The Diamond

An American Treasury agent (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with a Scotland Yard inspector (Philip Friend) to track down a group of thieves that are creating artificial diamonds out of sugar.

This film seems to be a bit of a mystery. The BFI considers it lost, despite prints being readily available -- even on YouTube and Netflix. And then the director is a bit of a debate. Whether the print is the American or English one, the director name is switched. The film itself does not seem to be different in different prints.

The plot is pretty good, and the idea of synthetic diamonds is interesting. One has to wonder... could synthetic diamonds be made so well that there would be no real chemical difference?

Using the non-de-plume of Jonathan Rix, his grandfather's name, Dennis O'Keefe hied himself over to England and sold this story (with screenplay by John C. Higgins) and ended up as the star and (credited) director of this film that was merely a slight---primarily geography and accents---remake of at least a half-dozen American B-westerns with the plot gimmick revolving around a heroine's scientist father being kidnapped and forced to counterfeit something---diamonds, in this instance---for a gang of crooks. One of the readily available horses-and-sagebrush versions is 1941's "Dude Cowboy" from RKO with Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds and Byron Foulger essaying the roles taken here by O'Keefe, Margaret Sheridan and Paul Harmuth. Give "Dude" the edge over "Diamond" on the strength of Ray Whitley's songs.

IMDb Trivia: One of the "75 Most Wanted" films listed by the British Film Institute as "Missing, believed lost".

I saw this film on Netflix, so apparently it is NOT lost--at least not any more.

Dennis O'Keefe plays a Treasury Department agent who has been sent to Britain. This is because there may be an organization that has learned to produce perfect diamonds--ones that are so perfect it could destroy the market. The trail leads to a scientist--a scientist who has disappeared. Although the chances are ridiculous, the wanted man's daughter just happens to be a lady that the Treasury man was dating! He's afraid to tell her about everyone's suspicions about her father and he and Scotland Yard are baffled.

This is a decent British version of film noir. While it's not quite as dark as many films in the genre, it is tough and violent and enjoyable. However, it does start off very slowly--so keep watching and don't give up on this one--it's worth it.

If you do watch a couple things you should note. First, at one point in the film they talk about a remarkable fake diamond being produced in 1924. While it was believed in 1954 that this was true, apparently this was a hoax and that part isn't mentioned in the film. Second, when O'Keefe is chased by a truck he's knocked onto the cobblestones. Watch closely--these cobblestones bounce--revealing they are clearly props.

This has something of the "Rumpelstiltskin" to it, only it's not straw into gold, it's sugar into diamonds! "Dennison" (Dennis O'Keefe) is on the trail of some thieves who stole a fortune in US treasury bonds and are heading to London to do a deal with the gem fakers. His arrival sees him allied with "Insp. McClaren" (Philip Friend). This policeman is also working on a more sensitive case involving a nuclear scientist - and it just so happens that his daughter "Marline" (Margaret Sheridan) is wearing a brooch with one of the Wonka-jewels in it. As we discover who made it, the threads of the story start to come together - but who is pulling whose strings? It's a bit long and takes a while to get started, but once the wheels are in motion it's not a bad little thriller with some magical science (courtesy of Paul Hardtmuth) and a bit of menace from the usually reliable Francis de Wolff. It's all production line stuff with themes based on already well used, adequate acting and predictable plot-lines , but it is watchable enough.

This is an interesting 3D with a British touch, and it's a luck that Kino Lorber and the 3D Film Archive have jointly taken the task of restoring it. As explained in the extras, it was shot in 3D but never released that way in its time, as the 3D trend had declined. So now we can enjoy watching it as it was intended to be screened.

The story, whether 3D or normal viewing, is interesting enough. A federal agent joins forces with a British Scotland Yard colleague to catch a band of synthetic-diamond makers and rescue the scientist who has joined them. Both agents also doubt if the scientist's daughter is willing to help or only trying to fool them. Contrasting with Philip Friend who effectively plays his less emotional British counterpart, Dennis O'Keefe adds the spark to the pair; he does not only act but also directed this picture, and both jobs he does well.

Not only the polarized version is great, also the anaglyphic one (complimentary glasses are included) offers a nice medium-depth effect. The image is sharp if a little grained, and compared to the unrestored version (both shown side-by-side in the extras as usually) contrast is improved - good for the restoration team. The 3D effect is much more apparent with the polarized glasses, though.

A sample of the anaglyphic version can be watched at Youtube (see External Links section).

An otherwise very British style picture with sober acting, no over-use of 3D visual tricks, more documentary-style than American productions yet with a well balanced amount of action.

So good that they have restored it. Another treat for 3D affectionates. More 3D classics coming, please!