Book review – “George Raft: The Man Who Would be Bogart” by Stone Wallace

I thought Lewis Yablonsky’s biography had Raft covered but this is a decent addition to Raft-ology. It has the advantage of being written after Raft’s death, so can be a little more critical of the star, his performances, etc eg access to Raft’s (considerably large) FBI file. The author has affection for Raft, plus the inevitable frustration that he could be such a dufus with his career. Despite all Raft’s troubles towards the end of his life (tax, career), I was glad to hear he spent his last few years in some comfort – despite having little money he was able to rely on the kindness of strangers, i.e. gangsters.