The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond is a 1960 crime film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Ray Danton, Karen Steele and Elaine Stewart. The supporting cast features Warren Oates, Jesse White and Robert Lowery. The picture marked the film debut of Dyan Cannon and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Howard Shoup. 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"