Kansas City Confidential(1952).Noir/crime film. Director: Phil Karlson. Cast: John Payne. Karlson and Payne teamed up a year later for another noir, titled 99 River Street, followed by a 1955 color film, Hell's Island.
Retired police captain Tim Foster, has been watching the bank and the flower shop next door for a week. So he can keep track of the timing of each of their delivery trucks. Soon he calls on three criminals to help him rob the bank: Pete Harris, a gambler, Tony Romano, a womanizer and Boyd Kane, a cold-blooded killer.
Wearing a mask, Foster visits each separately and threatens to turn them in to the police if they do not follow his plans. Soon, the four men, who also are masked, wait until the flower delivery truck drives away and then pull up in the same type of truck. Pretending to be working for the flower shop, they rob the armored bank truck of over one million dollars.
They meet up with Foster, who informs them that they will split the money in a few days and gives each half of a playing card to help identify them.
Meanwhile back at the scene of the robbery, the police arrest Joe Rolfe, the innocent deliveryman of the real flower truck. Unfortunately, Joe was an ex-con and the police beat him up to try and get a confession out of him. Soon they learn the truth and release him.
Out looking for revenge he wants find the real thieves before the police do. Joe goes to Eddie, an old Army buddy to see if he can get any information from his shady brother, who informs him that Harris, recently fled to Tijuana, may be involved. Joe travels there and finds Harris at a casino and then onto his hotel, where he finds a plane ticket and note from Foster, telling Harris to go to Borados. Harris, admits he was involved in the robbery but has no information and they go together to the airport to meet up with the others, so he can find out who set him up, and why....
I really enjoyed this film Noir. The performance of Foster is very believable when his film character goes from good to evil to.... I do not want to give the ending away. I also like the performances of Jack Elam and of Lee Van Cleef, their characters both make believable criminals. Colleen Gray, performance was wonderful as Foster's daughter and Payne's love interest.
Click to view movie: Kansas City Confidential (1952).
Coleen Gray, performed in the film noirs: Kiss of Death and Nightmare Alley.
In 1948, she also performed as John Wayne's love interest in Red River.
In the 1950s, She performed in, The Sleeping City(1950) and Kansas City Confidential(1952)and the film noir The Killing (1956).
Other films includ: Father Is a Bachelor (1950), The Leech Woman(1960), The Phantom Planet(1961)and P.J.(1968). She made only one film in the 70's, The Late Liz(1971).
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