The George Raft Story

The George Raft Story
Ray Danton in The George Raft Story
Directed by	Joseph M. Newman
Screenplay by	Crane Wilbur
Produced by	Ben Schwalb
Starring	Ray Danton Jayne Mansfield Julie London Barrie Chase
Cinematography	Carl E. Guthrie
Edited by	George White
Music by	Jeff Alexander
Distributed by	Allied Artists
Release date	November 22, 1961 (1961-11-22)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.2 million

The George Raft Story is a 1961 American biographical film of Hollywood film star George Raft. Ray Danton portrays Raft and the film was directed by Joseph M. Newman. The picture was retitled Spin of a Coin for release in the United Kingdom, a reference to Raft's character's nickel-flipping trick in Scarface (1932), the film that launched Raft's career as an actor known for portraying gangsters.

Overview

The film is a largely fictionalized version of Raft's turbulent life and career. Neville Brand appears briefly as Al Capone, recreating his role from the 1959 television series The Untouchables. Although other characters were fictional, Moxie was based on Raft's long-time friend and associate Mack Gray. Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel is a major character. No mention is made in the film of Raft's long-estranged wife Grayce (Mulrooney) or early mob benefactor Owney Madden.

George Raft and Mack Gray had played themselves almost two decades earlier in a markedly different but equally fictionalized biographical movie about Raft's early days as a dancer reluctantly involved with gangsters entitled Broadway (1942).

Cast

• Ray Danton as George Raft
• Jayne Mansfield as Lisa Lang
• Julie London as Sheila Patton
• Barrie Chase as June Tyler
• Frank Gorshin as Moxie Cusack
• Barbara Nichols as Texas Guinan
• Brad Dexter as Benny 'Bugsy' Siegel
• Robert Strauss as Frenchie
• Herschel Bernardi as Sam
• Margo Moore as Ruth
• Neville Brand as Al Capone
• Joe De Santis as Frankie Donatella
• Jack Lambert as Jerry Fitzpatrick
• Jack Albertson as Milton
• John Bleifer as Mr. Raft

External links

• The George Raft Story at IMDb
• The George Raft Story at AllMovie
• The George Raft Story at the TCM Movie Database