Kansas City Confidential (1952)

 

The picture that hits with BULLET FORCE and BLACKJACK FURY! 

The 1952 cinematic pulp noir thriller Kansas City Confidential can't be charged with false advertising; its 99 minute running time is lean meat and tough gristle, with very little fat to work around. A disgruntled ex-police captain (Foster) returns to Kansas City to plot a major bank heist with the help of three guns-for-hire. The plan? After carefully monitoring the schedule of traffic in, out, and around the opening moments of a local bank, our p.o.'d p.o. decides to stage a robbery of the armored money truck by pulling up to the front of the bank as the guards are unloading the cash, in a flower delivery truck that resembles one driven by our hapless hero (John Payne), who stops in front of the bank himself each morning to make nearby deliveries. The three hoods employed would never know each other, nor the big man calling the shots, because all of their dealings are done wearing off-putting masks that resemble something I've seen elsewhere, but can't put my finger on at this moment (and yes, it bugs me). That way, if something goes afoul, no one could rat out anyone else involved, because only Mr. Big knew who was in the gang, or, for that matter, where the money was.

Preston Foster lays down the law to Jack Elam and Neville Brand

 

The robbery goes off without a hitch, at least for the hoods, who disperse to different countries at the command of their leader until summoned for the payoff. Not so lucky is our protagonist, actual flower delivery man Joe Rolfe (Payne) who is snagged, held, and repeatedly beaten into coercion by the KCPD as a person of interest and suspect in the hold up. You see, Joe has a year in the pen under his belt due to a gambling issue, which leads the police to believe he's returned to back alley betting and that he pulled off the heist to cover his debts.  Eventually, after days of false imprisonment and rough treatment, Rolfe gets turned loose, and, of course, sets out on a quest to clear his name and find the men responsible for his frame-up. Along the way we are presented with the requisite number of plot twists and tight-knuckled happenstance that pushes the story along, including the introduction of love interest and lawyer-in-training Helen Foster (Gray), the daughter of our master criminal. While the film is a taut caper and revenge film, it doesn't stray into nihilistic Cornell Woolrich or Jim Hunter territory, and even ends on a the typical Hollwood up-note.

Joe Rolfe (John Payne) gets stopped and hassled by the entire Kansas City PD.

Kansas City Confidential is a satisfying thriller with all of the familiar, dog-eared ingredients that a noir thriller of this time period would (and should) have, without insulting the audience's intelligence. The cast is padded out with who's who of familiar character actors, including our three crooks–Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef and Neville Brand; TV western regular Ric Roman; b-movie familiar (The Leech Woman, The Vampire) Colleen Gray; as well as our principle players, the multi-talented Preston Foster and John Payne, in a much different role than perhaps his most famous one from five years prior in Miracle On 34th Street. The picture was directed by Phil Karlson, who helmed Joe Don Baker's cult Buford T. Pusser biopic Walking Tall (1973), the killer rat film Ben (1972), the initial entry in the Dean Martin camp adaptations of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm novels, The Silencers (1966), and the teen-oriented, surf picture Ride The Wild Surf (1964), starring Fabian and Shelley Farbares.

Pete Harris (Jack Elam) wants answers from Tim Foster (Preston Foster).

 Writing credits go to George Bruce, who wrote or co-wrote a number of quick adventure pictures in the late 30's and the 40's (The Return Of Monte Cristo 1946, South Of Pago Pago 1940), and moved into television in the 50's, writing episodes of noir programs like Tightrope and Johnny Midnight; and to Harry Essex, who would go on to pen screenplays for classic Universal science-fiction films The Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) and It Came From Outer Space (1953), among other things.

Mexican lobby card for Kansas City Confidential, translated into spanish as "The Fourth Man".

 

 

 

 

Dir. - Phil Karlson, Screenplay - Harry Essex and George Bruce, Music - Paul Sawtell, Cinematography - George E. Diskant; Editor - Buddy Small, Producer(s) - Ben Hersh. Released through: United Artists.

Cast - John Payne - Joe Rolfe, Preston Foster - Tim Foster, Colleen Gray - Helen Foster, Jack Elam - Pete Harris, Neville Brand - Boyd Kane, Lee Van Cleef - Tony Romano, Dona Drake - Teresa.