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Kansas City Confidential (1952)
American Film Noir Crime Drama.
The working title of the film was called Kansas City 117, the title based on a police code. It was released in the United Kingdom as The Secret Four.
An ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits.
The story begins in Kansas City, but most of the film actually takes place at a fictitious fishing resort in Mexico. Much of the film was shot on location in Guatemala, Tijuana and Catalina Island in southern California.
This was the only film made by production company Associated Players and Producers, which was owned by Edward Small, Sam Briskin and Sol Lesser.
According to a Feb 1953 HCN article, an entertainer named Tony Romano sued United Artists, Associated Players and Producers, and Small for $600,000 for the “public scorn and ridicule” he suffered after they used his name to portray a “gangster, convicted felon and three-time loser.” The disposition of the suit is not known.
Kansas City Confidential was popular enough to usher in a series of “confidential” films from Edward Small: New York Confidential, Chicago Confidential, and Hong Kong Confidential.
Interesting Trivia
The plot served as inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992).
The 1.2 million dollars stolen from the bank would be the equivalent of over 11.6 million dollars in 2019.
| Directed by | Phil Karlson |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Edward Small |
| Screenplay by | George Bruce Harry Essex |
| Story by | Rowland Brown Harold Greene |
| Starring | John Payne Coleen Gray |
| Music by | Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography | George E. Diskant |
| Edited by | Buddy Small |
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Production
company |
Associated Players and Producers
Edward Small Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
|
99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
