+18
Kansas City Confidential is my #17. My thoughts:
I have yet to see a bad movie that uses the "team of criminals who don't know each other" trope and this one is no exception. This one's a little different in that one of the team members didn't know he signed up to commit a crime! John Payne plays wronged flower delivery man Joe, and how well he conveys frustration at being an unwitting accomplice and a desire for justice keeps things tense until the end. That Joe is an awarded war veteran adds welcome historical significance and puts it into "true film noir" territory, if you will. My favorite line, which Joe says when someone mentions his medals, is "try and buy a cup of coffee with them." The use of '50s witticisms like this one and slang keep things fun, as do the rest of the performances, and this isn't the movie's fault, but I wish I recognized some of the actors (Lee Van Cleef is in this, but in his "Italian face," he's barely recognizable). Also, as is typical of movies like this, the conclusion threw me for a loop and in a good way for how the surprise makes sense and doesn't come out of left field. It's not perfect: the fights are kind of bloodless - I spotted a few Sonny Corleone-style phantom punches - and its depiction of Mexicans make Speedy Gonzalez seem PC, but it lives up to the intrigue that its title promises.
Oh, and you can watch it at a lot of places and for free. Thank goodness for the public domain.