By Glenn Erickson
The George Raft Story
Brief Synopsis
A fictionalized movie biography of former top Hollywood film star George Raft.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Joseph M. Newman
Director
Ray Danton
George Raft
Jayne Mansfield
Lisa Lang
Julie London
Sheila Patton
Barrie Chase
June
Frank Gorshin
Moxie Cusack
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Biography
Release Date
Jan
1961
Premiere Information
Chicago opening: 22 Nov 1961
Production Company
Allied Artists
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 46m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Synopsis
George Raft, a product of New York City's Hell's Kitchen, breaks into show business as an exhibition dancer at the Dreamland Casino. He soon becomes friendly with bootleggers and gangsters and makes his living performing in syndicate-controlled night clubs. But he gets into trouble with the mob when he protects Ruth Harris, a cigarette girl, from the unwanted attentions of a racketeer. He then decides to go to Hollywood and try his luck at motion pictures. In 1932, he gets his big break by playing the role of a bodyguard in the film Scarface. As his theatrical star rises, he continues his association with well-known gangsters such as Al Capone and Benny "Bugsy" Siegel. But eventually his career fades, and he is forced to curb his big spending and give up his lavish California home. He then participates in a hotel-casino venture in Cuba. Soon after his arrival, however, the Castro revolution breaks out, and he is forced to flee. Returning to Hollywood, he makes his film comeback by once more playing a gangster--in 1959's Some Like It Hot.
Director
Joseph M. Newman
Director
Cast
Ray Danton
George Raft
Jayne Mansfield
Lisa Lang
Julie London
Sheila Patton
Barrie Chase
June
Frank Gorshin
Moxie Cusack
Barbara Nichols
Texas Guinan
Brad Dexter
Benny Siegel
Robert Strauss
Frenchie
Herschel Bernardi
Sam
Margo Moore
Ruth Harris
Neville Brand
Al Capone
Joe De Santis
Frankie Donatella
Argentina Brunetti
Mrs. Raft
Pepper Davis
Tony Reese
M. C. team
John Bleifer
Mr. Raft
Jack Lambert
Jerry Fitzpatrick
Cecile Rogers
Charleston dancer
Tol Avery
Mizner, The Wit
Robert H. Harris
Harvey
Jack Albertson
Milton
Murvyn Vye
Johnny
Crew
Jeff Alexander
Music comp & Conductor
Virginia Barth
Set construction
Ralph Butler
Sound mix
Carl Guthrie
Director of Photography
Richard C. Harris
Music Editor
Joseph Kish
Set Decoration
David Milton
Art Director
Alice Monte
Hairstyles
Edward Morey Jr.
Production Manager
Ted Mossman
Prop
Milt Olsen
Special Effects
Lindsley Parsons Jr.
Assistant Director
Monty Pearce
Sound
Norman Pringle
Makeup Artist
Alex Romero
Choreography
Ben Schwalb
Producer
Norah Sharpe
Wardrobe
Roger J. Weinberg
Wardrobe
James West
Constr Supervisor
George White
Film Editor
Crane Wilbur
Screenwriter
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Biography
Release Date
Jan
1961
Premiere Information
Chicago opening: 22 Nov 1961
Production Company
Allied Artists
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 46m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Articles
The George Raft Story -
Hollywood enjoyed a revival of fact-based gangster biographies in the late 1950s, highlighted by the TV series The Untouchables (1959-1963) starring Robert Stack. The late entry The George Raft Story (1961) turns the formula inside out with the biopic of an actor-dancer who played gangsters in the movies and mixed with them in real life as well. Famed for tossing a coin in the Howard Hawks classic Scarface (1932), George Raft also claimed to have met the real Al Capone. Director Joseph F. Newman's film stars Ray Danton, who two years before had starred as the dancing hoodlum Legs Diamond. Although Danton bears little physical resemblance to Raft, he makes a fine dancing partner for his co-star Barrie Chase. The glamorous Margo Moore, Julie London, Barbara Nichols and Jayne Mansfield play other female companions in Raft's past, leading Newsweek to call the film a "rambling, all-starlet variety show spliced with mayhem." Mansfield's 'Lisa Lang' is meant to be Betty Grable, while Brad Dexter is Bugsy Siegel, and Neville Brand repeats his Untouchables impersonation of Al Capone. The movie implies that Raft fell on hard times after losing his Havana casino in the Castro revolution. He then ends up spinning a coin again, playing a funny mobster for Billy Wilder in the 1959 comedy Some Like it Hot.
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
The George Raft Story -
Hollywood enjoyed a revival of fact-based gangster biographies in the late 1950s, highlighted by the TV series The Untouchables (1959-1963) starring Robert Stack. The late entry The George Raft Story (1961) turns the formula inside out with the biopic of an actor-dancer who played gangsters in the movies and mixed with them in real life as well. Famed for tossing a coin in the Howard Hawks classic Scarface (1932), George Raft also claimed to have met the real Al Capone. Director Joseph F. Newman's film stars Ray Danton, who two years before had starred as the dancing hoodlum Legs Diamond. Although Danton bears little physical resemblance to Raft, he makes a fine dancing partner for his co-star Barrie Chase. The glamorous Margo Moore, Julie London, Barbara Nichols and Jayne Mansfield play other female companions in Raft's past, leading Newsweek to call the film a "rambling, all-starlet variety show spliced with mayhem." Mansfield's 'Lisa Lang' is meant to be Betty Grable, while Brad Dexter is Bugsy Siegel, and Neville Brand repeats his Untouchables impersonation of Al Capone. The movie implies that Raft fell on hard times after losing his Havana casino in the Castro revolution. He then ends up spinning a coin again, playing a funny mobster for Billy Wilder in the 1959 comedy Some Like it Hot. By Glenn Erickson
Frank Gorshin (1933-2005)
He was born on April 5, 1933, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania into a family of modest means, his father was a railroad worker and mother a homemaker. His childhood impressions of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney paid off when he won a local talent contest at 17, and that led to his first gig at 17 at a the prize was a one week engagement at Jackie Heller's Carousel night club, Pittsburgh's hottest downtown spot in the day. The taste was there, and after high school Frank enrolled in the Carnegie-Mellon Tech School of Drama did hone his craft.
His career was interrupted briefly when he entered the US Army in 1953. He spent two years in Special Services as an entertainer. Once he got out, Frank tried his luck in Hollywood. He made his film debut in a forgettable William Holden vehicle The Proud and Profane, but his fortunes picked up soon when he and when he hooked up with American Internation Pictures (AIP). With his charasmatic sneer and cocky bravado that belied his slender, 5' 7" frame, Frank made a great punk villian in a series of entertaining "drive-in" fare: Hot Rod Girl (1956), Dragstrip Girl, Invasion of the Saucer Men, and of course the classic Portland Expose (all 1957).
By the '60s, he graduated to supporting roles in bigger Hollywood fare: Where the Boys Are, Bells Are Ringing (both 1960), Ring of Fire, and his biggest tole to date, that of Iggy the bank robber in Disney's hugely popular That Darn Cat (1965). Better still, Frank found some parts on television: Naked City, Combat!, The Untouchables, and this would be the medium where he found his greatest success. Little did he realize that when his skeletal physique donned those green nylon tights and cackled his high pitch laugh that Frank Gorshin would be forever identified as "the Riddler," one of Batman's main nemisis. For two years (1966-68), he was a semi-regular on the show and it brought him deserved national attention.
By the '70s, Frank made his Broadway debut, as the star of Jimmy, a musical based on the life of former New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker. He spent the next two decades alternating between the stage, where he appeared regularly in national touring productions of such popular shows as: Promises, Promises, Prisoner of Second Street, and Guys and Dolls; and nightclub work in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
He recently found himself in demand for character roles on televison: Murder, She Wrote, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and film: Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (1995), and the quirky comedy Man of the Century (1999). Yet his biggest triumph was his two year stint (2002-2004) as George Burns in the Broadway smash, Say Goodnight Gracie. It ran for 364 performances and he received critical raves from even the toughest New York theater critics, proving undoubtly that he was a performer for all mediums. He is survived by his wife Christina; a son, Mitchell; grandson Brandon and sister Dottie.
by Michael T. Toole
Frank Gorshin (1933-2005)
Frank Gorshin, a skilled comedian, impressionist and character actor who will forever be indentified with his role as "The Riddler" on the cult series from the '60s Batman lost his battle with lung cancer on May 17 at the Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. He was 72.
He was born on April 5, 1933, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania into a family of modest means, his father was a railroad worker and mother a homemaker. His childhood impressions of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney paid off when he won a local talent contest at 17, and that led to his first gig at 17 at a the prize was a one week engagement at Jackie Heller's Carousel night club, Pittsburgh's hottest downtown spot in the day. The taste was there, and after high school Frank enrolled in the Carnegie-Mellon Tech School of Drama did hone his craft.
His career was interrupted briefly when he entered the US Army in 1953. He spent two years in Special Services as an entertainer. Once he got out, Frank tried his luck in Hollywood. He made his film debut in a forgettable William Holden vehicle The Proud and Profane, but his fortunes picked up soon when he and when he hooked up with American Internation Pictures (AIP). With his charasmatic sneer and cocky bravado that belied his slender, 5' 7" frame, Frank made a great punk villian in a series of entertaining "drive-in" fare: Hot Rod Girl (1956), Dragstrip Girl, Invasion of the Saucer Men, and of course the classic Portland Expose (all 1957).
By the '60s, he graduated to supporting roles in bigger Hollywood fare: Where the Boys Are, Bells Are Ringing (both 1960), Ring of Fire, and his biggest tole to date, that of Iggy the bank robber in Disney's hugely popular That Darn Cat (1965). Better still, Frank found some parts on television: Naked City, Combat!, The Untouchables, and this would be the medium where he found his greatest success. Little did he realize that when his skeletal physique donned those green nylon tights and cackled his high pitch laugh that Frank Gorshin would be forever identified as "the Riddler," one of Batman's main nemisis. For two years (1966-68), he was a semi-regular on the show and it brought him deserved national attention.
By the '70s, Frank made his Broadway debut, as the star of Jimmy, a musical based on the life of former New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker. He spent the next two decades alternating between the stage, where he appeared regularly in national touring productions of such popular shows as: Promises, Promises, Prisoner of Second Street, and Guys and Dolls; and nightclub work in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
He recently found himself in demand for character roles on televison: Murder, She Wrote, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and film:
Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (1995), and the quirky comedy Man of the Century (1999). Yet his biggest triumph was his two year stint (2002-2004) as George Burns in the Broadway smash, Say Goodnight Gracie. It ran for 364 performances and he received critical raves from even the toughest New York theater critics, proving undoubtly that he was a performer for all mediums. He is survived by his wife Christina; a son, Mitchell; grandson Brandon and sister Dottie.
by Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter December 1961
Released in United States Winter December 1961
