Portrait of a Mobster


1h 48m 1961

Brief Synopsis

This movie portrays the rise and fall of 1920s gangster Dutch Schultz. While building his own mob ring, he romances Iris, the daughter of a man he killed. When Iris marries a cop, Schultz makes sure the cop goes bad and takes kickbacks from Schultz's organization. Iris goes back to the arms of Schultz, not knowing he's the man who killed her father.

Film Details

Genre
Adaptation
Biography
Crime
Release Date
Jan 1961
Premiere Information
New York opening: 19 Apr 1961
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Portrait of a Mobster by Harry Grey (New York, 1958).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 48m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White

Synopsis

In New York City during Prohibition, two smalltime hoodlums, Dutch Schultz and Bo Wetzel, join Legs Diamond's gang. While on a project for Diamond, Schultz oversteps his authority and kills a bootlegger, John Murphy, who has an attractive daughter named Iris. Though Schultz leaves Diamond to form his own mob, he is unable to forget Iris, and he persuades her to date him, despite her engagement to Frank Brennan, a young police detective. Upon learning that Schultz is a hoodlum, however, she rejects him and marries Frank. The newlyweds have a rough time of it financially, and before long the weak Frank is on Schultz's payroll of corrupt officials. When Iris learns of her husband's duplicity, she leaves him, becomes Schultz's mistress, and turns to alcohol for solace. After eliminating Legs Diamond and Mad Dog Coll, Schultz beats a criminal conspiracy rap and becomes New York's number one underworld czar. When Iris finally learns that it was Schultz who murdered her father, she moves into a rundown boarding house and becomes a hopeless alcoholic. Frank eventually finds her there, and the two decide to make a new life together. Schultz, meanwhile, is having trouble with the Mafia and he attempts to placate them by agreeing to allow his top lieutenants, including Bo, to be killed. The attack takes place, but, unknown to Schultz, the assassins have orders to kill him, too. Though he escapes, he is shot and killed by Bo, who, mortally wounded himself, mistakes Schultz for one of the assassins.

Film Details

Genre
Adaptation
Biography
Crime
Release Date
Jan 1961
Premiere Information
New York opening: 19 Apr 1961
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Portrait of a Mobster by Harry Grey (New York, 1958).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 48m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Spring April 1961

Released in United States Spring April 1961