Kansas City Confidential (1952)

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

George Bruce (screenplay) and
Harry Essex (screenplay) ...
(more)

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 | Armored Car Robbery | Florist | Heist | Fishing Trip

Cast

John Payne	...	Joe Rolfe
Coleen Gray	...	Helen Foster
Preston Foster	...	Tim Foster
Neville Brand	...	Boyd Kane
Lee Van Cleef	...	Tony Romano
Jack Elam	...	Pete Harris
Dona Drake	...	Teresa
Mario Siletti	...	Tomaso
Howard Negley	...	Andrews
Carleton Young	...	Martin
Don Orlando	...	Diaz
Ted Ryan	...	Morelli
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Orlando Beltran	...	Porter (uncredited)
Ray Bennett	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
Barry Brooks	...	Player (uncredited)
Charles Cane	...	Det. Barney (uncredited)
Edward Coch	...	Airline Clerk (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Man at Craps Table (uncredited)
Tom Dillon	...	Policeman (uncredited)
George Dockstader	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Paul Dubov	...	Eddie (uncredited)
Paul Fierro	...	Mexican Policeman (uncredited)
Eddie Foster	...	Shooter (uncredited)
Tom Greenway	...	Policeman (uncredited)
William Haade	...	Det. Mullins (uncredited)
Al Hill	...	Stickman #2 (uncredited)
Harry Hines	...	News Vendor (uncredited)
Paul Hogan	...	Bouncer (uncredited)
Don House	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Vivi Janiss	...	Mrs. Rogers (uncredited)
Helen Kleeb	...	Mrs. Crane (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Stickman #3 (uncredited)
Roger Moore	...	News Vendor's Customer (uncredited)
House Peters Jr.	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Jailer (uncredited)
Sam Pierce	...	Workman (uncredited)
Joey Ray	...	Houseman (uncredited)
Carlos Rivero	...	Shooter (uncredited)
Ric Roman	...	Rick - Eddie's Brother (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Stickman #4 (uncredited)
Sam Scar	...	Player (uncredited)
Jack Shea	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Stickman #1 (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Player (uncredited)
Phil Tead	...	Mr. Collins (uncredited)
Archie Twitchell	...	Police Dispatcher (uncredited)
George Wallace	...	Olson (uncredited)
Kay Wiley	...	Woman (uncredited)
Jeff York	...	Captain McBride (uncredited)

Directed by
Phil Karlson

Writing credits
George Bruce		(screenplay) and
Harry Essex		(screenplay)
Harold Greene		(story) (as Harold R. Greene) and
Rowland Brown		(story)
Phil Karlson		uncredited
John Payne		uncredited

Produced by
Edward Small	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
George E. Diskant		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Buddy Small

Art Direction by
Edward L. Ilou

Set Decoration by
Edward R. Robinson		(as Ray Robinson)

Production Management
Ben Hersh	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ralph E. Black	....	assistant director (as Ralph Black)

Sound Department
Fred Lau	....	sound

Stunts
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joe King	....	wardrobe

Production Companies

• Associated Players & Producers

Distributors

• United Artists (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Adams Filmi (1955) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Finnkino (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1996) (Finland) (TV)

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:

Pete Harris: Okay wise guy, you found me. Now what?
Joe Rolfe: What's eatin' you?
Pete Harris: You been giving me the fisheye all night.

Movie Connections:

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

Good, But Tough To Live Up To That Opening

I liked this film but I got spoiled with the first 20-30 minutes. It started off so intense that I thought this was going to be fantastic: an incredibly edgy film noir. It still wound up good overall, but it never lived up to that great beginning.

The story slows down a bit once the scene shifts from the heist in Kansas City to the rendezvous of the bandits down in Mexico. It has as a full lulls here and there but still does enough things right to keep your interest.

What it does is right is emphasize two things that a good film noir provides: tension and paranoia. All the crooks are assembled in one spot but only the boss knows who the others are. They don't know what any of the gang members look like since all of the thieves had to wear masks throughout the planning and execution of the crime. However, since the boss hired them, he knows them all. Also, down in Mexico, the good guy in the film, "Joe Rolfe" (John Payne) is an impostor, pretending he's "Peter Harris," one of the crooks who got caught by the cops and knocked off just before heading south. Rolfe doesn't know, however, that the boss knows he's a phony. Payne's character got unfairly fingered in the robbery so he's down there trying to clear his name. All of this may sound complicated, but it isn't once you watch the film. Suffice to say it's interesting to see how all these guys slowly figure out who's who.

I thought "Tim Foster," played by Preston Foster, was the best character in the film, probably because he was right in the middle of everything. He was a bitter ex-cop and the brains behind the whole scheme, which could easily have been pulled off . He was just wasn't lucky, because he had a great plan.

One of the people he had to fool was his daughter, who surprises him down in Mexico and further complicates the situation. Colleen Gray plays "Helen Foster," but she doesn't really come into the story much until the last half hour. Her character did one implausible thing after another, things NO woman would do and softened the rough edges of this movie, which was a mistake. "Helen" wasn't even needed in this film. It would have been better as a straight male- only tough film noir.

Speaking of tough: how about this "Rogue's gallery:" Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef and Neville Brand? Now there are three good faces for this genre of film. They were the other gang members

There are a number of holes in this story, but you have to ignore them and go along for the ride which, for the most part, is a good one. It's recommended for all film noir buffs.