The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
Movie Poster
Directed by	Budd Boetticher
Written by	Joseph Landon
Produced by	Leon Chooluck Milton Sperling
Starring	Ray Danton Karen Steele Elaine Stewart
Cinematography	Lucien Ballard
Edited by	Folmar Blangsted
Music by	Leonard Rosenman
Production company	United States Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date	February 3, 1960 (1960-02-03)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English French Italian German

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond is a 1960 film directed by Budd Boetticher. The picture marked the film debut of Dyan Cannon and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Howard Shoup. The film was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.

Plot

In the 1920s, ambitious but smalltime thief Jack Diamond and his sickly brother Eddie Diamond move to New York City. Jack meets dance instructor Alice Shiffer, lies to her to date her and to steal a necklace from a jewelry store. After being incarcerated for a time, he works with Alice at her dance school while on probation.

He then gets hired as bodyguard of infamous Arnold Rothstein who gives him the nickname Legs. His plan is to supplant Rothstein with the intention of stealing his bootleg, drugs and gambling businesses. After Arnold is murdered, Legs Diamond sells protection. When he travels to Europe with Alice on a vacation, he sees in the newspaper that the New York underworld has changed with the National Prohibition Act.. Legs returns to America and confronts the syndicate, demanding a cut from their operations. He kicks Alice out of his life and turns to Monica, who betrays him. Hit men enter his hotel room and shoot him dead. In the final scene, as his corpse is being removed on a stretcher, Alice says he was loved by many but that he loved nobody.

Cast

• Ray Danton as Jack "Legs" Diamond
• Karen Steele as Alice Scott
• Elaine Stewart as Monica Drake
• Jesse White as Leo "Butcher" Bremer
• Warren Oates as Eddie Diamond
• Dyan Cannon (credited as Diane Cannon) as Dixie
• Robert Lowery as Arnold Rothstein
• Richard Gardner as Mad Dog Coll
• Gordon Jones as Sgt. Joe Cassidy
• Frank de Kova as "The Chairman"

Frank de Kova's role is only listed as "The Chairman" of the new crime syndicate. He was portraying Lucky Luciano, but as Luciano was still alive at the time, it was decided not to name him specifically.

The lead role was first offered to Robert Evans (producer)Robert Evans. When he turned it down Warner Bros. Television contract star Ray Danton took the lead. Evans also had turned down the lead for The George Raft Story that Danton also played.

Critical reception

From Howard Thompson of The New York Times:

The unhealthy keynote of Warners' flashy screen portrait of the notorious Jack Diamond is that his "rise" is quite entertaining to watch ... However, there is nothing loose about the writing. Nor the crispness of Budd Boetticher's direction. Nor the course of the hero's career, as he rises from a smalltime thief to be the personal bodyguard of Arnold Rothstein.. This shrewdly mounted portrait of a man who certainly made his mark—in crime.

After he saw the film, guitarist Hank Marvin was inspired to give the name of the film to his The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt.

Musical remake

The film was remade as a musical entitled Legs Diamond which debuted on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on December 26, 1988, and closed on February 19, 1989 after 64 performances and 72 previews.

See also

• List of American films of 1960

External links

• The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond at IMDb
• The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond at AllMovie