User reviews

New York Confidential is directed by Russell Rouse and collectively written by Rouse, Jack Lait , Lee Mortimer and Clarence Greene. It stars Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Anne Bancroft, Marilyn Maxwell, J. Carrol Naish, Onslow Stevens, Barry Kelley and Mike Mazurki. Music is by Joseph Mullendore and cinematography by Eddie Fitzgerald.

The Kefauver Committee was set up at the beginning of the 1950s and its role was to investigate into the growing threat of organised crime. From this very real moment in time came a wave of films that jumped onto the possibilities on offer for dramatic filmic purpose, New York Confidential is one such picture.

In short order the plot has Crawford as New York Syndicate boss Charles Lupo, who borrows hit-man Nick Maggelan (Conte) from the Chigao branch to enact a hit. The pair quickly strike up a terrific relationship, but as problems within the Lupo home begin to mount up - and the heat starts to close in on the organisation - cracks begin to turn into chasms.

It says a lot about the efforts of the cast that this turns out to be better than it had right to be. The interesting slant here is the impact of family life on the main man. Lupo is a widower who still lives with his mother and daughter, he dotes on his mother and smothers his daughter Katherine (Bancroft) in what he thinks is fatherly love. She hates his criminal workings and rebels against it, something which Lupo can't quite understand. Thrust into the mix is Magellan, suave and good looking, he has tremendous loyalty to Lupo, so when Katherine grabs his eye he has to fight his feelings for her and his commitment to Lupo. Add in Lupo's sultry girlfriend Iris (Maxwell), who has no loyalty and wants to bed Magellan, then emotional conflict and tests of character are boldly prominent.

Beginning with shots of New York City and a narration telling us about how great and prosperous the city is, it is however the core of Syndicated Crime. We switch to a drive by killing, one which claims an innocent bystander, and the scene is set for Lupo and Magellan to meet and the story spins on from there. The dialogue is well written in quick fire noir speak, the best of which comes from Magellan who is calmness personified and Katherine who is bitingly bitter. There's a disappointment that we are sadly denied effective chiaroscuro, for the story demands it, more so when things go belly up and the world closes in on Lupo and Magellan's surrogate father/son relationship.

Come the last quarter the pic really hits its flm noir straps, where joyously it doesn't let us down. We are not fed improbables or lightweight fare, we get pure blackheart noirville, something which elevates a decent film into being a very good one. Family strife and conflicted matters of the heart blend with corruption and organised crime, all crammed into an hour and half of film making. Lovely. 7.5/10

That's the third or fourth time I see this authentic and unfortunately underrated film noir from the fifties. A true fierce, brutal, and so realistic tale of gangsters where the mob is presented as a big company and their members normal family men, such as Broderick - machine gun talking - Crawford, who is here at his best. So is Richard Conte, here as a cold, ruthless but also attractive killer. Many movie buffs speak of the GODFATHER when they present this feature. Yes, they are not wrong. If you compare with the other gangsters films made before, this one is rather close to the Francis Coppola's films. This movie is for me a little masterpiece, far better than more known gangster movies. Russel Rouse was also a damn good director. I have seen all his films, which I also have in my huge library. I confound this movie with Ken Hughes's JOE MACBETH, made at the same period, and starring Paul Douglas who, a long time ago, I confounded with Broderick Crawford. This another film noir was also a gangster family tragedy. Like this one.

Broderick Crawford borrows a great deal from his Academy Award winning Willie Stark from All The King's Men in playing underworld boss Frank Lupo in New York Confidential. Crawford is a combination of Stark and Don Corleone and he doesn't get the best of it.

Like Corleone and Stark, Lupo has trouble with his children, but unlike Stark, Lupo has a daughter played by Anne Bancroft. Now if Bancroft was content to be Connie Corleone she could have any number of willing suitors who are in the family business working for dad. She aspires to more and her father's reputation kills off any chance she can marry respectably.

Not that respectability guarantees honesty. When old line money WASP William Forrest pulls the rug out from under a multi-million dollar deal the Syndicate is bankrolling they decide to take care of him in the true Syndicate manner. Crawford though he opposes the idea gets the contract and from their the dominoes start to fall.

One thing however when the fires threatens, organized crime knows how to start backfires to make sure the organization itself is not touched. A whole lot of dead bodies start to pile up before the film ends.

Also starring in the film is Richard Conte playing an out of town hit man who Crawford takes a shine to and has him stay in New York. Conte was always great in noir films and he certainly is here.

New York Confidential touches upon a lot of the issues involving systemic corruption much the same way The Godfather films do. Of course it does not have the budget those blockbusters had nor an unforgettable music score, still New York Confidential makes it point. It's still a valid film for today's audience.

Flawed but always worth watching, this movie seems to have sprung from nowhere onto DVD. Certainly not pure 'noir' but neither is it simply a crime drama. Indeed with the documentary element and Crawford's wayward antics on the one side and the coolness of Richard Conte and his relations with the ladies on the other, this could be considered a bit of a mess. That it is not is due in the main to the tremendous performances of Conte, Bancroft and to a lesser extent, Marilyn Maxwell as Iris, Crawford's mistress. For me Crawford is over the top as the macho boss man and simply unable to deal with the more sensitive scenes, but he is overshadowed by Conte and we are soon persuaded to view the events through his steely eyes. A few location shots that really only go to show up the shoddiness of the studio ones but there is a great ending and as I say enough along the way to make this almost unseen film well worth a watch.

Russell Rouse is well versed in this sort of material, his most notable writing credit being the excellent 'D.0.A'. His collaboration with producer/writer Clarence Greene has again turned up trumps in what to this viewer at any rate is a surprisingly effective piece. Rouse doesn't hang about here. His direction is taut, the dialogue snappy and Grant Whytock's editing is crisp. There are some truly marvellous types on display notably Richard Conte as a well-tailored and well-mannered assassin who has what his boss refers to as 'real class' which seems to be the ultimate accolade in the world of the Hoodlum. Lupo, his syndicate boss who believes that everyone has a price and if they don't, bump them off, is played by Broderick Crawford. What on earth can one say about this actor? A larger than life character whose meatiest roles, with the exception of the conman in Fellini's 'Il Bidone', were behind him but who never ceased to be great value, drunk or sober! He is gifted the best line here when exclaiming: "what a bunch of lousy crooks!" Definitely an instance of the pot calling the kettle black. Good support from Mike Mazurki and inveterate scene-stealer J. Carroll Naish. THE performance to take out of this is that of the wondrous Anne Bancroft who has by far the most interesting role as Lupo's daughter. This superlative actress suffered at the time from being typecast and her film career was going nowhere. Luckily for her and for us it was playwright William Gibson and director Arthur Penn who came to her rescue when she was given the chance to reprise on film her Tony award-winning performance in 'The Miracle Worker', for which she received a much deserved Oscar. As for the subject matter we have been here before with assorted low-lifes, shady lawyers, politicians on the take, dames who know which side their bread is buttered and the dubious, morally ambiguous code of honour which demands that one lives and dies 'by the rules'. Not to mention the sweet old Italian mamma who laments: "All dis a shooting and a hiding. Justa like de old days." This is all contained however within a well-paced, well-acted film which grips from first to last.

It has been quite a long while since I've seen this film. Yet even though it has been at least 30 years since I last saw this movie it stands out as one of my favorite films. I have never been able to find it on VHS and it is just never shown on television. I can't understand why Turner Classic Movies hasn't shown it because it is definitely a classic film noir gem. But it is more than film noir; it is a genuine motif of organized crime brought to the screen. The cast is excellent as far as talent goes. Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, and Ann Bancroft just being in the cast should merit it being shown on TV once in awhile.

One of the central themes of achieving success and the American dream through crime and corruption is an old staple of Hollywood, but it is presented in such a way as to provide the viewer with a definite amount of empathy for the main characters in spite of the fact that they are mobsters. It is entertaining and interesting without a lot of violence and since it was released in 1955, no profanity. In my mind I rate it along with another film of the same genre that was released some 12 years later titled "The Brotherhood" starring Kirk Douglas. I just wish I could get this film on VHS, DVD, or television. I would greatly appreciate any help anyone could give me in that endeavor.

A good cast is the highlight of "New York Confidential" from 1955.

The film stars Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Anne Bancroft, Marilyn Maxwell, J. Carroll Naish, Mike Mazurki, and Celia Lovsky.

Crawford plays Lupo, the big mob ruler of New York, who lives with his daughter (Bancroft) and mother (Lovsky). He has no problem ordering hits on people - for one hit, the mob brings in Nick Magellen (Conte) from Chicago. He's successful, and Lupo offers him a permanent position in the syndicate. Nick quickly becomes essential to the operation.

Bancroft hates what her father does and does what she can to get away from him.

This is a story of evil corrupting itself, until no one is safe. There is no loyalty when it comes to protecting the mob and its secrets. Everyone is expendable.

Good movie, strong performances.

There are too many strong ingredients in this film not to give it the highest possible rates in spite of all its weaknesses and flaws. The acting above all is terrific, and the question is who is the most impressing star here, Richard Conte or Anne Bancroft. I don't think I have ever seen Conte as consistently straight in his role as here, not deviating one moment from the very difficult character he has to play. This is one of Anne Bancroft's early films, but already here you have her in full bloom as the marvellously intensive and brutally strong character actress she always was. The story is excellent as well, Broderick Crawford giving a virtuoso performance as the father of an extensive syndicate spread all over the U.S. and gradually getting fenced in by justice and the FBI, constantly losing his temper but brutally convincing as a godfather with a bleeding heart for his family, and especially for his daughter, Anne Bancroft, who deserts him in a en effort to get out of the hoodlum vicious circle, and tragically failing in her brave effort. The film is a tragedy of great proportions, many being involved and also executed, most of them righteously indeed, while you must regret the loss of some others, who just happened to get in the way while trying to keep out of the game. It's a dark and very solemn noir with sinister connotations bringing some lasting afterthought - this is not a drama you'll be likely to forget, like most dramas with innocent victims. In spite of its insufficiency and rather hasty and casual touch in its making, like the cool matter-of-fact consistency of Conte himself, this film should earn a place as one of the great classical noirs, almost like Jules Dassin's "Rififi" of the same year.

A nice bridge from the gangster pictures of the 30's to the modern day mafia flick. You can see echoes of this film in GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS and others. Going inside a crime syndicate and also the private lives of the gangsters, it's a pretty satisfying drama with a lot of facets. Richard Conte is superb as a polite but cold-blooded hit-man turned consigliere, and there are also memorable performances from Anne Bancroft and the reliable heavy Mike Mazurki. Broderick Crawford is generally quite good although he does deliver a few stiff line readings. Unfortunately, the film suffers from utterly bland cinematography, and we spend so much time in well-lit rooms that it often feels like a stage production. A very good script, but the execution only provides a few exciting moments.

Very good job done by Russell Rouse, a director I hadn't even heard of until this movie. I knew the three great actors in the film from other good or very good films. I knew the excellent Anne Bancroft from "The Miracle Worker", "The Pumpkin Eater", "The Graduate", "Silent Movie", "Jesus of Nazareth", "The Elephant Man", "To Be or Not to Be", "Fatso" (directed by her), or "The Naked Street", another youth film, in which she has as partner the great Anthony Quinn. Here, very young, she achieves another spectacular role. I knew Broderick Crawford only from the excellent film "Il Bidone" directed by the greatest filmmaker of all time, Federico Fellini. Here too he plays a great role. I knew Richard Conte from movies like "Assault on a Queen", "Tony Rome", "Lady in Cement", "Operation Cross Eagles", "The Godfather". But, I never thought he was capable of such a subtle role, here he has probably the best score of his entire career. Very good movie, especially thanks to the three actors mentioned.

This is Richard Conte's role of a lifetime. He makes the most of it. The story of the syndicate in the US and what happens when some of its machine parts are damaged is a riveting film. Broderick Crawford and his mother, however, are about as Italian as I am Nigerian. Both very fine actors in their own right, Crawford is miscast here as an Italian mobster, whereas Conte is letter-perfect. Anne Bancroft is outstanding in one of her earliest film appearances; and this film helped launch her highly successful career. The film is a notch above the average gangster flick, and the mechanisms used by the syndicate are cold-blooded and efficient. A really good hood movie.

NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL is a perplexing film noir entry. Among its many merits is the astonishing cast: Broderick Crawford (who spits out his dialogue in Howard Hawks-rapidity as if he were on amphetamines), Anne Bancroft (astonishing) and the always reliable Richard Conte. But it never shakes the feeling of being two films in one, sitting uneasily side by side: a stern "semi-documentary" expose of the "syndicate" on one hand, and a bleak and brutal pre-Godfather mafia family saga on the other.

As such, it is wildly and tragically uneven. The leads all turn in brilliant performances, but the screenplay has all the earmarks of a committee job; fascinating ideas and characterizations butt up against terribly overwrought clichés. The main cast is on fire with weighty dialogue, but the supporting cast flounders about as if they were in the most pedestrian B-noir instead of a star-driven studio picture. For the most part, the design is static and lifeless, shot with little flair by Eddie Fitzgerald. Director and co-writer Russell Rouse's previous noir entry was the chancy THE THIEF, also an uneven experiment.

But the film has its scenes of incredible power, usually those revolving around Conte, as a cold and calculating hit-man for hire, and Bancroft, as the put-upon mobster's daughter who can't crawl out from behind dad's shadow; Conte dispatching with "hits", his gunshots creepily muffled by a silencer; Crawford's repeated near-meltdowns; murderous planning done completely straight in a corporate boardroom, just big business as usual.

A puzzler of a film, leaving the viewer to wonder what could have been, had it been shot by John Alton and penned by, say, Dalton Trumbo. Still, it's an extremely valuable entry in the film noir canon, strangely almost impossible to see.

Like the "Police Procedurals", "City Exposes" was a Very Popular Sub-Genre that Formed in the 1950's, with Some, but Not Pure Film-Noir Style.

"NY Confidential" is 1 of the Better Ones with a High-Powered Cast, at the Top-of-Their-Game, a Rough and Realistic Tone, and Striking Dialog and Characters.

What's Missing, if You're Looking for "Pure" Film-Noir, is the Lack of Any Expressionism, Surrealism,

or Something that "Announces" and Ambience that is Other-Worldly, Dream-Like, and Places the Audience in a Crack Somewhere Between a "Vision" and Reality.

This, "Pulled From the Headlines" (not really confidential) Inside Story of the "Syndicate" (organized crime, also known as The Mob, The Mafia, The Organization, etc.).

All are Synonyms, that the Shameful FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Insisted "Does Not Exist".

This is a Film that Employs Absolutely No-Frills.

The Sets are Bare-Bone and Dull, as is Most of the Costumes, Lighting, and Cinematography.

It is so Boring, that the Characters Must Stand-Out and Draw the Focus Away from Every-Thing-Else, and They Do.

Broderick Crawford Vacillates from Coming Unglued, to Warm Self-Reflection about "Spoiling" His Daughter, and Respect and Love for His Aging Mother.

Anne Bancroft in a Break-Out Sizzling Performance that Dominates when She is On-Screen.

Truly Great Acting, in a Secondary Part, but that Would Not Go Unnoticed.

Richard Conte, Oozing Screen-Presence, as a Hit-Man, the Son of Crawford's Life-Time Friend, is Cool and Collective, yet Loyal to a Fault, and Has Absolutely No-Time for Dames of Any Kind.

Mike Mazurki is the Head-Gunsel and Sleazes His Way into the Proceedings with a Few Powerful Scenes. J. Carroll Nash is Crawford's Partner, who has to Exile when the Heat is On.

Marilyn Maxwell, and Her Dresses Provide the Only Sparkle, as the Mistress of the Boss.

Despite a Total Lack of Style, and is as Straight-Forward as a "Bullet", the Film is so Rich in Great Acting and Good Characters that it's Certainly...

Worth a Watch.

Richard Rouse's New York Confidential is a fine movie. It feels realistic and genuine. It's portrayal of the mafia seems more sophisticated than the movies that came before it. It's a very good screenplay, easy to follow but plausible and with plenty of twists. It is a real pleasure watching the three stars at work. Broderick Crawford is great playing ... Broderick Crawford, showing power, bluster, urgency and frailty all at the same time. Richard Conte and Anne Bancroft are possibly even better, Conte exuding confidence, charm and self-control and Bancroft making us feel the desperation of being trapped inside a mafia clan. I applaud the producers and director for choosing to use only a few Italian American actors in a film about the mafia - only Conte, Bancroft and a few minor players - as it shifts the focus from the ethnic aspects to the business itself and the individual choices each of the criminals makes.

Without ever rising to Oscar material, even in a supporting capacity, Richard Conte certainly deserves to be remebered as a very good actor. In this film he portrays the unflinchingly loyal and unsentimental to near-mechanical point assassin, Nick Magellan, and I rate this performance among his best, along with HOUSE OF STRANGERS and I'LL CRY TOMORROW.

Ann Bancroft emerges as Conte's character mirror image, independent and able to think and decide for herself. The difference is that she is good, a straight and utterly loving and lovable woman whose fate is determined by the fact that she was born into a top syndicate family in NY. Her father is superbly played by Broderick Crawford, also in one of his career's finest hours. Albeit in a minor role, even Mike Mazurki delivers what I see as his best role ever.

B&W cinematography by Eddie Fitzgerald and editing by Grant Whytock are absolutely first class, and the Lait and Mortimer script pays homage to the docu noir films of the 1950s with a voiceover narrator who never over-intrudes, letting the riveting plot unfold on its own.

Obvious moral of the story, even if never forcibly rubbed in: you fall into the orbit of crime and only death will separate you from it.

Definitely unmissable, especially if you are into film noir. 9/10.

A tremendously good film showing the veneer of civilization, and giving us a glimpse of the corrupt politicians and mob bosses who really rule the world. I thought of the great Melville, and Alain Delon and wondered if Richard Conte had not been the prototype of his roles, especially in ' Le Samouri ' which is arguably Melville's greatest film. Russell Rouse directs and directs well. and his cast in near perfect. Melodrama ( face slapping etc ) only slightly mars the slick world depicted of anonymous rooms and lifeless interiors. There is nothing to attract the eye except the murders, the ruthless attacks and the soulless relationships. Anne Bancroft acts at too high a pitch and Marilyn Maxwell is there for decoration, but both Broderick Crawford and especially Richard Conte with his cool exterior who steal the film. Both actors show how given the right roles how great they were. A film to encourage anyone to think about how the world turns, and afterwards, if they have not before, watch Melville's films. In a way they were a homage to this kind of film, but sometimes the homage surpasses the source material. ' New York Confidential ' is perhaps not known well enough, and it was certainly one of the toughest of its genre.

Aside from a bit of unnecessary narration at the end about how crime is evil, I really loved "New York Confidential". It's because nearly all other mob films of the day, there are no good guys...just scum killing scum and a few innocents getting killed in the process. It's unrelentingly grim plot make it a great film...one well worth watching.

The film centers on two people...Mr. Lupo (Broderick Crawford), a mob boss, and Nick (Richard Conte), a hired gun who is intensely loyal. The film seems like a step-by-step instruction manual on how organized crime is conducted...complete with an aura of supposed respectability, cops and politicians in the bag, and absolutely no personal loyalty. Aside from later films like "The Godfather", I really cannot recall another movie quite like this one. Add to that some terrific acting, a dandy script and a toughness you will adore, and you have the recipe for an exceptional crime film. Well worth seeing.

This film centres on the troubled times of Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford), a NY mafia don; his men are killing each other without his permission, there's a huge corrupt business deal he's invested in, and his family life is suffering in the form of a rebellious daughter, Kathy (a young Anne Bancroft). To sort things out, he brings in smooth hitman Nick Magellan (Richard Conte) who becomes his right-hand man. Nick is certainly effective and impresses Charlie's girl and his daughter as he tries to stay 'professional' and unentangled. Things get dicey and Nick has to keep his cool as others are losing their heads. I've rewatched this and it's still as good - Conte plays the cold-hearted killer with panache and Crawford is a force of nature as he juggles his criminal life and family affairs. Bancroft is a firecracker of emotions and impulsivity, and her relationship with the father goes into more depth than one would expect from a 'gangster' movie. Thrills, action, violence, intrigue, passion - there's not much lacking from this very worthy noir.