''Portrait of a Mobster'' is a 1961 American
crime film directed by
Joseph Pevney and starring
Vic Morrow
Victor Morrow (born Victor Morozoff; February 14, 1929 – July 23, 1982) was an American actor. He came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC drama series '' Combat!'' (1962–1967), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstand ...
,
Leslie Parrish
Leslie Parrish (born Marjorie Hellen; March 13, 1935) is an American actress, activist, environmentalist, writer, and producer. She worked under her birth name for six years, changing it in 1959.
Early life
As a child, Parrish lived in Massachu ...
and
Ray Danton repeating his role as
'Legs' Diamond.
[PORTRAIT OF A MOBSTER, Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 28, Iss. 324, (January 1, 1961): p. 99.]
Plot
Up-and-coming racketeer
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer; August 6, 1901October 24, 1935) was an American mobster. Based in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s, he made his fortune in organized crime-related activities, including bootlegging and the n ...
joins the
Legs Diamond
Jack "Legs" Diamond (possibly born John Thomas Diamond, though disputed; July 10, 1897 – December 18, 1931), also known as Gentleman Jack, was an Irish American gangster in Philadelphia and New York City during the Prohibition era. A bootle ...
gang in
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
-era
New York. A bootlegger named Murphy is murdered by Dutch, who falls for the dead man's daughter, Iris.
Iris marries her fiancé, Frank Brennan, a police detective. They need money and Frank accepts payoffs from Dutch, who is forming a gang of his own.
After getting rid of Legs, Mad Dog Coll and others standing in his way, Dutch again makes a play for Iris, but she learns that he killed her father and begins to drink. Frank vows to reform and win her back. Betraying his pal Bo to the mob, Dutch discovers that a hit has been put out on himself as well. While fighting for his life, he is shot by Bo by mistake and is killed.
Score
Howard Jackson compiled the score from White Heat and four other
Max Steiner
Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers.
Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted ...
scores.
Cast
*
Vic Morrow
Victor Morrow (born Victor Morozoff; February 14, 1929 – July 23, 1982) was an American actor. He came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC drama series '' Combat!'' (1962–1967), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstand ...
as
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer; August 6, 1901October 24, 1935) was an American mobster. Based in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s, he made his fortune in organized crime-related activities, including bootlegging and the n ...
*
Leslie Parrish
Leslie Parrish (born Marjorie Hellen; March 13, 1935) is an American actress, activist, environmentalist, writer, and producer. She worked under her birth name for six years, changing it in 1959.
Early life
As a child, Parrish lived in Massachu ...
as Iris Murphy
*
Peter Breck
Joseph Peter Breck (March 13, 1929 – February 6, 2012) was an American character actor. The rugged, dark-haired Breck played the gambler and gunfighter Doc Holliday on the ABC/Warner Bros. Television series ''Maverick'' as well as Victoria Bar ...
as Frank Brennan
*
Norman Alden
Norman Alden (born Norman Adelberg, September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on ''The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He ...
as Bo Wetzel
*
Robert McQueeney as Michael Ferris
*
Ken Lynch
Kenneth E. Lynch (July 15, 1910 – February 13, 1990) was an American radio, film, and television actor with more than 180 credits to his name. He was generally known for portraying law enforcement officers and detectives. He may have been bes ...
as Lieutenant D. Corbin
* Stephen Roberts as Guthrie
*
Joseph Gallison
Joseph Gallison is an American actor who worked on television soap operas for twenty-seven years. He is probably best known for his role as Dr. Neil Curtis on '' Days of Our Lives'' (1974-1991).
Early years
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Galli ...
as Vincent Coll
*
Frank DeKova
Frank de Kova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an American character actor in films, stage, and TV.
Biography
De Kova was born in New York City. He was a teacher at a school in New York before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He ...
as Anthony Parazzo
*
Ray Danton as
"Legs" Diamond
*
Joseph Gallison
Joseph Gallison is an American actor who worked on television soap operas for twenty-seven years. He is probably best known for his role as Dr. Neil Curtis on '' Days of Our Lives'' (1974-1991).
Early years
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Galli ...
as
"Mad Dog" Coll
*
Larry J. Blake as John Murphy
*
Harry Holcombe
Harry John Holcombe (November 11, 1906 - September 15, 1987) was an American actor and radio director. He was perhaps best remembered as the grandfather in the Country Time commercials, playing the role for almost a decade. Holcombe also played ...
as Capt. Bayridge
*
Frances Morris as Louise Murphy
*
Gil Perkins
Gilbert Vincent Perkins (24 August 1907 – 28 March 1999) was an Australian film and television actor.
Early life
As a teenager, Perkins was a trackman and an athlete. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the crew of a Norwe ...
as Joe Murdoch
* Jon Kowal asLou Rhodes
* Arthur Tenen as Steve Matryck
* Eddie Hanley as Matty Krause
*
Joe Turkel
Joseph Turkel (July 15, 1927 – June 27, 2022) was an American character actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s. He is known for his roles in Stanley Kubrick's films '' The Killing'', ''Paths ...
as Joe Noe
*
Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley (January 19, 1925 – January 29, 2003) was an American actor best known as one of the detective leads, Tracy Steele, in the ABC/Warner Brothers television series '' Hawaiian Eye''. Early in his career, he was credited as Fred Eis ...
as Legal Advisor
*
Poncie Ponce
Poncie Ponce (born Ponciano Tabac Ponce; April 10, 1933 – July 19, 2013) was an American actor, musician and stand-up comedian. Born in Maui, Hawaii, he moved to Los Angeles, where from 1959–1963 he played the role of cab driver Kazuo Kim in ...
as Master of Ceremonies
References
External links
*
1961 films
Films directed by Joseph Pevney
Warner Bros. films
American black-and-white films
Films set in the 1920s
Films set in New York City
Films about Jewish-American organized crime
Crime films based on actual events
1961 crime drama films
Films about the Irish Mob
Cultural depictions of Dutch Schultz
Cultural depictions of Legs Diamond
Cultural depictions of Mad Dog Coll
1960s English-language films
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