Welcome to Russell Rouse theatre. Say what? Last week, we featured House Of Numbers in this space. It was directed and co-written by Russell Rouse. The same goes for this week’s movie, New York Confidential, which Rouse made two years before the Palance prison picture.
New York Confidential has an interesting genesis. It’s partially inspired by the Kefauver hearings, which ripped the veil off the Mafia by grilling witnesses such as Frank Costello on whom Broderick Crawford’s character Charlie Lupo seems to be based. The film is also based on a chapter in a guide book of sorts:
I dig the tagline on that dogeared tome: The lowdown on the big town.
That book cover is so messed up that I wondered if it was manhandled by Mike Mazurki who plays one of Crawford’s gunsels:
The jacketless gangster is Richard Conte, one of my favorite noir actors. He plays Nick Magellan who rises during the movie to be Crawford’s right-hand man. It’s doubtful that Conte circumnavigated the globe like the OG Magellan.
The cast also includes Anne Bancroft as Crawford’s rebellious daughter, J Caroll Naish as Crawford’s BFF, and Marilyn Maxwell as the boss’ main squeeze. All acquit themselves well, especially Bancroft. The story revolves around Crawford but Conte steals the show as the taciturn hit man.
New York Confidential is an inside the mob story but neither Mafia nor Cosa Nostra is ever uttered. Instead, it’s called the Syndicate or organized crime but unlike other movies that do that, the characters have Italian names. Who’s more Italian than Nick Conte or Anna Maria Louisa Italiano DBA Anne Bancroft, after all?
As Eddie Muller says in his Noir Alley intro, elements of the story will seem familiar to viewers of later mob movies. New York Confidential provided the template for Mafia movies including The Godfather in which Richard Conte played Don Barzini. Once a tough guy, always a tough guy.
I couldn’t resist including that shot from The Godfather. That great movie was my introduction to two of my favorite noiristas: Conte and Sterling Hayden.
Spoilers aren’t my jam, so I’m not doing a plot synopsis. Suffice it to say that none of our characters has a safe landing or a happy ending. The script by Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse concludes on a series of tragic notes. Crawford’s Charlie Lupo is sort of a wise guy King Lear, betrayed and abandoned by everyone dear to him.
Holy premature lobby card, Batman.
Grading Time: I give New York Confidential 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos grade of B+.
Now that we’ve seen Broderick Crawford stage slap his fellow Oscar winner, let’s engage in some poster prattle.
Side-by-side, the US and Japanese posters:
The quad is on the wordy side:
It’s time to throw away the silencer and hit the lobby in search of some vice merchants, whatever the hell that means.
There was nary a vice merchant in sight in the lobby. All I saw were lobby cards:
Let’s lam out of New York on the trailer. Does that make any sense? Not a lick.
The last word goes to Eddie Muller’s Noir Alley intro and outro:
