J.D., der Killer

Original title: The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

19601960
Not RatedNot Rated
1h 41min

Ray Danton in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Neo-noir about a small-time New York City criminal whose ambition is to become a big-time crime boss during the Prohibition era.Neo-noir about a small-time New York City criminal whose ambition is to become a big-time crime boss during the Prohibition era.Neo-noir about a small-time New York City criminal whose ambition is to become a big-time crime boss during the Prohibition era.

6.8/10

1.1K

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total

Karen Steele in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Ray Danton and Gordon Jones in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Ray Danton and Karen Steele in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Ray Danton and Elaine Stewart in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Elaine Stewart in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Ray Danton and Simon Oakland in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

See production, box office, & company info

Jack Diamond and his sickly brother arrive in prohibition New York as jewel thieves. After a spell in jail, the coldly ambitious Diamond hits on the idea of stealing from other thieves himself and sets about getting close to gangster boss Arnold Rothstein to move in on his booze, girls, gambling, and illicit drug operations. —Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

neo noir character name as title legs diamond character seven word title dance hall 61 more

Taglines
- The Wildest Mobster of the Roaring Twenties!
Genres
Certificate
- Not Rated
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Trivia
Film debut of Dyan Cannon. This is her first released film. She made This Rebel Breed (1960) previously, but it was released after this film.

Goofs
When Jack returns to Alice in the movie theater he's been gone so long that she was worried what happened to him, yet he tells her his brother's phone was busy, and she believes him. He also tells her that even though no one answered the phone, his brother is all right. She also believes that.

Quotes
Jack 'Legs' Diamond: You can't kill me, I'm Legs Diamond.

Connections
Featured in Histoire(s) du cinéma: Toutes les histoires (1989)

Soundtracks
It Had to Be You
(uncredited)
Written by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn

Top review

7/10

A Gangster that did not Love Anybody

In the 20's, the ambitious smalltime thief Jack Diamond (Ray Danton) and his sick brother Eddie Diamond (Warren Oates) arrive in New York. Jack meets the dance teacher Alice Shiffer (Karen Steele) and uses dirty tricks to date her and steal a necklace in a jewelry store. After spending a period in prison, he asks Alice to work with her in the dance school during his probation. Then he decides to work as bodyguard of the powerful gangster lord Arnold Rothstein (Robert Lowery) that dubs him Legs, with the intention of stealing his illegal business of bootleg, drugs and gambling. When Arnold is murdered, Legs Diamond sells protection to the gangs. When he travels to Europe with Alice on vacation, he sees in the news the changes in New York underworld with the National Prohibition Act and returns, finding a different city that he does not understand.

"The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond" is a good gangster movie based on the biography of the criminal Jack "Legs" Diamond. The gangster is described as a man that did not love anybody and believed that he could never be killed, ending his life alone without friends and betrayed by a lover. This movie was released on VHS in Brazil by Continental distributor. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Rei dos Facínoras" ("The King of the Ruffians")

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