User Reviews

The Diamond Wizard (1954)

A goofy, lighthearted, sprawling smuggling and international crime film. Yes, a contradiction. But boy are there zany aspects, like the low-tech high stakes attempts to make diamonds artificially. And the main characters are a British and an American agent both after the same charming American woman who is suddenly in town.

You might enjoy this as a spoof (which it is not), or as pure camp (which it almost is). There are false foreign accents, talking and reading from criminal files, and constant back and forths (with literal winking) between the two men, who seem to work well together by doing the same thing at the same time.

The odd thing is it's all kind of fun. It helps to have something else to do while watching--you won't miss any details, I think, since it putters along with easy to follow twists. The one scene to watch is the opening one, which gives away not only the very low budget limitations but also the basic characters involved. At other points there are little delights--like when the ship's whistle blows and we see the top of a ship, until the camera pulls back and you find we are looking at a model.

So, if you don't mind a little silly romp with lots of scenes and a fairly ambitious scope, but with a frivolous and frankly low quality aspect, you might just like this. It's not awful, which is something. Parts of it look like they were shot in Frankenstein's castle. And there is a really terrific escalator scene that is almost worth it right there, toward the end, better than the movie deserves. And what are "pure galvanized iron filings" you might ask?

One of those chatty Brit crime films with American guest stars that's the cinema version of a comfortable sweater, a good a way as any to spend 84 minutes watching TV. The two best reasons to watch it: the end with a fight by a giant, futuristic looking electrical furnace belching flames and Margaret Sheridan doing justice to a tight sweater, speaking of sweaters. There's also a British policewoman who's very arresting.

An American Treasury agent (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with a Scotland Yard inspector (Philip Friend) to track down a group of thieves that are creating artificial diamonds out of sugar.

This film seems to be a bit of a mystery. The BFI considers it lost, despite prints being readily available -- even on YouTube and Netflix. And then the director is a bit of a debate. Whether the print is the American or English one, the director name is switched. The film itself does not seem to be different in different prints.

The plot is pretty good, and the idea of synthetic diamonds is interesting. One has to wonder... could synthetic diamonds be made so well that there would be no real chemical difference?

IMDb Trivia: One of the "75 Most Wanted" films listed by the British Film Institute as "Missing, believed lost".

I saw this film on Netflix, so apparently it is NOT lost--at least not any more.

Dennis O'Keefe plays a Treasury Department agent who has been sent to Britain. This is because there may be an organization that has learned to produce perfect diamonds--ones that are so perfect it could destroy the market. The trail leads to a scientist--a scientist who has disappeared. Although the chances are ridiculous, the wanted man's daughter just happens to be a lady that the Treasury man was dating! He's afraid to tell her about everyone's suspicions about her father and he and Scotland Yard are baffled.

This is a decent British version of film noir. While it's not quite as dark as many films in the genre, it is tough and violent and enjoyable. However, it does start off very slowly--so keep watching and don't give up on this one--it's worth it.

If you do watch a couple things you should note. First, at one point in the film they talk about a remarkable fake diamond being produced in 1924. While it was believed in 1954 that this was true, apparently this was a hoax and that part isn't mentioned in the film. Second, when O'Keefe is chased by a truck he's knocked onto the cobblestones. Watch closely--these cobblestones bounce--revealing they are clearly props.

Likable actor Dennis O'Keefe made a couple of films in England in the '50s. "The Diamond Wizard" from 1954 is his baby all the way - he wrote the original story using a pseudonym (Jonathan Rix), he directed it, and he starred in it.

O'Keefe plays Joe Dennison, a Treasury Dept. investigator in England trying to find a gang who stole a million dollars from a treasury vault and also killed his partner. One of the criminals apparently is in England to buy fake diamonds, though they realize he must be coming by ship because he as of yet isn't in England.

The Scotland Yard inspector, McClaren, is working with Dennison on the case while also searching for Dr. Eric Miller, an atomic scientist who has disappeared. His daughter, who came to England to join her father, has a broach with phony diamonds, made by her father. So is he somehow involved with the thieves? This isn't a very interesting film until the end, where the location is an incredible castle. The whole end moves at a great pace, is suspenseful and atmospheric. I wish the whole movie had been that way. It's odd in the way it starts out as somewhat light, with both men competing for the missing man daughter's affections, and then has this big ending. Both lead actors, O'Keefe and Philip Friend (the inspector) are very charming.

The story is derivative, but I love the idea of the phony diamonds -- there are so many of these today, and they even mention Moissan, whose product, Moissanite is available (and expensive) today.

Using the non-de-plume of Jonathan Rix, his grandfather's name, Dennis O'Keefe hied himself over to England and sold this story (with screenplay by John C. Higgins) and ended up as the star and (credited) director of this film that was merely a slight---primarily geography and accents---remake of at least a half-dozen American B-westerns with the plot gimmick revolving around a heroine's scientist father being kidnapped and forced to counterfeit something---diamonds, in this instance---for a gang of crooks. One of the readily available horses-and-sagebrush versions is 1941's "Dude Cowboy" from RKO with Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds and Byron Foulger essaying the roles taken here by O'Keefe, Margaret Sheridan and Paul Harmuth. Give "Dude" the edge over "Diamond" on the strength of Ray Whitley's songs.

Because of cheaper production costs, many Hollywood projects were moving abroad during this time period. This movie appears one of them. Add the 3-D effects from that short-lived craze, and the movie dates itself. Though working through a rather complex storyline, the 83-minutes amounts to a pretty good crime drama. American O'Keefe and Britisher Friend are cops collaborating in good allied fashion to run down a gang of crooks traveling from the US to Britain. Their aim is to buy a million dollars of fake diamonds. Seems the classy Sheridan's elderly father has a formula for creating the fakes that could upset whole economies if spread. So our two cops have their work cut out.

Some good touches like action on the escalator and 3-D sparks flying-at-you lend visual interest. Then too, byplay between the two male leads is cleverly scripted and well acted. Production also makes good use of London locations that lend color. And how about that whiz-bang ending that had me thinking world's end. And, boy, I sure could have used more scenes with the delectable Ms Sheridan. On other hand, the plot development tends to get turgid and over-crowded at times. Nonetheless, the sum total is a pretty good thriller deserving of 6 and1/2 stars.

The Golden Age has given us such a varied roster of genres so far on blu-ray, and each film brings something unique to the vintage funhouse. For The Diamond Wizard, I was intrigued by the prospect of period location shots of 1950s England. Nothing brings a setting and an era to life like 3-D photography, and the filmmakers didn't disappoint. It's a poised, polished and very enjoyable police procedural with noir elements.

The two male stars (Dennis O'Keefe and Philip Friend) play well off each other and contrast nicely as characters, the brash American (O'Keefe) drawing his Scotland Yard counterpart out of his staid shell, always with a friendly nudge. Margaret Sheridan shines as both romantic interest and a potential lead in the case. She's spirited and playful without being a full-blown femme fatale. The supporting cast is very good, and I especially like how each character, down to the smallest part, is given a little quirk to make them memorable, reminiscent of I, The Jury.

Story-wise, it's solid and well-paced. It's also easy to follow. The quaint forensic and investigative techniques are entertaining and informative. There are a couple of twists, but they didn't surprise me all that much. I liked that the action finale didn't outstay its welcome.

The 3-D is better than I hoped it would be. The exterior street shots are incredibly atmospheric, while the interiors are always set up to maximize the sense of space just in front of and behind the frame. It has an elastic effect on the visual field, making us forget where the actual screen is. That's the opposite of a gimmick; it's immersive because it draws us in intuitively. I was always aware of the 3-D but never distracted by it (apart from a few fun pop-outs), and loved every second.

The English setting makes it a personal favourite, but it would be a top-tier Golden Age 3-D title even without that. The impeccable 3-D is complemented by a fun detective yarn, a polished screenplay, and rock-solid performances. Not to mention another outstanding restoration by the 3DFA, one of their best yet. I couldn't ask for more than that.

This is an interesting 3D with a British touch, and it's a luck that Kino Lorber and the 3D Film Archive have jointly taken the task of restoring it. As explained in the extras, it was shot in 3D but never released that way in its time, as the 3D trend had declined. So now we can enjoy watching it as it was intended to be screened.

The story, whether 3D or normal viewing, is interesting enough. A federal agent joins forces with a British Scotland Yard colleague to catch a band of synthetic-diamond makers and rescue the scientist who has joined them. Both agents also doubt if the scientist's daughter is willing to help or only trying to fool them. Contrasting with Philip Friend who effectively plays his less emotional British counterpart, Dennis O'Keefe adds the spark to the pair; he does not only act but also directed this picture, and both jobs he does well.

Not only the polarized version is great, also the anaglyphic one (complimentary glasses are included) offers a nice medium-depth effect. The image is sharp if a little grained, and compared to the unrestored version (both shown side-by-side in the extras as usually) contrast is improved - good for the restoration team. The 3D effect is much more apparent with the polarized glasses, though.

A sample of the anaglyphic version can be watched at Youtube (see External Links section).

An otherwise very British style picture with sober acting, no over-use of 3D visual tricks, more documentary-style than American productions yet with a well balanced amount of action.

So good that they have restored it. Another treat for 3D affectionates. More 3D classics coming, please!

THE DIAMOND WIZARD is a nondescript British potboiling thriller of 1954 that feels like an odd mixture of American and British influence. The story is about a gang of kidnappers who get hold of a scientist in order to force him to make some artificial diamonds for them. The authorities are hot on the trail and slowly close in as the narrative progresses. Sadly, this contains absolutely nothing remarkable about it from beginning to end, content to go through the motions without ever innovating or offering very much in the way of suspense, depth, or intrigue. Michael Balfour is a delight as always, but that's about it.

Basically a lot of cliches of the genre stuck together. However I did enjoy the shooitout on the escalators at St Johns Wood station. My favourite fifties villain,Allen Wheatley up to his dastardly schemes,as usual.