Rijndri
Load of rubbish!!
Limerculer
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
Hattie
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
dougdoepke
As the title states, the film follows the rise and fall of the 1920's narcissistic gangster, Legs Diamond.Warner Bros. certainly knew how to make gangster movies—Little Caesar (1930), Public Enemy (1931), High Sierra (1941)-- but this entry is a long way from these classics. It's a decent enough crime drama, but lacks the grit and menace of the classics. As a result, the story unfolds in entertaining but unmemorable fashion. Danton tries hard, snarling when he needs to, yet he may be a little too sleekly handsome to be convincing. After all, Cagney, Bogart, etc. were hardly matinée idols, and in a way that didn't clash with their expressions of toughness. Neither, however, is the movie helped by casting the faintly comical character Jesse White (Butch) as Legs' chief rival. Too bad the movie doesn't make better use of Warren Oates who's kind of shoved aside as Legs' sickly brother. He would have made an excellent toughie as his career later showed. Also, it's worth noting the film was directed by western ace Buddy Boetticher, who certainly knew how to drive action and suspense in his Ranown cycle of westerns. Here, however, he doesn't appear particularly engaged. For some reason the late 50's and early 60's were fascinated with real life gangster stories— Al Capone (1956), The Untouchables (1959-1963), Murder Inc. (1960), et. al. This 100- minutes is one of that cycle. But oh well, no matter what the movie's shortcomings, at least the girls provide plenty of eye candy.
MStillrage
Good film. Warren Oates does well, and the photography is superb. A Scorsese caliber picture, before the Don of Urbana surfaced!! A well worth watching movie. It has the truth without the shine. It never slows or gets dull. Amazing for a movie with guys that were unknowns @ the time. Although it's a true story,it is depicted like a newsreel from the 30's. You feel like Legs himself.He has a contagious ambition, and he is naive to what new powers exist. He is heartless but always ambitious. His coldness towards others that are on his side amazes anyone. He wants to get ahead sooo bad, and he does. The story never gets dull, and ends with prophecy/look back.
Nazi_Fighter_David
Boetticher viewed his heroes, trapped in the past and doomed to wander, with no more sentimentality than his outlaws, who try, often hopelessly, to forget their criminal ways and settle down… His darkest film of all, however, was "The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond," in which the sun-baked desert is replaced by a dark, claustrophobic urban nightmare… Boetticher's psychopathic hood, played with relentless energy by Ray Danton, is a totally amoral figure whose lust for power leads him to destroy even his brother in order to protect himself… Fast, cruel and violent, the film is one of the cinema's bleakest visions of unrestrained ambition….
Allen J. Duffis (sataft-2)
For the record, this film is historically inaccurate: not for the events, but for the true life character portrayals and interactions.For instance, there is no evidence in the record of the time that Arnold (The Big Bankroll) Rothstein ever formally met with Jack "Legs" Diamond. Nor is there any record of Diamond having anything to do with Rothstein's girlfriend or his gangland assassination.Despite these gaps in historical fact, this is one of the most highly entertaining ( of the 1960's crop) of films ever made of that era. In fact many film critics hold to the opinion that most, if not all, of the gangster films of the sixties, were poor attempts to copy the style and success of this one. The production is tightly written, well paced and beautifully filmed by a director (Bud Boetticher) who knew his way around black and white photography. And they couldn't have picked a better subject of the Prohibition Era than Jack "Legs" Diamond.Jack Diamond was not called "Legs" because he worked for a short time as a dancer, but for the fact that he was initially a highly successful 'snatch and run' thief in the garment district. But he did eventually get caught and served a stint in prison. But forget the historical inaccuracies and enjoy this never boring gangster film.Ray Danton, one of the most highly underrated actors of his time, gives a riveting fast paced portrayal of Diamond that will be hard to surpass. Not only is he believable in the outrageous stunts he pulls, but he just as easily exposes a manic and tragic side to his character as well: all without missing a beat.This unusual film also allows you to see some of the screens most memorable character actors at their best. But most of all, you get to see two soon to be famous actors on their way up.This was actress Dyan Cannon's first film, in a memorable role as the character,Dixie. And soon to be veteran character Warren Oates makes his third appearance in the movies as "Legs" Diamond's brother, Eddie. A careful study his early acting skills in this role, clearly defines why he went on to become one of the most endearing and recognizable character actors of all time.Trust me on this one, fans. Whether you like Depression Era gangster films or not, you will be constantly entertained by this one. Don't miss it!
