Johnny Eager (1941) - PARENTE

Johnny Eager, out of prison on parole, is on the straight and narrow in not wanting to return to prison, he working as a cabbie, or so he wants his parole officer, Mr. Verne, to believe. While Johnny does don a cabbie uniform and does drive a taxi cab in public, it is only a front in he returning to his racketeering ways, with his latest venture, stalled due to regulatory issues, being a new dog racing track at Algonquin Park. Despite having a slew of flunkies and henchmen, Johnny has never shied away from doing his own dirty work in killing anyone who tries to or does cross him. Arguably his best friend is Jeff Harnett, his unofficial right hand man, and an alcoholic who, in his constant drunken state, provides Johnny with the only sense of a conscience in his life. Upon meeting, Johnny and Lisbeth Bard, a sociology student who has access to Verne's office for her studies, fall for each other. Their attraction to each other does not wain even after she learns that he is still a criminal as she initially suspected, and he learns that she is the stepdaughter of John Benson Farrell. When he was a prosecutor, Farrell was the one who was responsible for putting Johnny behind bars, and now that he is district attorney, is the one who has placed an injunction against the opening of the race track. While Farrell threatens to put a stop to Johnny and Lisbeth's romance in any way he can, even through illegal means, Johnny decides to have something of his own in his back pocket if Farrell is indeed true to his word. Johnny's actions in this matter have unintended negative consequences which threaten not only his relationship with Lisbeth, but also her life as she knows it.