New York Confidential, The Syndicate Rules

New York City has never been something to be proud of.  False bravado and slick media campaigns cannot hide the filth, human depravity, and corruption of America's largest city. Today, sleazy local governments and weird political activists keep the city and its citizenry terrorized.  Several decades ago, the evil that kept New York enslaved was of a more pure nature...The Syndicate ruled the place. As The Big Apple gets ready to elect the next shakedown artist as its mayor, we remember a day when criminals were criminals.  Oddly, there was something pristine about those days. Our feature today is 1955's "New York Confidential," directed by Russell Rouse.

Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford) rules The Syndicate's New York operations. The Syndicate is into the docks, unions, sports, gambling, drugs, and prostitution.  They do a fine job and are quite efficient and hide under the guise of "legitimate" businesses. Lupo runs a well oiled machine and has to knock off one of his men who has gotten a bit greedy. He calls in a hitman from Chicago, Nick (Richard Conte). Nick, smooth as silk and even more psycho than Norman Bates, does the job well and works his way to be Lupo's right-hand man. Uh oh, the sultry Kathy (Anne Bancroft), Lupo's daughter, wants to get away from her dad. She's disgusted by what her dad does. As Nick offs more blokes that threaten Lupo's operations, Kathy sees something in Nick...maybe a glimmer of a conscience.  Maybe.

Uh oh...an anti-corruption team has been set up to look at Lupo's operation to include the bribery of government officials.  This investigation could bring down many congressmen and lobbyists, too. Hesitantly, Lupo agrees to ice one of those congressmen who has betrayed him. Bad move. Now every Syndicate operation in every large city faces heat. Nick tries to be loyal to Lupo and even rebuffs the widow of a man he killed for Lupo. The lovely Iris (Marilyn Maxwell) is Lupo's new gal, but she has eyes for Nick.  Nick is no fool and will himself rebuff the advances of Lupo's beautiful daughter Kathy.  Where is this all going?  Let us get off the plot by just saying our film today is not the feel good film of 1955.

Is there any hope for the sultry dames, Kathy and Iris making it to the end credits?  Just how loyal will Nick continue to be on Lupo as the heat increases?  Is there a point where even Nick becomes inconvenient to The Syndicate with all his knowledge?  Vicious and brutal, this film is important for us to view as an example of what happens when the bad guys eat their own.  Unfortunately, congress has passed laws since 1979 that makes them immune from any type of corruption investigation, but the hoodlums on the street are at the mercy of those predators.  See "New York Confidential" and realize how homicidal and evil corruption really is.