The rivalry mid-50s London rivalry between gangsters Jack 'Spot' Comer and Billy Hill is being immortalised in film Once Upon A Time.
THE rivalry between two notorious London gangsters dubbed "The Robin Hood of the East End" and "The Boss of the Underworld" will be immortalised in a film.
Once Upon a Time in London depicts the violent reign of Jack "Spot" Comer and then Billy Hill in the capital that lasted until the mid-fifties - and includes a cameo from ex-footballer Jamie O'Hara.
Before the Kray twins and The Richardson "Torture" Gang in the 1960s, Spot and Hill were the razor-blade wielding faces of organised crime in the capital.
Infamous bruiser Spot is said to have joined his first gang aged seven when boys from the Jewish side of his Whitechapel street fought the Catholic lads from the Irish end of the road.
As his influence grew, he recruited crooks to enforce a protection racket that took in most of England's major racecourses.
Raised in a ghetto street he was soon living in a palatial Marylebone flat and being driven around London in a Cadillac convertible.
He was coined "Spot" either because of the mole on his cheek or because whenever there was trouble he was always on the spot (his version).
Spot described himself as the "Robin Hood of the East End", who would travel up to Leeds, Manchester or Glasgow to fight rivals who threatened Jewish businesses.
He and his mob would reportedly deal with rivals by using cut-throat razors.
Spot also told of his preference for punching men as they stood at a pub's urinals.
He said: "Bump, down he goes, into the piss".
Spot was known for his anti-fascist activities and was allegedly behind a £1.25m heist on a warehouse at London Airport (now Heathrow) in July 1948 that was intercepted by Scotland Yard's Flying Squad.
From the mid 1940s Spot worked with Hill, making huge profits from brothels, drinking clubs and gaming rooms, as well as taking "protection" cash from businesses across the capital.
Hill was jailed for his part in the London Airport robbery but by the time he was released, in 1952, he was ready to usurp his former partner.
That year Hill masterminded the famous 1952 Eastcastle Street robbery of £230,000 from a Post Office van just off Oxford Street - equivalent to around £7.5m today.
I was always careful to draw my knife down on the face, never across or upwards
London gangster Billy Hill
Hill published an autobiography titled 'Boss of Britain's Underworld' where he detailed how he "striped" his rivals with a blade or "chiv".
He liked to carve a "V for victory" sign on his victims' faces but insisted "chivving" was only deployed as a last resort.
He wrote: "I was always careful to draw my knife down on the face, never across or upwards. Always down. So that if the knife slips you don't cut an artery.
"After all, chivving is chivving, but cutting an artery is usually murder. Only mugs do murder."
In 1956 Spot and his wife Rita were brutally attacked by Hill's bodyguard "Mad" Frankie Fraser.
After that Spot withdrew from the criminal underworld. He died in 1996, aged 83.
As the Krays and Richardsons came to prominence, Hill retired from crime in the 1970s.
Reggie Kray explained how Hill was his criminal role model.
He said: "When I was in my early 20s the man I wanted to emulate most of all was the former gang boss of London's underworld, Billy Hill.
"The prime reason for my admiration was, that apart from Billy being very physical and violent when necessary, he had a good, quick-thinking brain."
Hill died on New Year's Day 1984, aged 72.
The film showing the gangster's rivalry will be released later this year.
Director Simon Rumley said: "The story of Jack 'Spot' Comer, Billy Hill and their respective battles to become King of London’s Underworld has remained one of Britain’s most dynamic, thrilling and untold stories, but we’ll be exploring it in depth, with psychological dexterity and aiming to make it a unique viewing experience and a great British film."
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