The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Jean Hagen and Sterling Hayden

'The Asphalt Jungle' is an crime thriller film noir made in 1950, directed by John Huston and starring Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern and James Whitmore. It is notable for including a brief but star-making role for Marilyn Monroe. She was pictured on the posters but not mentioned by name.

The movie is based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett and tells the story of a "caper", a group of criminals planning and taking part in a jewellery store robbery. It was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Director but won none.

In 2008, 'The Asphalt Jungle' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The film is regarded as a classic and has had a huge influence on the genre. Influences can be seen in the 1955 French film 'Rififi', in the early work of Kubrick, and, decades later, in Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs'. It was well received critically on release and was a commercial success.

Search Amazon for 'The Asphalt Jungle'

The plot concerns a criminal mastermind Doc Reidenschneider (the Oscar-nominated Jaffe), who, on his release from prison, begins recruiting hoodlums for his plot to rob a jewellery store.

What makes 'The Asphalt Jungle' stand out is the concentration, not only on the robbery but also on the personal lives of the gang members, who are individualized with notable touches of dialogue and visual style and whose backgrounds are painted in memorable detail. Reidenschneider's team includes Sterling Hayden's tough guy stick-up artist, Dix, who dreams of returning to the Kentucky farm life of his youth, a crooked bookie called Cobby (Marc Lawrence), Gus Minissi, a hunchbacked diner owner with a fondness for kittens who is hired as the getaway driver (James Whitmore) together with Jean Hagen's Doll, a woman with nothing but romantic illusions to cling to. The meticulously planned heist takes just 11 minutes; the meat of the film concerns the relentless double-crossing that follows.

The object of all their aspirations is a bag of gems which, much like the Maltese Falcon in Huston's film, proves to be unusable and as in most Huston films it is greed and a yearning for the unattainable that brings each character to his downfall and inevitable defeat by the law. The gang leader, Doc, is captured because he lingers in a cafe watching a beautiful young girl dance, and tough guy Dix bleeds to death as he tries to return to the country and the horses he loves. Such melodramatic elements contrast interestingly with the film's otherwise grim portrayal of alienation, betrayal, and sociopathy.

Harold Rosson's magnificent black-and-white cinematography starkly, yet vividly shot further enhances this film noir masterpiece and is complemented by the moving score by Miklós Rózsa which stays perfectly in the background and never becomes intrusive.