Complete credited cast: | |||
David Janssen | ... | Arnold Rothstein | |
Dianne Foster | ... | Carolyn Green Rothstein | |
Jack Carson | ... | Timothy W. 'Big Tim' O'Brien | |
Diana Dors | ... | Madge | |
Dan O'Herlihy | ... | Detective Phil Butler | |
Mickey Shaughnessy | ... | Jim Kelly | |
Keenan Wynn | ... | Tom Fowler | |
William Demarest | ... | Henry Hecht | |
Regis Toomey | ... | Bill Baird | |
Robert Ellenstein | ... | Lenny | |
Tim Rooney | ... | Johnny Burke as Young Boy (as Timothy Rooney) | |
Murvyn Vye | ... | Williams | |
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Jimmy Baird | ... | Arnold Rothstein as Young Boy (as Jim Baird) |
Joseph Schildkraut | ... | Abraham Rothstein | |
Mickey Rooney | ... | Johnny Burke |
Moving from one scam to another Arnold Rothstein quickly becomes rich, and settles into the life of owning big-town gambling joints. Along the way he falls in loves and marries, makes a life-long enemy of a cop on the take, and gradually becomes hardened even to his closest friends. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Before watching "King of the Roaring 20's: The Story of Arnold Rothstein", I decided to read up on the man. After all, I'd heard very little about him and had just seen a small amount about him in the Ray Danton film "The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond"...so I wanted to know more about his exploits. Well, I am glad I did because as I watched the movie I realized that the script often had little to do with the real Rothstein and even portrayed his murder incorrectly....so I knew to take the film with a grain of salt.
So, if you realize it's mostly fiction, is the film worth seeing? Not especially, as for a gangster film it really didn't have much action nor violence....so you are bound to be disappointed. Also, while I like David Janssen, here he just seemed as if he was tranquilized. My feeling is that if you are going to fictionalize a guy's life, couldn't you ficitonalize a bit of excitement into the script and acting as well??