Kansas City Confidential

Moviecut—Kansas City Confidential

This is a decent noir but not up to the director's best. Strangely, almost none of it take place in Kansas City. Most of it is set in Mexico, where the robbers from KC have fled tpo pick up their loot. It's interesting to note how much times have changed in 50 years (and not necessarily for the better: In a pool-side scene, we see Gray, looking luscious with just a little extra flesh sticking out under the arms of her bathing suit straps. And Payne, shot through the back, has the same hanging out the back of his trunks. Just like real people. Of course in 203, the actors would have to spend months at the gym before shooting such a scene. Everyone looks suitable grim, except for Gray. Someone decided to make a young woman studying for the bar exam have makeup like a B-girl. She looks much more like the conventional bad girl than the good girl she plays.

Director Phil Karlson had an affinity for lean, tight, tough little crime thrillers ("99 River Street," "The Phenix City Story,") and he did several excellent ones with John Payne, this being one of their better collaborations. Payne is an ex-con trying to go straight who gets framed for committing a bank robbery, and by the time the cops (who come across in this picture as brutal, corrupt and somewhat stupid) find out he didn't do it, he's lost his job, he's broke and everything he's worked for since he got out of prison is ruined. Determined to find the men who did the robbery and framed him for it, he picks up their trail and follows them to Mexico. One of Karlson's strengths, apart from his hard-as-nails directing style, was in the way he cast his films, and here he has three of the nastiest bad guys who ever came down the pike: Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand and Jack Elam. A romantic subplot doesn't really work (they seldom do in Karlson's pictures) and tends to slow things down, but apart from that, this is a crackerjack thriller with a terrific performance from Payne, a solid one from Preston Foster and the usual fine villainy from Van Cleef, Brand and Elam. Check this one out.

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")

John Payne stars in "Kansas City Confidential," a 1952 noir also starring Preston Foster, Colleen Gray, Jack Elam, Neville Brand and Lee Van Cleef. Payne is Joe Rolfe, a WW II vet who delivers flowers for a living. He finds himself accused of a spectacular robbery of $1.2 million because the thieves used a truck like his as their escape vehicle. With the help of a buddy, he finds out that a criminal has split town suddenly for Mexico, and he goes there to locate the man and hopefully clear his own name. What he doesn't realize is that there were four thieves, and all of them wore masks to shield their identities from one another. When the man he's tracking is killed, Joe assumes his identity and goes to the place where the other thieves are supposed to await further instructions from their boss. Phil Karlson directed this good noir, which has an excellent cast that includes a favorite actress of mine, the lovely Coleen Gray as an ex-cop's daughter. She shows up at the locale to surprise her dad (Preston Foster), who is actually the mastermind of the heist. Like any actor who worked for 20th Century Fox, John Payne had to be versatile, and he was. Here he plays a rough-around-the-edges war hero who has to survive among thieves by being tougher than they are. The the man known as "The Singing Tyrone Power" at Fox pulls it off. A handsome leading man, here Payne steps into John Garfield territory with ease. Elam, van Cleef and Brand are as mean and low-down as you can get, and the film gets quite violent at times. The print I saw was very grainy; this wasn't a studio B movie but one made on the cheap, though the film was distributed by UA. However, it stands up very well next to other noirs of that era.

This is a nifty film noir that is a must for fans of the genre. It isn't as well known as other films by Phil Karlson, such as THE PHENIX CITY STORY or WALKING TALL, but for my money it's better than either of them. It predates PHENIX with that film's expose look, as KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL's climax is shot in a gritty, docudrama style. Only the sappy resolution in the conclusion disappoints (which was likely studio-imposed, just to temper the hard-edge of the film; see also FOLLOW ME QUIETLY). Nonetheless, it is a tightly-written noir with great mood and atmosphere. Another plus is the generous showcases given to classic bad guys Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand and Jack Elam, all so early in their careers.

As a kid in the 40's, reading comic books was a favorite avocation. But even at age 9 I knew there was a flaw in Superman--essentially horn rimmed glasses and a curled forelock were supposed to be enough to mask Clark Kent's super-identity. Now, along comes "Kansas City Confidential", where face-covering masks make the bad guys unrecognizable...or do they? Well, if this film were anything but childish...NO! I imagine that the hired heisters decide to compensate for their "cloaks of invisibility" by behaving as suspiciously as possible. Example, hiding in a Mexican resort, they insist on wearing sleazy suits more appropriate to Times Square than a fishing ranchero. Payne assumes the identity of a weasely character noted for his chain smoking, then proceeds to play poker without so much as lighting a match. I guess they're all in on the gag. The bad guys take turns acting as sullen and menacing as possible, and Payne, as the framed patsy is no better. Why not draw attention by snarling instead of talking? And why not skulk instead of ambling? Enough quibbling; even if I return to the quasi-innocence of my childhood, why put Kansas City in the title when almost all the action takes place in Mexico? And why would three hired henchmen settle for a torn playing card as a promise of payment? I did not need a suspension of belief so much as a suspension of credence. Oh, well, my advanced years(73+) may help me forget this film.

Preston Foster as the cop who wants his reputation and his job back is human enough, but as for the rest -- what a line-up of heavies. Neville Brand going chubby and coarse. Jack Elam of the chameleon eyes. And Lee Van Cleef, New Jersey's contribution to heavydom, along with Bruno Richard Hauptmann. And there's not an ounce of ambiguity or humanity among them. They're pure e-vil. The film itself, while in no way evil, is unfortunately not so hot. Phil Karlson has left some unexpected gems among the dross -- "Phoenix City Story," "Walking Tall." But this isn't one of the gems. Aside from the limitations imposed on it by a small budget, this B movie lacks finesse. Every other shot is a gigantic looming closeup of somebody's sweaty, greedy face. It's pretty violent for a 1952 film though. During one of the many scuffles it appears that two of the guys get punched in the jewels. John Payne isn't bad. He's just unremarkable, along the lines of, say, MacDonald Carey. You can't object to him because there's nothing really there to object to. Colleen Gray has sparkling eyes and tiny red lips that can suddenly explode into a dazzling smile. Her chirpy voice moves in leaps and bounds. Often, when she says "going to" and "you", they come out as "gonna" and "ya". She's utterly charming. I don't care if she IS a lawyer, she's still winning. The story is complicated, improbable, and full of holes. The script is no help whatever. A robbery takes place and Payne, who knows nothing about it, is interrogated by the police. They beat hell out of him for two days. Then, finding out that he was set up for a frame, they tell him they know he's innocent and let him go. Nevertheless, he's fired from his job. The first thing he does is run to an old buddy asking for help because "I've got to clear myself." Clear himself of what? He can't have much money because his job was driving a flower delivery truck, yet he spends a good deal of money tracking down the robbers, following them to a raffish Mexican town. The transfer to the DVD I saw was lousy and maybe this has influenced my judgment of the film itself. It looked like it was a kine scope copy, filmed directly from a TV show. Someone else might like it more than I did. I didn't find it hateful, though, just unengaging.

The cast was promising, John Payne, Preston Foster, Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, Jack Elam and Coleen Gray. But, I am afraid the script and the direction, Phil Karlson, just dropped the ball for me. I know that certain movies overlook plot failures, which some people think add to a movie's allure, but not me. It just reeks of amateurism and dilutes the quality of real craftsmanship when we accept blunders as 'uniqueness' rather than what they are. First, the case of the missing driver? there are four men involved in a bank robbery. FOUR...yet, when they drive their getaway truck into a semi-tractor trailer...the four...FOUR are all in the trailer as the brains of the operation gives each some dough to tied them over until they split up the loot...then, has one of the gang(Elam)..jump off the moving truck...Ah, whose driving the tractor trailer...automatic pilot? Second, the case of the open and shut door? when Elam's character meets the boss in his hotel room. The boss sees him in the mirror of his dresser, as he puts on his mask. Yet, has to open the bedroom door to enter the room with Elam? How did we see Elam enter the room? Third, the case of the missing boat captain? When Foster's character meets his buddy on the dock...Foster is seen jumping off his boat to tie it to the dock. You hear in the background the motor revving up and shutting down by itself? Four, I meet you in Mexico? Foster writes his buddy in KC to come down to Mexico. When he arrives he tells him he is about to break the KC bank job. I contact you when I have them all set up...okay, I am Foster's best friend, he invites me to Mexico..which, I immediately drop what I am doing and go down to visit...then we don't hang around with each other? sure... Five: I think he is in TJ? Elam's character literally jumps off a moving tractor trailer, with secret instructions and money to stay in TJ. But, Payne's war buddy, brother...KNOWS were Elam is and just follow the crap games and chain smokers and you'll find him? Why didn't the cops figure that one out..follow the cigarette butts to Elam? I like John Payne, but when he tries to act tough, he always speaks under his breathe and it got annoying. Elam and Van Cleef were Payne's punching bags in this movie. Only, Foster, Gray-under utilized and Brand came out of this one with some distinction. So, I am sorry but this movie really sucks and should be on MST3000 instead of having some pretty prestigious grade by IMDb. I prefer to honor films that deserve more distinction than this one.

A huge disappointment from the director of some real taut, smart crime flicks such as "99 River Street" and "Scandal Sheet". This one is clumsily plotted, poorly scripted and cheap-looking. It substitutes gallons of sweat for real tension (it may be the sweatiest movie I've ever seen.) And it's barely even set in Kansas City! The majority of it takes place in one of those low, low budget third world country sets. You know, generic bungalow, ceiling fans, palm trees. About halfway in, after Jack Elam gets slapped around entertainingly by John Payne, Coleen Gray appears for absolutely no good reason as (TA DAA!) the depressingly obligatory love interest. The action grinds to a halt, the routine plot keeps getting explained and re-explained in the most perfunctory, lame-brained fashion. Characters continuously talk to each other in a painfully stilted, exposition-heavy way, and it all bogs down and becomes terribly tedious. I'm not sure what happened here. The editing is skittish, uncertain, so maybe there was studio interference or post production difficulties of some kind. Hard to fathom how this could be from the same director/star tandem of "99 River Street". Also hard to comprehend how it could have such a high rating here and a good review from Maltin. Those assessments are wildly inaccurate. A lot of quality people involved (though the mastermind Preston Foster makes little impression and appears under-directed and purpose-less in most of his scenes) but this is not a well made film. Not even close.