Confidence Girl (1952)
Oh boy, such a clever idea, something like "The Sting" in its elaborate conniving to con a bunch of people out of their dough. And such strained acting, too. I found it totally fun but only in that way you kick back and watch, say, "My Three Sons" and enjoy it even though you know there isn't much to it. "Confidence Girl" is actually better than most 1960s television, and it's fast paced enough to never let you go. And the photography is really good. But keep your expectations in check.
The title comes from the idea that a woman builds up trust in some victims in a scam situation so that other conspirators can do their sting later. The classic one early on demonstrates how a woman persuades a pawnbroker that she has found a valuable violin in his shop and will pay $10,000 for it, but he has to get permission from the owner first. The pawnbroker thinks, oh boy, I'll buy it for a few hundred dollars and sell it to the woman for a huge profit. The owner, of course, is a collaborator who refuses to sell it until the price is close to $10,000. The pawnbroker is still thinking he'll make a quick couple thousand--and then the woman, who has left only her phone number and hotel room, backs out of the deal.
Fun. It could have been better made in a million little ways, but it isn't half bad as is, a B-movie through and through, and brief, too. Some great scenes shot not in a studio but on location. Produced, directed, and written by one man, which is okay if you are Stanley Kubrick or Woody Allen, but not when you are Andrew Stone, it seems, because there are too many gaps and weak spots to really keep it convincing.
Oh boy, such a clever idea, something like "The Sting" in its elaborate conniving to con a bunch of people out of their dough. And such strained acting, too. I found it totally fun but only in that way you kick back and watch, say, "My Three Sons" and enjoy it even though you know there isn't much to it. "Confidence Girl" is actually better than most 1960s television, and it's fast paced enough to never let you go. And the photography is really good. But keep your expectations in check.
The title comes from the idea that a woman builds up trust in some victims in a scam situation so that other conspirators can do their sting later. The classic one early on demonstrates how a woman persuades a pawnbroker that she has found a valuable violin in his shop and will pay $10,000 for it, but he has to get permission from the owner first. The pawnbroker thinks, oh boy, I'll buy it for a few hundred dollars and sell it to the woman for a huge profit. The owner, of course, is a collaborator who refuses to sell it until the price is close to $10,000. The pawnbroker is still thinking he'll make a quick couple thousand--and then the woman, who has left only her phone number and hotel room, backs out of the deal.
Fun. It could have been better made in a million little ways, but it isn't half bad as is, a B-movie through and through, and brief, too. Some great scenes shot not in a studio but on location. Produced, directed, and written by one man, which is okay if you are Stanley Kubrick or Woody Allen, but not when you are Andrew Stone, it seems, because there are too many gaps and weak spots to really keep it convincing.
