Johnny Cool is a 1963 crime Film Noir directed by William Asher and starring Henry Silva and Elizabeth Montgomery. The supporting cast includes several recognizable actors such as Sammy Davis Jr., Telly Savalas, Jim Backus, Joey Bishop and John McGiver.
Salvatore Giordano (Silva) is a Sicilian outlaw who is sent out on a mission of vengeance to the United States by his mentor, Italian-American Johnny Colini (Marc Lawrence), to assassinate the men who plotted Colini's downfall and enforced exile to Italy. Renamed "Johnny Cool", he arrives in New York City and quickly kills several of the underworld figures on Colini's list, in the meantime picking up Darien "Dare" Guiness (Montgomery), a wealthy divorcée who becomes his accomplice.
This film features examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Dare is drawn by the danger that surrounds Johnny.
- Ballad of X: "The Ballad of Johnny Cool", sung by Davis.
- Evil Versus Evil: Johnny is a gangster who kills other gangsters.
- The Film of the Book: The movie is based on The Kingdom of Johnny Cool, a novel by John McPartland.
- Protagonist Title: The film is named after its Villain Protagonist, aka Johnny Cool.
- Rich Boredom: Dare is wealthy yet seem to not find satisfaction in her life, enough to be drawn to Johnny.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Overlaps with Revenge by Proxy, as Johnny hunts down the underworld figures who forced his mentor Colini into exile in Italy.
- Villain Protagonist: The titular character is a ruthless killer.
