''The Diamond'' is a 1954 British

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film Film director, director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. ...

(possibly jointly with

Dennis O'Keefe Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vance Flanagan; March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor. Early years O'Keefe was born in Fort Madison, Iowa, as Edward Vance Flanagan, the son of Edward J. Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan ( ...

), and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Margaret Sheridan and

Philip Friend Philip Wyndham Friend (20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex – 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey) was a British film and television actor. Career Britain Friend went to Bradfield College where he became interested in acting. He began a ...

. The screenplay was by

John C. Higgins John Clarence Higgins (April 28, 1908 – July 2, 1995) was a Canadian-American screenwriter. History During the 1930s and early 1940s, Higgins worked on mostly complex murder mystery films, including the Spencer Tracy film '' Murder Man'' (1 ...

, based on the 1952 novel '' Rich Is the Treasure'' by

Maurice Procter Maurice Procter (4 February 1906 – 28 April 1973) was an English novelist. He was born in Nelson, Lancashire, England. Early life Maurice Procter was born in Nelson, Lancashire, on 4 February 1906. His parents were Rose Hannah and William ...

. It was released by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

in Britain and in America, where it was known as ''The Diamond Wizard''. It is notable for being Britain's first

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...

, though according to the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, it was shown in 3D only once, on 13 September 2006 in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Despite the 2006 showing the film was listed on the

BFI 75 Most Wanted The BFI 75 Most Wanted is a list compiled in 2010 by the British Film Institute of the most sought-after British feature films not held in the BFI National Archive, and classified as "missing, believed lost". The films chosen range from quota ...

list of lost films. The 2D film, however, is not lost and can be viewed on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

while the restored 3D version was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in November 2022.

Plot

After a gang pulls off a heist to acquire freshly minted dollars, American Treasury Agent Joe Dennison pursues their trail to London. Dennison and Scotland Yard detective Hector McClaren attempt to break a racket involving the production of synthetic diamonds.

Production

The film was shot at

Walton Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.location filming Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

taking place in London and Hertfordshire. The film's sets were designed by

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Denis Wreford. It was produced by the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

British company Gibraltar Films for release by

. There is conflicting information about who directed ''The Diamond''. According to the

website the British release credited British B-picture veteran

as director, while the US release credited the film's American star, Dennis O'Keefe. However, the US print viewed by the reviewer of the

American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema i ...

credits Tully, while a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

video with the opening credits of a print bearing the British release title credits O'Keefe.

Cast

as Joe Dennison * Margaret Sheridan as Marline Miller *

as Inspector Hector McClaren *

Alan Wheatley Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the ...

as Thompson Blake *

Francis de Wolff Baron Francis-Marie Arist de Wolff (7 January 191318 April 1984) was an English character actor. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains and foreigners in both film and television. Early life De Wolff was born in Essex ...

as Yeo *

Eric Berry James Eric Berry (born December 29, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Safety (gridiron football position), safety for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played co ...

as Hunziger * Michael Balfour as Hoxie *

Gudrun Ure Gudrun Henderson Ure (12 March 1926 – 14 May 2024), also known as Ann Gudrun, was a Scottish actress, best known for her portrayal of the title character in the children's television series ''Super Gran''. Ure's career encompassed stage, film ...

as Sergeant Smith *

Paul Hardtmuth Paul Hardtmuth (2 July 1888 – 5 January 1962) was a British actor. He made his film debut in Germany in 1917, and appeared in and co-wrote the film ''Um der Liebe Willen'' in 1920. He was born in 1888 in Berlin, and died on 5 January 1962 in ...

as Dr. Eric Miller *

Colin Tapley Colin Edward Livingstone Tapley (7 May 1909 – 1 December 1995) was a New Zealand actor in both American and British films. Born in New Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictur ...

as Sir Stafford Beach *

Donald Gray Donald Gray (born Eldred Owermann Tidbury, 3 March 1914 – 7 April 1978) was a South African actor, well known for his starring role in the British TV series '' Mark Saber'', for providing the voices of Colonel White, Captain Black and the ...

as Commander Gilles *

Cyril Chamberlain Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 30 April 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early '' Carry On'', '' Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films. Chamberlain's first film appearance was in the 1936 Mich ...

as Castle * Seymour Green as Lascelles *

Betty McDowall Betty McDowall (14 August 1924 – 31 December 1993) was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1924. McDowall began her career as an actress on stage and radio in Sydney. Her first film, m ...

as Sergeant Graves * Alastair Hunter as Dr. Cully * Paul Carpenter as Mickey Sweeney * Philip Lennard as Sergeant Hunter * Victor Wood as Sam, fingerprint technician *

Molly Weir Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scottish actress. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series '' Rentaghost''. She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. Biog ...

as Mrs. Sayer *

Frank Forsyth Frank Forsyth (19 December 1905 – 2 May 1984), sometimes credited as Frank Forsythe, was an English actor, active from the 1930s. He was born on 19 December 1905 in London, England. He appeared in several TV programmes, including '' Department ...

as P.C. with taxi driver *

Patrick Jordan Albert Patrick Jordan (10 October 1923 – 10 January 2020) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography He was born and raised in Harrow, Middlesex, the son of Margaret, a cook, and Albert Jordan, a regimental sergeant major. An ...

as first Fox & Hounds detective * Gordon McLeod as Paul Hawkins *

Arthur Mullard Arthur Ernest Mullard ( né Mullord; 19 September 1910His obituary in ''The Times'' gives his date of birth as 10 November 1910 but conflicts with the birthdate given in his death registration. His year of birth appears as 1908, 1910, 1912 and 19 ...

as police informer *

Wensley Pithey Wensley Ivan William Frederick Pithey (21 June 1914 – 10 November 1993) was a South African character actor who had a long stage and film career in Britain. Biography Pithey was born in Cape Town, South Africa. A graduate of the University ...

as police sergeant

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' said "The deeply involved plot is strewn with red herrings to such an extent that the film becomes more baffling than entertaining, and never rises above commonplace 'B'' picture level. The Diamond was originally shot in 3-D, but the version shown is flat." ''

Kine Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. Etymology The word Kinematograph was derived from the Greek ' Kinumai ', (to move, to be in motion, to ...

'' said "The picture, originally made in 3-D, very nearly talks itself to a standstill during the early stages, but allows no grass to grow under its feet as it approaches its vivid pyrotechnic climax. Flames lick the good and the bad lads, and few will resist cheering when the rescue party puts in an appearance and the villain is consumed in the inferno. The leading characters display admirable composure in the most testing circumstances, and the stout portrayals of Dennis O'Keefe, Philip Friend and Margaret Sheridan as Joe, McClaren and Marlene, do much to mellow the rough stuff. Authentic Scotland Yard detail, too, acts as a cushion. In a word, "The Diamond " should cut some ice with the crowd, if not the intelligentsia." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Intricately developed thriller, though only the end is exciting. Originally made for 3D, but shown 'flat'."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Leaden cops-and-robbers which went out on the bottom of the bill instead of being shown in three dimensions." ''The

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

Guide to Films'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "A rare UK venture into 3D, this crime programme filler was shot in a process called Spacemaster. ... Mostly shown in its flat format, the film was jointly directed by its star and Montgomery Tully, who was something of a dab hand at atmosphere-free mysteries."

References

External links

British Film Institute 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * * *
''The Diamond''
at the BFI Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond (film), The 1954 films 1954 3D films 1954 crime films 1950s British films 1950s English-language films 1950s rediscovered films British 3D films British black-and-white films British crime films Film noir Films based on British novels Films directed by Montgomery Tully Films scored by Mátyás Seiber Films set in London Films set in Minneapolis Films shot at Nettlefold Studios Films shot in London Rediscovered British films United Artists films English-language crime films Gibraltar Films films