MovieChat Forums > Kansas City Confidential (1952) Discussion > What lead you to watch this film?

What lead you to watch this film?

posted 16 years ago by filmfan86
15 replies | jump to latest

I have a 20 set of old film noirs (cause I LOVE film noir - and it only cost $9! - bargin!) - but had only seen about 2 films thus far. it wasn't until i was reading the Quentin Tarantino bio 'shoot from the hip' a few weeks ago where Kansas City Confidential was listed amongst his 'coolest movies ever' list - that I realised this was actually on my 20 film dvd - lucky for me i could check it out straight after that. I was really impressed by this film - a real quality noir - and it had a good ending.

Other noir films i've seen frm my 20 dvd include Midnight Manhunt and Detour - anyone who liked this film i'd especially recommend Detour! Its a real b-grade , cult classic noir!

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[–] badcommand 15 years ago

What lead me to watch it? I like these old films and have collected a few by buying them from time to time. Recently I came across archive.org with its public domain films and saw that they had quite a few noir films, this one included. So one download and burn to DVD later, here we are.

Great film, I really enjoyed this as it was not clear how it would end. In fact, right up to the last few minutes it could've gone in any number of directions.

I'd second the recommendation for Detour. Also, The Man Who Cheated Himself is pretty good too (also PD), as well as Kubrick's The Killing.

I have downloaded about 12 noir films that are in the public domain (of variable picture quality), so that should keep me going for a while :)

[–] superstitions 15 years ago

I rented it because it was on many lists of essential noir films that you must see.

By the way if you have this film in one of the public domain sets, I would highly recommend picking up the recent MGM release. The print that the MGM dvd is taken from is wonderful. The film looks brand new and is a revelation compared to the PD DVDs floating around.

Doug

[–] stephen_chow79 15 years ago

For me it's the fact that Lee Van Cleef is in it, the main actor's name and the story synopsis.

[–] towlerj-89174 8 years ago

It was Lee Van Cleef for me as well, but when I saw the rest of the cast, I just had to watch it. I don't remember ever seeing Van Cleef in a gangster movie. I am glad I watched it. It is now one of my favorite noir films. Great story and pretty good acting, except for the girl with the souvenirs and the card player with the big ears.

[–] Mrs_Bundy 15 years ago

Curiosity about this subgenre of noir. KCC is one of the first, or perhaps the first, in a cycle of corruption expose films inspired by the famous Kefauver hearings. This is one of the best; New Orleans After Dark, which comes toward the end, not only marks the end of the cycle but is easily one of the worst films noir I've ever seen!

[–] Echo_in_big_sky 14 years ago

I watched it because I watch all the films of this genre and time frame that I have access to. It you're a Netflix customer, you can access it for free online and it's a good copy.

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[–] J. Spurlin 13 years ago

It's one of the best known film noirs (films noir?) I hadn't seen yet, and I love the genre.

...Justin

[–] cherubalways 13 years ago

Stockpiled a bunch of noir to my Netflix Watch Instantly queue today, cause I love noir, and picked this one to watch because of the cast, especially John Payne (and oh to see Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam, and Neville Brand, future western bad guy staples, as young men.)

[–] goleafsgo27 8 years ago

I am not a big fan of film noir, but I'd heard of this movie over the years, AND when I saw Elam, Van Cleef and Brand together in the credits, I decided I had to give it a few minutes to grab me. It did.

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[–] Andy44 8 years ago

Colleen Gray.

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[–] marckymarc71 8 years ago

Me too. Ever since I saw her in Red River I've been smitten. I'll watch anything she ever did.

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[–] Robbmonster 8 years ago

I decided to watch it because I am in the process of writing a 'film noir' inspired story, and you can't research film noir for too long before Kansas City Confidential comes up.

Only halfway through it for now, and will watch the rest tonight. Definitely planning to see Detour at some point in time!

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[–] Randy-144 8 years ago

I watched it because it was on TV; and I keep watching it every time it comes on TV. 