''Confidence Girl'' is a 1952 American

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

written and directed by Andrew L. Stone. The film stars

Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three h ...

Hillary Brooke Hillary Brooke (born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson; September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress. Career A 5′6″ blonde from the Astoria neighborhood of New York City's borough of Queens, Brooke, who was of Swedish an ...

, Eddie Marr,

John Gallaudet John Beury Gallaudet (August 23, 1903 – November 5, 1983) was an American film and television actor. Career Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia and attended Williams College. He began his theatrical career on stage, appearing on Broadway in ...

Jack Kruschen Jacob "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. Dreyf ...

, Dan Riss and

Walter Kingsford Walter Kingsford (born Walter Pearce; 20 September 1881 – 7 February 1958) was an English stage, film, and television actor. Early years Kingsford was born in Redhill, Surrey, England. Career Kingsford began his acting career on the L ...

. It was released on June 20, 1952 by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

Plot

Con man A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

Roger Kingsley convinces the Los Angeles police that, acting as an insurance company's investigator, he can help them apprehend a notorious swindler, a woman named Mary Webb. Kingsley sets a trap at a department store and nabs Webb as she steals a mink coat. But while the store detective is contacting police, Webb, who is actually Kingsley's girlfriend, is permitted to escape. However, Kingsley has gained the trust of the police. In a second scam, Webb and Kingsley bilk a

pawnshop A pawnbroker is an individual that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. A pawnbrokering business is called a pawnshop, and while many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, ...

owner out of several thousand dollars. She then prepares for their biggest con yet, a stage act at Johnny Gregg's nightclub in which Webb will pose as a

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...

. Her psychic powers amaze Gregg's customers, but the act is just an elaborate ruse. The suspicious police set a trap. A dentist named Braddock is implicated in a murder, but while trying to save the life of whom she believes to be an innocent man, Webb is tricked into confessing her scam in front of the club's entire audience. She and Kingsley are taken to jail.

Cast

as Roger Kingsley *

as Mary Webb *Eddie Marr as Johnny Gregg *

as Detective Chief Brownell *

as Detective Sergeant Quinn *

Dan Riss Frederic Daniel Riss (March 22, 1910 – August 28, 1970) was an American actor who had a career from 1949 to 1965. Filmography References External links * 1910 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male f ...

as Detective Lieutenant Fenton *

as Mr. Markewell *Paul Livermore as Hal Speel *

Aline Towne Fern Aline Waller (née Eggen, 7 November 1919 – 2 February 1996), known as Aline Towne, was an American film and television actress, best remembered for her lead roles in 1950s Republic serials, such as '' Radar Men from the Moon''. Ea ...

as Peggy Speel *Helen Van Tuyl as Maggie *

Edmund Cobb Edmund Fessenden Cobb (June 23, 1892 – August 15, 1974) was an American actor who appeared in more than 620 films between 1912 and 1966. Biography Cobb was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of William Henry Cobb and Eddie (Edmun ...

as Detective Lieutenant Cobb * Truman Bradley as Narrator *

Leo Cleary Leo Thomas Cleary (June 15, 1894 – April 11, 1955)Doyle, Billy H. (1999). The Ultimate Directory of Silent and Sound Era Performers: A Necrology of Actors and Actresses'. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press. p. 109. . was an American charact ...

as Mr. Sheridan *

Roy Engel Roy Engel (born Leroy Englewood Stults Jr.;"Missouri, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLFM-JTCJ : Thu Jul 18 04:43:41 UTC 2024), Entry for Leroy Englewood Stults and V ...

as Store Detective Walsh * Charles Collins as Charlie *Yvonne Peattie as Gertrude Palmer *Joel Allen as Frank Palmer *Helen Chapman as Joey Ridgway * John Phillips as Allen Ridgeway *Margo Karen as Hilda * Bruce Edwards as 1st Detective *

Tyler McVey William Tyler McVey (February 14, 1912 – July 4, 2003) was an American character actor of film and television. Early years McVey was born Bay City, Michigan, to William David McVey and his wife, the former Jessie Arvilla Tyler. His moth ...

as 2nd Detective *

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...

as William Pope *Michael Vallon as Richard Downs *

Barbara Woodell Barbara Woodell (born Barbara Mae Smith; May 25, 1910 – January 16, 1997) was an American stage, film and television actress, born in Lewistown, Illinois. Taking the stage name Woodell after her grandmother's name, she was married to composer ...

as Miss Seabury *Madge Crane as Mrs. Markwell * Pamela Duncan as Braddock's Nurse *Carmen Clothier as Fur Saleswoman *Gil Frye as Nightclub Accomplice at Phone *

Duke York Duke York ( Charles Everest Sinsabaugh; October 17, 1908January 24, 1952), was an American film actor and stuntman who appeared in nearly 160 films between 1932 and 1952. He was also known as Duke Owl. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd ...

as Nightclub Accomplice with Binoculars

References

External links

* 1952 films 1952 crime films American black-and-white films American crime films Films about con artists Films directed by Andrew L. Stone United Artists films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Films scored by Lucien Cailliet English-language crime films {{1950s-US-film-stub