One More Rafting Trip

GR Squaring Accounts Again at RKO: Johnny Angel (1945)

George Raft at a postwar career peak, if there was such a thing, and hit-making for RKO. Johnny Angel clocked over a million in profit, Radio's next to biggest in-house result of the year, next to The Spanish Main, so Raft was very much a meaningful name for them, and stayed around more seasons at reliable action-ing. He's a sea dog here, looking into a ship scuttling and murder scheme that might involve good (or bad?) girl Signe Hasso. Raft was good at dogged pursuit --- it didn't need much personality to ask questions and swap gunfire. RKO spent $652K for what would have been a cheapie with on-lot Bill Williams or Russell Wade. Shipboard sets look recycled from Val Lewton's The Ghost Ship, itself borrowing same off 1939's Pacific Liner. There is Lewton echo too in Johnny Angel's trailer, which uses music from Cat People. RKO was surely a place where degrees of separation linked virtually everything, that being asset to make them all seem like greet of an old friend.