King of the Roaring 20's: The Story of Arnold Rothstein

I am hardly a fan of national film critics, but they are right on the money with this one - it stinks.

One major objection is having David Janssen playing the gangster Arnold Rothstein. What kind of casting is that? He couldn't be less credible in that role. Other cast members don't fit in here, either. The whole thing is a mess.

The first half hour of this movie doesn't exactly grab your attention, but when the romance sets in, it really puts you to sleep....and really never recovers. "King of the Roaring Twenties" sounds like an interesting, exciting gangster film but is just the opposite. Don't waste your time.

Before watching "King of the Roaring 20's: The Story of Arnold Rothstein", I decided to read up on the man. After all, I'd heard very little about him and had just seen a small amount about him in the Ray Danton film "The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond"...so I wanted to know more about his exploits. Well, I am glad I did because as I watched the movie I realized that the script often had little to do with the real Rothstein and even portrayed his murder incorrectly....so I knew to take the film with a grain of salt.

So, if you realize it's mostly fiction, is the film worth seeing? Not especially, as for a gangster film it really didn't have much action nor violence....so you are bound to be disappointed. Also, while I like David Janssen, here he just seemed as if he was tranquilized. My feeling is that if you are going to fictionalize a guy's life, couldn't you ficitonalize a bit of excitement into the script and acting as well??

By 1961, splatter guns, bouncing flappers, and real gangsters of the 1920's were a hit on TV, especially with The Untouchables (1959-1963). So it's not surprising the formula would find its way into the movies. Real life gangster Arnold Rothstein (Janssen) gets the treatment here, except there're no splatter guns or much action, but there is lots and lots of talk. Spread out over nearly 2-hour time frame, that's a tough challenge for any 20's crime film. Then add Janssen's turn that's notably low-key and generally emotionless, and the upshot is a disappointingly listless crime film.

I guess the film is best taken as a character study built around a favorite Hollywood theme of one man's rise and fall on the ladder of success. The narrative's mainly about how slickly Rothstein maneuvers through the echelons of urban crime. There's some interest in his conniving, but the account gets draggy with too much slow pacing and mechanical editing. Then too, Dianne Foster's role as AR's ladylove further stretches out the narrative. It's like the producers are also using the movie to promote her career.

Anyway, Janssen was soon to star in that classic chase series The Fugitive (1963-67), where his thespic skills could really shine. On the other hand, I'm not sure what the producers were reaching for here, perhaps an abrupt departure from the Cagneys and Robinsons of old. But what they got instead was a sluggish result that now dwells in well-deserved obscurity.

You would think that it might be difficult to make a dull movie about the "roaring" twenties. This movie succeeds in spades. The lead actor (TV"s The Fugitive) is as stiff and flat as any ever seen on the big screen. Most of the performance involves staring down and looking up once in awhile with a half smile.

In fact only big little Mickey Rooney shows any life and thus through contrast steals the shallow show where the most exciting scene involves the transportation of a racehorse.

Of all the The Untouchables rip-offs of that era this is the worst. There is very little violence, except a punch thrown now and then, and very little else worth watching in this slow as sludge, talky, unconvincing Biography.

What we are left with is a TV looking widescreen film that has nothing in its scope. This movie is so bad that maybe we should turn our binoculars around just to get a laugh.

Although Arnold Rothstein was a great deal older than David Janssen when he portrayed Rothstein in King Of The Roaring Twenties, he does deliver a good performance as the rather bloodless Rothstein who had the heart of a calculating machine. He came by that personality by being a mathematical genius as a child and deciding to apply his talents in the best way calculated to make money. Rothstein in real life and Janssen on the screen spent their lives calculating.

In fact the title is something of a misnomer because Rothstein being born in 1882 to a respectable middle class Jewish family with father played in the film by Joseph Schildkraut, started his career way before the Roaring Twenties set in. His most famous exploit, the fixing of the 1919 World Series is certainly before the Twenties, but when Prohibition came in, Rothstein saw the possibilities.

The characters in the film are mostly fictional and in some cases pseudonyms are used. Jack Carson's farewell big screen role as Tammany politician Tim O'Brien is more than likely based on Jimmy Hines, later convicted by Thomas E. Dewey. Carson is always good in any film he's in.

The two supporting players who stand out are Dan O'Herlihy as a fictional rogue cop who was taking payoffs back when Janssen was a kid and Mickey Rooney who was the best in the film as Rothstein's boyhood pal who meets a tragic end. The women in Rothstein's life are Dianne Foster and British bombshell Diana Dors who do well as typical Roaring Twenties flappers.

The film has the look and feel of The Untouchables TV series which spawned a revival of the gangster films, this time using the real names of the public enemies. The smartest one of them all Arnold Rothstein might well have been called, King Of The Roaring Twenties.