The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Sub-Genres - Biopic [feature], Crime Drama, Docudrama  |   Release Date - Feb 3, 1960 (USA - Unknown), Feb 3, 1960 (USA)  |   Run Time - 101 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka

This effective gangster film on the notorious New York mobster Jack "Legs" Diamond is interspersed with moments of comic relief and was released just a few months after The Purple Gang shot their way across the silver screens in the U.S. Ironically, that gang and Diamond met their ends in the same year, 1931, and their rise was largely due to Prohibition. "Legsie" (Ray Danton) gets his name because he was a dancer, but he gets his reputation because he double-crosses anyone. He is a psychopath who works his way up the body count to the top of his own network of rackets. Along the way he meets and marries his wife Alice Schiffer (Karen Steele) and survives three attempts on his life that send him to the hospital each time. His reputation for "invulnerability," the inability of the police to touch him, gangsters who kill each other off, the racketeering with union bosses, and the hijacking of liquor shipments are all elements found in this film and The Purple Gang as well. Watch for a young Dyan Cannon in a bit part as Dixie, back when her first name was spelled like everyone else spells Diane.

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Keywords

alcoholism, bootlegging, ego, gangster, loner, mob-boss, romance, shoot-out, weapons