Kansas City Confidential (1952)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Rowland Brown (story)
George Bruce (writer)

Release Date:

11 November 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

Tagline:

Exploding! Like a gun in your face!

Plot:

An ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits.

Plot Keywords:

Armored Car | Florist | Heist | Armored Car Robbery | Crooked Cop

Cast

John Payne	...	Joe Rolfe / Peter Harris
Coleen Gray	...	Helen Foster / Punkin
Preston Foster	...	Tim Foster
Neville Brand	...	Boyd Kane
Lee Van Cleef	...	Tony Romano
Jack Elam	...	Peter Harris / Johnson
Dona Drake	...	Teresa
Mario Siletti	...	Tomaso
Howard Negley	...	Scott Andrews
Carleton Young	...	Asst. Dist. Atty. Martin
Don Orlando	...	Diaz (Tijuana cabbie)
Ted Ryan	...	Morelli

Also Known As:

The Secret Four (UK)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:(Banned) (1953) | Finland:K-16 (cut: 1955) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating: 2008) | Sweden:15

Company:

Associated Players & Producers

Trivia:

Veteran actor Preston Foster plays a character whose last name is also Foster.

Quotes:

Tony Romano: It don't take no big thinking to figure a couple of guys like us ain't in this bananaville on a vacation!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "M*A*S*H: The Gun (#4.13)" (1975)

The Perfect Heist

In Kansas City, the criminals Peter Harris (Jack Elam), Boyd Kane (Neville Brand) and Tony Romano (Lee Van Cleef) are individually hired by a stranger (Preston Foster) that plots the robbery of an armored car after receiving the money from a bank in the next door of a flower shop. However, each one of them wears masks and does not know the identities of the others; therefore they can not recognize each other. They succeed in the heist of 1.2 million dollars and escape in a van of the Western Florists, and the mentor of the robbery gives tickets to them to travel abroad, promising to share the money later. Meanwhile the decorated soldier and ex-con driver of the Western Florists van Joe Rolfe (John Payne) that is delivering flowers in the shop is framed. He is accused of participating of the heist, arrested and tortured by the police, loses his job, and when the police recognizes the mistake, he is released. Unemployed, he discovers that Peter Harris went to Tijuana, and he decides to chase the criminal and request one fifth of the amount.

"Kansas City Confidential" is a great film-noir, with a good story and development of the characters. John Payne has an excellent performance in the role of a former war hero that tries to have a straight life after some gambling problems, but is framed, loses his job and the rest of his honor and sees his picture in the front page of the news, becoming impossible to find a new job. This injustice triggers his search for the real criminals, not seeking for justice, but a share of the money. The characters, with the exception of the sweet Helen Foster, have some sort of amoral behavior, as usual in this genre. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os 4 Desconhecidos" ("The 4 Unknown")