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Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs. They are Super Bowl champs once again. To celebrate, I decided to look up films set in Kansas City, Missouri. There are three films that I found that straight-up have “Kansas City” in the title. This is their story.
I am going to start with Kansas City Confidential, because it is the first film chronologically, and also the only one of these I have seen. Now, is that because it is a classic film noir, or because it is in the public domain and thus can be shoved onto any streaming service? Who is to say? It’s a classic 1950s crime film. Now, a lot of the action actually takes place in Mexico, but Kansas City is an integral location, and where the bank robbery takes place. Admittedly, Kansas City Confidential hasn’t stuck with me, but I feel like it was solid, a worthwhile watch for film noir fans.
Eschewing chronology, let’s go to 1996’s film simply titled Kansas City. This movie is directed by none other than Robert Altman. Granted, by the 1990s, Altman’s heyday was well behind him. The film takes place in 1934 and is, yes, a noir film. It has a solid cast, led by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Miranda Richardson. Steve Buscemi is in it, because in the 1990s, if you wanted to do something noir related, you put Buscemi in it. It was a total flop, though, and got mixed reviews.
Finally, we have Kansas City Bomber. No, it’s not another crime film. It’s a sports drama about roller derby. Really! And it stars Raquel Welch! Welch plays K.C. Carr, but it should be noted that the “Kansas City Bomber” basically opens to the film by moving to Portland, Oregon. So this isn’t all that much of a Kansas City movie. Hey, at leads Chiefs fans know Patrick Mahomes won’t leave them for Portland. They don’t have a football team.
