Themes: Police Corruption, Flight of the Innocent, Assumed Identities
Main Cast: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston S. Foster, Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand
Release Year: 1952
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Kansas City Confidential, Phil Karlson's low (low) budget, B-grade film noir, opens on a Kansas City armored-car robbery perpetrated by cynical, corrupt ex-policeman Timothy Foster (Preston S. Foster). Foster devises an outrageous scheme: he will recruit three of the most vicious and unrelenting criminals he can find (screen heavies Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam and Neville Brand) to undertake a robbery, blackmailing them into the heist with incriminating evidence from other "jobs." As an eccentric and clever conceit, Foster forces each of the perpetrators to wear masks, thus concealing their identities from one another and preventing the old pitfall of the men squealing and backstabbing. The heist comes off without a scratch, but a complication arises when the ignorant cops pick up an unrelated fellow, Joe Rolfe (John Payne) for his ownership of a van similar to the one used in the caper. In time, Rolfe is cleared, but he grows irate over the accusations and sets off to find Foster and co. and teach them a lesson. He finally happens upon one of the perpetrators in Mexico, beats him nearly to death, and assumes the victim's identity - and that's when things really get complicated. Though produced under the Hays Code censorship regulations, Kansas City Confidential constituted one of the most brutal and violent crime pictures made up through that time; as such, it retains historical significance. It also claims a strong cult following. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Review
Kansas City Confidential's B-movie roots are abundantly clear, but that doesn't keep it from being an effective little excursion into the world of film noir. Indeed, in some strange way, its cheapness adds to its effectiveness; its protagonist, after all, is a cheap ex-con who has to get by on his wits and his fists, in the same way that director Phil Karlson had to use his limited resources. And both the protagonist and Karlson are fully committed to getting what they aim for, even when they aren't 100 percent sure what it is. The screenplay has a great heist gimmick, a clever premise that sets everything in motion; but too soon, it starts stretching credibility, and a lot of the twists and doubling back seems to be there because the writers didn't know what else to do rather than because they were what the story specifically needed. Karlson doesn't care, though; if part of the plot is a little contrived, he just employs one of his trademark super close-ups to invest it with supposed meaning. If a confrontation lacks a little sense, he frames those involved in such a way as to emphasize the power struggle and force some sense into the scene. Karlson's cast helps, with great bad guy turns from the likes of Preston S. Foster and Lee Van Cleef and a terribly appealing good girl job from the stunning Coleen Gray. John Payne, in the lead, is the question mark, as he tends toward the bland; but his work here is solid, and the very fact that he has no established screen persona keeps us guessing about what he's up to and whether he'll succeed. Kansas City Confidential's flaws keep it from being a classic, but it's a lot of fun. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Jack Elam - Harris; Howard Negley - Andrews; Mario Siletti - Timaso; Dona Drake - Teresa; Helen Kleeb - Mrs. Crane; Vivi Janiss - Mrs. Rogers; Ted Ryan - Morelli; George Wallace - Olson; Don Orlando - Diaz; Orlando Beltran - Porter; Ray Bennett - Prisoner; Barry Brooks - Player; Charles Cane - Detective Mullins; Thomas P. Dillon; Paul Dubov - Eddie; Paul Fierro - Police; Eddie Foster - Player; Tom Greenway - Police; William Haade - Detective Barney; Al Hill - Shooter; Harry Hines - News Vendor; House Peters, Jr. - Police; Lee Phelps - Jailer; Sam Pierce - Workman; Ric Roman - Brother; Frank Scannell - Stickman; Sam Scar - Player; Charles Sherlock - Stickman; Charles Sullivan - Player; Phil Tead - Collins; Archie Twitchell - Police; Carleton Young - Assistant District Atty. Martin; Jack Shea - Police; Joe Ray - Houseman; George Dockstader - Police; Michael Lally - Shooter; Brick Sullivan - Police; Don House - Police; Carlos Rivero; Kay Wiley - Woman; Tom Dillon - Police
Four robbers hold up an armored truck getting away with over a million dollars in cash. Joe Rolfe (John Payne), a down-on-his-luck flower delivery truck driver is accused of being involved and is roughly interrogated by local police. Released due to lack of evidence, Joe, following the clues to a Mexican resort, decides to look for the men who set him up both to clear his name and to exact revenge. What he doesn’t know is that the heist involves a retired policeman who is also intent on revenge.
In Kansas City Confidential, perennial movie bad guys Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand and Jack Elam play thugs and criminal associates. Although the title would suggest that the story takes place in Kansas City, most of the film actually takes place at a fictitious fishing resort in Mexico. Kansas City Confidential was director Karlson's second crime film; he also directed Scandal Sheet, also released in 1952, which proved to be a modest commercial success. This movie's plot was the inspiration for Tarantino'sReservoir Dogs.[2]
Marketing
The producers used the following tagline to market the film:
Exploding like a gun in your face!
Critical reception
The staff at Variety magazine said, "With exception of the denouement, director Phil Karlson reins his cast in a grim atmosphere that develops momentum through succeeding reels. Payne delivers an impressive portrayal of an unrelenting outsider who cracks the ring.[3]
More recently, when the film was released in DVD format, film critic Gary Johnson said, "This is prime Karlson. It's brutal, hard-edged, and unflinching, but it's also livened by a distinct streak of optimism. Whereas some directors of film noir preferred the deterministic pessimism of Out of the Past and Raw Deal, Karlson tempered the surface cynicism of his films with an underlying sense of hope."[4]
