The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

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!

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 have never seen a bad action/western movie that was directed by Budd Boetticher and this crime/biography on the real 1920-30's mobster Legs Diamond is no exception. I am a bit surprised that the handsome and suave Ray Danton who plays the real life 1920-30's criminal Jack 'Legs' Diamond falls into a role that he was born (and die) to play.

I assume the film took some liberties with the storyline to keep the film flowing smoothly (which it does) such as "Legs" nickname being derived from his supposedly excelling on the dance floor. Legs did actually have a brother in real life named Eddie who is played to perfection by the classic character actor Warren Oates.

Also true to form where the many unsuccessful assassination attempts on Jack "Legs" Diamond's life, and his womanizing ways which is another reason that the handsome and suave actor Ray Danton was perfect for the role. The film adds even more credibility by adding an abundance of classically trained actors to the ensemble which includes Simon Oakland, Jesse White, Frank DeKova, as well as the beautiful actresses Karen Steele, Dyan Cannon and Elaine Stewart. It wasn't a fluke that the Director Budd Boetticher chose Ray Danton to play the lead role of Legs Diamond. Danton was born to play the role.

I believe the film is a grossly underrated crime/biography film and the black and white filmography only adds to the films historical value. I give the film a much deserved 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

Danton passed away at the early age of sixty (60) from a kidney failure which otherwise would have allowed him to advance his film career as a veteran film actor.

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")

Budd Boetticher's "The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond" may be studio bound and a little artificial at times but it moves at a cracking pace and is never less than hugely entertaining as well as being somewhat neglected. That good and underrated actor Ray Danton is Jack 'Legs' Diamond and he dominates a fine cast that includes Simon Oakland, Elaine Stewart and in small parts Warren Oates and a young Dyan Cannon,(called Diane here). Diamond's career in crime has been largely overlooked by the movies and I can't gauge just how accurately this film portrays him. If it is factually correct then Mr Diamond was one mean so-and-so!