Kansas City Confidential (1952): watch the full film free, legally

An armored-car robbery and a false suspect

Kansas City Confidential is a 1952 American crime film noir directed by Phil Karlson and starring John Payne and Coleen Gray. It was released in the United Kingdom as The Secret Four. The story begins with the ruthless Mr. Big watching both an armored car collecting money from a bank and a flower delivery truck driven by Joe Rolfe.

Mr. Big has recruited Peter Harris, Boyd Kane and Tony Romano, interviewing each man while masked so none can identify him. His scheme uses a duplicate flower truck, while the robbers themselves wear masks. As Rolfe drives away unaware, the gang arrives in the lookalike truck, subdues the armored-car crew, takes the money and escapes. Mr. Big gives each man part of a torn playing card, meant to identify them to anyone he might send if contact fails. The three criminals wait in Mexico for payment.

Joe Rolfe follows the missing robbers

Police arrest Rolfe and press for a confession, though he maintains that he is innocent. His alibi is verified after the real robbery vehicle is found, but he loses his job. Determined to clear his name, Rolfe learns that Harris has fled the city and follows him to Tijuana. There, he forces Harris to disclose the gang's meeting place. Police recognize Harris at the airport and kill him, allowing Rolfe to take his place. Harris's luggage contains both the mask and the torn playing card.

In Borados, Rolfe meets Kane and Romano without realizing that Mr. Big is nearby. Mr. Big is Tim Foster, a former high-ranking policeman forced into retirement after his name was linked to a scandal. In a conversation with insurance investigator Andrews, Foster explains that he never planned for the gang to divide the money and get away. He intends to set a trap, claim he solved the robbery, collect the 25% reward and possibly regain his police job.

Foster's plans and the film's reception

Foster's daughter Helen, a law student, complicates his plans when she arrives after speaking to the mayor about the scandal that ended her father's career. Foster does not want to return to the police. Helen tells him that she has met Rolfe and likes him. During a poker game, Rolfe uses the torn card to test Kane and Romano. Foster knows Rolfe is not Harris, while Kane later recognizes the imposture because he had been in prison with Harris. Foster, still acting as Mr. Big, writes notes directing Rolfe, Kane and Romano to meet him on his boat.

The film was the only production of Edward Small's short-lived Associated Players and Producers, formed by Small, Sol Lesser and Sam Briskin. It was the first film in Small's 13-movie United Artists deal signed in 1952, which called for ten films in the first year. John Payne owned a 25% stake in the profits. Originally titled Kansas City 117, after a police code, it was renamed after Small bought the title Kansas City Confidential from Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer. Filming began June 4, 1952, with Santa Catalina Island, California, used for a Mexican village resort. Its world premiere took place at Chicago's Woods Theatre on November 4, 1952.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times criticized the violence, called the screenplay by George Bruce and Harry Essex an “illogical fable of crime,” described Karlson's direction as routine, and found Payne blunt in the leading role. Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Karlson's sharp close-ups built taut suspense around the crime's details, though he felt the Borados setting weakened the picture before it recovered some force. Variety's George Gilbert wrote that Karlson maintained a grim atmosphere and that the performances helped make the action credible. The film's popularity led Edward Small to produce New York Confidential in 1955, Chicago Confidential in 1957 and Hong Kong Confidential in 1958.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Kansas City Confidential”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.