Johnny Allegro (1949)

Johnny Allegro: Directed by Ted Tetzlaff. With George Raft, Nina Foch, George Macready, Will Geer. Treasury Department officials recruit a florist (Raft) to lead them to a wanted criminal (Macready); but once he gets too close, he finds he’s the hunted.

“Good crime/gangster film which, as Leonard Maltin notes, has similar elements to u0026#39;The Most Dangerous Gameu0026#39; throughout much of its second half.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGeorge Raft plays the title character, a reformed hoodlum, who now runs a florist shop (!!) in a hotel. He encounters a mysterious blonde, of the femme fatale variety, and winds up involved in a counterfeiting operation. Most of the action then takes place on an island off Florida where the womens husband is a tall, blonde master-criminal who enjoys hunting with a bow and arrow.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEverything here is above average and the film comes together in all areas very well. The interplay between Allegro and the evil, sophisticated Morgan Vallin, is similar to many a James Bond film with mutual distrust and respect between the two antagonists.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith good performances all round, a brisk plot and the inventiveness of the storyline, u0026#39;Johnny Allegrou0026#39; is well worth watching for B-movie fans. The director was better known as a cinematographer, and his obvious skills are shown to good effect.”