"Kansas City Confidential" is a superior crime drama with a good story, interesting characters and plenty of action. It features a considerable amount of bitterness, violence and deep rooted cynicism and is presented in a style which is well paced and realistic. Its atmosphere is predictably grim, tense and threatening and almost everyone involved in the story is either completely evil or at best, morally compromised.
At the centre of the story are two men who have suffered harsh treatment which has created in them an incredible amount of bitterness and a powerful need for revenge. Ironically they are brought into conflict with each other when one responds to his predicament by attempting to carry out the perfect crime and in so doing sets the other up as the fall guy.
Ex-police captain Tim Foster (Preston Foster) plans an armoured car robbery and recruits three criminals to assist in carrying out the heist. The robbery is to take place in front of the Southwest Bank in Kansas City and during the meticulous planning process, Foster had observed that the bank's armoured vehicle and the neighbouring florist's delivery truck always leave the area at precisely the same time everyday. Using a truck which is identical to the florist's, the gang carry out the robbery and after leaving the scene, drive their vehicle into a trailer and successfully make their escape.
Prior to the robbery, Foster had recruited each of his accomplices separately and on each occasion had worn a mask. During the robbery, each man had also worn a mask and kept it on all the time that they were in contact with each other. This ensured that none of the criminals could subsequently identify anyone else in the gang including Foster. The proceeds of the crime were in excess of $1,000,000 and after each man had taken a small amount of money, it was agreed that they would meet up after the dust had settled to split up the rest of the loot.
Very soon after the robbery, the driver of the florist's truck, Joe Rolfe (John Payne) is arrested by the police who interrogate him and beat him up repeatedly before releasing him when the phony florist's truck is finally discovered. Rolfe reacts to his experience by tracking down the gang as they gather in a Mexican resort to share out their money.
After taking on the identity of one of the gang members who'd been killed by the police, a number of complications then develop which make Rolfe's pursuit of a share of the stolen money much more difficult than he's originally anticipated. Helen (Coleen Gray), the attractive young lawyer that he'd met at the resort turns out to be the daughter of the gang's "Mr Big" who it becomes clear is actually planning to betray his fellow gang members so that he can pocket the reward money that's being offered for the recovery of the stolen cash.
Considering the age of this movie, it's surprising just how much brutality it contains and also how it portrays the actions of the police. The cops who interrogate Rolfe are depicted as a bunch of sadists who have no interest in justice or fairness and are only concerned with extracting a confession from their suspect in any way that they can. Rolfe suffers a number of savage beatings at their hands and then later goes on to beat up two of the gang members at different times before getting beaten up again by the third criminal.
Joe Rolfe was a highly decorated war veteran who found that a purple heart had no value in civilian life and who'd also served a short prison sentence after having had some trouble with a gambling debt. The resentment he felt about these experiences then became even deeper after he found that he'd been framed for a crime that he didn't commit, unjustly beaten up by the police and then unfairly fired from his job at the florist's. Similarly, Tim Foster had also become embittered as a result of having been unjustly forced to retire from his job as a police captain.
The strong performances provided by John Payne and Preston Foster provide an important contribution to the success of this movie and the supporting cast (especially Boyd Kane, Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam) are also terrific in their roles.
At the centre of the story are two men who have suffered harsh treatment which has created in them an incredible amount of bitterness and a powerful need for revenge. Ironically they are brought into conflict with each other when one responds to his predicament by attempting to carry out the perfect crime and in so doing sets the other up as the fall guy.
Ex-police captain Tim Foster (Preston Foster) plans an armoured car robbery and recruits three criminals to assist in carrying out the heist. The robbery is to take place in front of the Southwest Bank in Kansas City and during the meticulous planning process, Foster had observed that the bank's armoured vehicle and the neighbouring florist's delivery truck always leave the area at precisely the same time everyday. Using a truck which is identical to the florist's, the gang carry out the robbery and after leaving the scene, drive their vehicle into a trailer and successfully make their escape.
Prior to the robbery, Foster had recruited each of his accomplices separately and on each occasion had worn a mask. During the robbery, each man had also worn a mask and kept it on all the time that they were in contact with each other. This ensured that none of the criminals could subsequently identify anyone else in the gang including Foster. The proceeds of the crime were in excess of $1,000,000 and after each man had taken a small amount of money, it was agreed that they would meet up after the dust had settled to split up the rest of the loot.
Very soon after the robbery, the driver of the florist's truck, Joe Rolfe (John Payne) is arrested by the police who interrogate him and beat him up repeatedly before releasing him when the phony florist's truck is finally discovered. Rolfe reacts to his experience by tracking down the gang as they gather in a Mexican resort to share out their money.
After taking on the identity of one of the gang members who'd been killed by the police, a number of complications then develop which make Rolfe's pursuit of a share of the stolen money much more difficult than he's originally anticipated. Helen (Coleen Gray), the attractive young lawyer that he'd met at the resort turns out to be the daughter of the gang's "Mr Big" who it becomes clear is actually planning to betray his fellow gang members so that he can pocket the reward money that's being offered for the recovery of the stolen cash.
Considering the age of this movie, it's surprising just how much brutality it contains and also how it portrays the actions of the police. The cops who interrogate Rolfe are depicted as a bunch of sadists who have no interest in justice or fairness and are only concerned with extracting a confession from their suspect in any way that they can. Rolfe suffers a number of savage beatings at their hands and then later goes on to beat up two of the gang members at different times before getting beaten up again by the third criminal.
Joe Rolfe was a highly decorated war veteran who found that a purple heart had no value in civilian life and who'd also served a short prison sentence after having had some trouble with a gambling debt. The resentment he felt about these experiences then became even deeper after he found that he'd been framed for a crime that he didn't commit, unjustly beaten up by the police and then unfairly fired from his job at the florist's. Similarly, Tim Foster had also become embittered as a result of having been unjustly forced to retire from his job as a police captain.
The strong performances provided by John Payne and Preston Foster provide an important contribution to the success of this movie and the supporting cast (especially Boyd Kane, Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam) are also terrific in their roles.