El fin del rey del crimen

I'd never heard a thing about this one before I put it in my video player. I knew Warren Oates (one of my favourite character actors - 'The Shooting', 'The Wild Bunch', 'Two-Lane Blacktop', 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia',etc.) was in the supporting cast and that was enough for me to give it a go. I know absolutely nothing about the real life exploits of 1930s gangster Jack 'Legs' Diamond, so this movie is more than likely utter fiction, but hey, I didn't watch it for a history lesson, I watched it to be entertained, and it certainly did that! It's a terrific picture, very cool and constantly engaging. Oates plays Legs' sickly "lunger" brother Eddie and he's very good, as are the three sexy women in Legs' life (Karen Steele, Elaine Stewart and a young Dyan Cannon). There are also several familiar faces in the supporting cast that you'll recognize from half forgotten old movies , but Ray Danton completely steals the film as Diamond. I'm very surprised after watching this that Danton didn't go on to be a major star as he is very charismatic and a credible actor. If you like crime movies try and find 'The Rise And Fall Of Legs Diamond'. It may be obscure but it's a really good b-picture and not to be overlooked.

Ray Danton brings a suave cold charm to the title role of this film about the Roaring 20s gangster. The usually wooden Danton, nattily attired with a pair of shoulder holsters, cuts quite a figure as he shoots, seduces and betrays his way to achieve his ambitious goals.

Jack Diamond and his handicapped brother come to the big city in search of a new start as jewelery thieves. This venture get's him jailed but it fails to dampen his desire for fast cash and he begins to rob crooks in order to eliminate police involvement. He catches the eye of big time gambler Arnold Rothstein, fixer of the 1918 World Series. He goes to work as a bodyguard for Rothstein who is later murdered thus expediting Leg's rise.

Budd Boeticher directs economically, benefiting both pace and story line as well as Diamond's sharkish style self assuredly delivered by Danton. He also does a nice job of keeping Diamond's involvement in the rub out of Rothstein ambiguous (an unsolved murder to this day) as he attempts to follow the factual outline of his career. In addition Lucien Ballard's photography gives the studio interiors and exteriors an extra touch of grit and noir in one of the better gangster pictures made during a period when the genre was in a bit of a funk.

I am no expert on the life of 'Legs' Diamond, but I assume that the studio took great liberties with presenting his life story. This is because I've seen several other gangster films made between 1958-1962 and all of them seemed to play fast and loose with the facts. I think a lot of this was because of the TV show "The Untouchables". Its success spurred on these gangster biopics and like most of the biopics, the TV show played VERY fast and loose with facts....all because they were meant as entertainment first...and last.

Ray Danton plays the leading role. While Danton was a very good looking and smooth character, photos of the real 'Legs' show that he was far from the sexy hunk who could charm women. So, Danton was poor when it came to looking like Diamond...but was great for attracting females to the theaters to see him!

The story is a somewhat predictable tale of a monster who was bigger than life and had bigger than life ambitions....and the expected fall. After all, this IS in the title of the movie! So is it any good? Yes. The story is violent, exciting and never lets up....so it should keep your interest. Excellent direction sure didn't hurt this film, either!

Jack "Legs" Diamond was the alias of John T. Noland (1897-1931) who had one spectacular career in the underworld of the Roaring Twenties. Though we are far from seeing the real story of Legs Diamond, Ray Danton gives us a riveting portrayal of a totally amoral man who uses and discards people in his rise to the top. Diamond's career and this film about him is very much a harbinger of stuff like Goodfellas in the last decade.

Right around this time Hollywood took a nostalgic interest in the gangster era. A whole lot of films like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly an early Charles Bronson starrer, Dutch Schultz Portrait of a Mobster, and Murder, Inc. among others came out at this time. There was even a good series from Warner Brothers television that came out called The Roaring Twenties that starred Dorothy Provine. And of course heading the list was The Untouchables. The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond is part of this trend.

This came from Warner Brothers and they certainly had the best gangster films back in the day. Had this been done back in the thirties, James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson would have been the star. However the best guy for the part back then would have been Tyrone Power. That is the Tyrone Power of Nightmare Alley. Ray Danton's portrayal of Diamond borrows a lot from Power's Stan Carlisle.

This part and Danton's role in the George Raft Story should have made Danton a star, but it didn't, who knows why. Danton gave up acting and settled for life behind the camera, directing lots of television shows.

Other good portrayals in this are Robert Lowery as Arnold Rothstein, Warren Oates as Diamond's brother, Karen Steele as his much used and abused wife, and Frank DeKova in one riveting scene as Lucky Luciano. DeKova is only identified as the "chairman" in the film as Mr. Luciano was very much alive when this came out.

However the best supporting part is Jesse White's as a gangland rival. White who normally plays comic tough guys very well really does a fine job as a rival who Diamond makes crawl for mercy.

Good portrayal of the tumultuous Roaring Twenties though not the real story of Legs Diamond.

In the 20's, the ambitious smalltime thief Jack Diamond (Ray Danton) and his sick brother Eddie Diamond (Warren Oates) arrive in New York. Jack meets the dance teacher Alice Shiffer (Karen Steele) and uses dirty tricks to date her and steal a necklace in a jewelry store. After spending a period in prison, he asks Alice to work with her in the dance school during his probation. Then he decides to work as bodyguard of the powerful gangster lord Arnold Rothstein (Robert Lowery) that dubs him Legs, with the intention of stealing his illegal business of bootleg, drugs and gambling. When Arnold is murdered, Legs Diamond sells protection to the gangs. When he travels to Europe with Alice on vacation, he sees in the news the changes in New York underworld with the National Prohibition Act and returns, finding a different city that he does not understand.

"The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond" is a good gangster movie based on the biography of the criminal Jack "Legs" Diamond. The gangster is described as a man that did not love anybody and believed that he could never be killed, ending his life alone without friends and betrayed by a lover. This movie was released on VHS in Brazil by Continental distributor. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Rei dos Facínoras" ("The King of the Ruffians")