two near-identical pocket watches is not credible. Nor is the denouement, with our protagonist walking straight into a trap that a child could foresee.

The actors – Dick Powell, Lee J. Cobb, Thomas Gomez, Nina Foch et al – are sturdy enough, although poor Evelyn Keyes might have suffered whiplash from all the relationship reversals she undergoes in a 24-hour period. The Hollywood convention that romance has to happen fast tips over into pure absurdity here.