Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS*** A robotic looking as well as acting David Janssen plays big time gangster Arnold Rothstein the man with the "Big Bankroll" who broke his father Abraham's, Jeseph Schildkraut,-An observant and synagogue going man of the Jewish faith-heart by not studying to become a rabbi or cantor and even worse later marrying a "Shiksa"-A woman not of the Jewish religion-Carolyn Green, Dianne Forster, who to add insult to injury refused to convert to Judaism. But the biggest and baddest thing that Arnold did was getting involved with the mob in becoming its major bag-man and financier that had him end up losing every thing he had, including his life, by the time the movie ended.We get to see Arnold work himself up the ladder of organized crime since he was a teenager with his good friend "Irish" Johnny Burke, Mickey Rooney, whom he later set up to get rubbed out by the mob. That by Arnold tricking him to testify against corrupt cop Let. Phil Butler, Dan O'Herlihy, who's been a pain in Arnold and Johnny's butts since they were teenagers running numbers for the local mobsters. It's later that he had Butler who was behind Burke being rubbed out get arrested indited convicted as well as executed, all within a 24 hour period, by getting those he hired to knock Burke off to testify against him. With his wife Carolyn having nothing at all to do with him Arnold soon found out that all the palaces of interest his was involved in, gambling dens speakeasies and whore houses, were closed to him leaving him out in the cold.****SPOILERS**** Finally finding a crap game that he was invited into Arnold was set up to be knocked off by his fellow card players who plugged him under the table as he finally got the hand of a lifetime-A Royal Flush-that eluded him all his life. Still even when shot Arnold was impeccably dressed and groomed-without even as much as a strand of his hair out of place-without his clothes mussed up or stained by his blood as he staggered out of the room and was hospitalized where he died, still in perfect and pristine condition,the next day.The movie concentrated so much on Arnold's love life as well as double-crossing his friends and associates that it completely overlooked his biggest crime that almost destroyed organized Baseball the infamous 1919 "Black Sox" scandal. You never really get to see and appreciate just what a big man in the world of crime that Arnold Rothstein really was. He comes across as a petty crook who never gets beyond running a second rate gambling den which is always getting raided instead of him being the big time operator that he really was.P.S The movie "King of the Roaring Twenties" turned out to be actor Jack Carson's-As "Big Jim" O'Brian-last movie appearance.

Robert J. Maxwell Sometimes actors do quite well on the small television screen. With their features filling 225 square inches, every blink, every jactitation, every fleeting suggestion of a smile registers like an earthquake. Then, when the actor appears in feature films, lamentably, we get to see that there isn't that much behind the momentary disarrangement. That's what seems to have happened to David Janssen. Not that he may have been anything other than a nice guy in real life, but that he had only two or three notes on his instrument."King of the Roaring Twenties" has a script by a Hollywood craftsman but it's as dull as some bent piece of old pewter found in a dark attic corner, and much of the responsibility is Janssen's. After all, Arnold Rothstein was a monumental figure in the world of gambling and organized crime. He was the Louis B. Mayer of the syndicate, larger than life. Michael Lerner turned him into an unforgettable figure in "Eight Men Out." And what do we get from David Janssen. A kind of nice, polite, quiet guy who has a habit of looking up shyly from his lowered head, whose voice hardly rises above a tranquil and reasoned moderato. He gets no help from the director, Joseph M. Newman. A viewer feels that if Janssen could do it, he'd actually erase himself from the screen, leaving a small hole behind. The other actors all walk through their parts except for the thumotic Mickey Rooney.The story, anyway, borrows from all the other stories of the rise and fall of gangster figures. The protagonist must sacrifice his old childhood friend on the altar of his megalomania; the young cop who warned him early in his career must go on to plague him as an adult; and, if possible, the guy must be assassinated, and preferably in some public place.As irritating as anything else is the kind of attention paid to wardrobe and the musical score. This is the early years of the 20th century -- Rothstein was at his peak in 1916 and died in 1928 -- yet the characters wear modern suits, except, in a nod to period fashion, the suits generally have vests and the hats sometimes bear a family resemblance to a derby.Franz Waxman must have been asleep at the switch when he wrote the music. It's all undemanding modernistic jazz, with not a tango or a Charleston in a cartload.What a terrible bore.

boblipton With a screenplay by Jo Swerling, this should have been a dynamite movie. However, with direction by Joseph M. Newman, it winds up being a pointless B movie. No action, no movement, not even really any clear character....Given a desire to portray an enigmatic character, David Janssen was a potentially perfect choice for the role of Arnold Rothstein, boss gambler and the man who may have fixed the 1919 World Series. Janssen had a striking ability to show an intelligent character clearly engaged in the moment even as he evaluates the situation disinterestedly, an acting ability that he used to perfection on the small screen in both THE FUGITIVE and HARRY O. Yet, except for his scenes with Mickey Rooney (who finally got the chance in this movie to stretch himself in a real acting assignment and comes off as the best in the cast), we get little of that. Instead we get a movie in which each plot point is mechanically foreshadowed and then shown in a rather dull fashion.There are a few standout performances: Dan O'Herlihy as the corrupt cop is great, but all he does is make you wish the movie is about him. What's going on in his mind and why? Joseph Schildkraut handles his couple of scenes with dignity and care. Jack Carson slides through his role as the head gangster in his typical bluff, understated manner. But the center of this movie starts nowhere, leads nowhere and takes no advantage of any of the strengths of the talents involved.

thinker1691 When I first started going to the movies, I found many actors who had such charisma, I found I was overwhelmed with their persona. Thus it was when I came to select, David Janssen as my all time favorite star. I have seen every movie he has ever made. The good, the bad and the ones I believe, he should have passed by. This is one such film. I so admire Janssen that he is super cool as a private detective, like Richard Diamond, crafty as O'Hara Treasury Agent and he is ultra believable as the innocent escapee, in the TV series, The Fugitive. But although he portrayed 1920's gangster Arnold Rothstein, he is far from threatening enough to personify the infamous double dealing, backstabbing hoodlum who became notorious during the age of the flapper. Furthermore, his sidekick Johnny Burke (Mickey Rooney) played his role as an ignorant stooge and thus garnered more sympathy, than admiration. Finally there was Dan O'Hererlihy, terrific as many an Irishman, but overbearing as a corrupt cop. Ultimately, the story of Arnold Rothstein, social criminal and despicable character, will have to wait until, Hollywood finds somebody, deplorable enough to be hated for what he really was. That surely was not my favorite thespian. **