Some of us like John Payne over John Wayne.
I don't see how you can diss Payne's noir resume after watching Kansas City Confidential, The Crooked Way or 99 River Street. He gets overshadowed in Larceny by the flashier roles of Duryea and Winters, but increased exposure to this film can only enhance his dark city reputation.
Also worth watching at least once in his noir catalog are Hidden Fear, The Boss, Slightly Scarlet, The Saxon Charm and a very kooky but fun noir western that also features Duryea and Elizabeth Scott, Silver Lode. I haven't seen it, but he also supposedly does a good turn in a 1975 episode of Columbo (which also features Janet Leigh!)
Payne was beset by some bad luck and bqd choices in the mid to late 50s. He secured a month-to-month option on Ian Fleming's Moonraker in 1955 and might have been cinema's first James Bond but allowed the option to lapse before acting on it (or in it). I'm not sure how that would worked, though ... Payne with a British accent? Hmmm ...
In 1959, he was hit by a car while walking in New York City that necessitated two years of recovery. It effectively derailed his film career. He suffered some nasty facial scars from the mishap and he chose not to have them covered up or repaired via plastic surgery.
Now how noir is that?
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