Kansas City Confidential

When he appears in film noir, John Payne almost always plays a guy who’s out for revenge, who’s struggling with anger management and at least a little disappointment in himself; Phil Karlson’s Kansas City Confidential is no exception. Here Payne plays Joe Rolfe, an ex-convict living a respectable, crime-free life driving a flower delivery van, unaware that his delivery schedule is under observation by a mysterious man named Mr. Big (Preston Foster) who plans to make him the patsy in a planned bank robbery (one of his stops coincides with an armored truck cash pick-up at the bank next door). Mr. Big recruits three accomplices played by three fantastic character actors (Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam) and requires them to wear masks for the duration of the heist to make it impossible for anyone to turn stool pigeon later. While Mr. Big and his gang get away with the loot, the plan to frame Joe for it all fails, but Joe won’t forget: he hunts the bandits all the way to Mexico to grab the 25% reward. Coleen Gray plays Helen Foster, the daughter of Mr. Big who shows up in Mexico unexpectedly and captures Joe’s attention. While this one may not be a noir visual extravaganza, the plot and premise are about as noir as it gets, the pacing is near perfect, and few are better than Karlson at getting a big story out of a little budget.