Johnny Eager [VHS]
Robert Taylor stars as Johnny Eager, a hard-nosed gangster leading a double life. To fulfill his parole, he works as a cabbie and pretends to occupy a small hovel with his relatives but secretly continues to be an underworld gambling kingpin. Sweater Girl Lana Turner is Lisbeth, a naive socialite. Lisbeth meets Johnny in her efforts to study life on the other side of the tracks for a sociology class and falls hard for him. She believes he is a reformed man, but even after she learns of his criminal activities, Lisbeth remains loyal. Oblivious to his own feelings, Johnny uses her as a pawn to gain control over her father, the prosecutor who landed him in the clinker in the first place. Johnny loves Lisbeth, but if he can't figure out how much quick, he'll lose more than just their romance. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, JOHNNY EAGER is one of the best gangster flicks of the 1940s, combining stellar performances with a gut-wrenching plot.