New York Confidential (film)

Plot

Charlie Lupo is a gangster who runs the New York branch of a crime syndicate. He is a widower with a grown daughter, Kathy and a new lover, Iris.

Hit man Nick Magellan of the Chicago mob impresses Lupo, who hires Magellan to be his bodyguard. They form a friendship and Kathy is attracted to Nick, but he resists her advances.

When a political lobbyist interferes with the syndicate's plans and needs to be eliminated, Lupo arranges for three men to handle it. But they leave too many clues and need to be eliminated, a task Lupo turns over to Nick.

Nick quickly dispatches two of the targets, but a third flees and rats out Lupo to the cops. While hiding out, Lupo's unhappy daughter Kathy gets drunk and is killed in a car crash.

Lupo's heart is no longer in his work and he decides to cooperate with the authorities, so the syndicate orders Nick to get rid of his friend. Nick obeys orders, killing Lupo, but then is eliminated himself.

Cast

Production

Edward Small bought the rights to the book in 1953. He assigned it over to the team of Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse, who had a six picture deal with Small. Greene and Rouse wanted George Raft and Paul Muni to star.

Critical response

The staff at Variety magazine praised the cast in their review of the film, "Among crime exposes New York Confidential stacks up as one of the better-made entries, thanks to a well-fashioned story and good performances by a cast of familiar names ... Conte does a topnotch job of making a coldblooded killer seem real and Crawford is good as the chairman of the crime board, as is Marilyn Maxwell as his girl friend. Anne Bancroft, showing continuing progress and talent, scores with a standout performance of Crawford’s unhappy daughter."

Critic Dennis Schwartz was disappointed in the film. He wrote, "Russell Rouse's New York Confidential is a crime thriller that is a formulaic exposé of the rackets, and is not quite as good as another such film—The Enforcer ... New York Confidential was never exciting, tense or eye-opening. Its narrative was a cliché driven mob story that was only mildly diverting and even though the performances were energetically delivered, it still tasted like a stale salami sandwich."