Review of The Asphalt Jungle (1950) by Ricardo O — 05 Aug 2012

"Crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavor.".

A criminal named Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe) is just out of prison with a brilliant plan for a million-dollar jewelry heist he's had in his mind for some years now. Funded by crooked attorney Emmerich (Louis Calhern), Riedenschneider recruits three men for the job, among them is Louis (Anthony Caruso) a professional at cracking safes; Gus (James Whitmore) a hunchbacked bartender as the getaway driver; and Dix (Sterling Hayden) as a strong-arm man to help with the caper. Dix is an impoverished hood who sees the caper as a means to finance his dream of owning a horse farm. Also a bookie named Cobby (Marc Lawrence) acts as Emmerich's go-between. The heist is pulled off successfully, but an alert night watchman shoots Louis. Angry that the bookie didn't let him in on the caper, a corrupt cop (Barry Kelley) beats the bookie into becoming a fink, confessing and fingering the other criminals involved. From here, the painstakingly planned crime falls apart quickly with each member of the gang proving to have his own fatal weakness and each contributing to his own downfall.

Like John Huston's directorial debut, The Maltese Falcon (1941), inventing the film noir genre, he invents the caper/heist genre with The Asphalt Jungle. Much imitated, unlike the many films made after this one, it is less concerned with the plan or the brilliant heist. Instead it is more character driven, exploring deception, relationships and human weaknesses. Like The Maltese Falcon before it, there isn't a whole lot of action in the film allowing the cast the opportunity to fully develop their characters. The cast credits read out like a whoâ(TM)s who of great, talented character actors like Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe (who got an Oscar nomination for playing the mastermind of the heist), and James Whitmore. Also worth mentioning, making her "big break" in the film is Marilyn Monroe in an excellent star-making bit performance as Emmerich's lusty "niece". Sheâ(TM)s only in the film for a few minutes total but as is evident of the movie poster, she sure made an impression on audiences. John Huston is at his best with his great direction and gets the most out of his cast and the script, he co-wrote with Ben Maddow. Beautifully shot in ominous black and white photography by Oscar nominated Harold Rosson. Influencing many subsequent films such as Jules Dassin's Rififi (1955), Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956) (also starring Sterling Hayden in a very similar role), Ocean's Eleven (1960) as well as Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992), The Asphalt Jungle is a classic of the caper film subgenre as well as the film noir genre. And considering it was one of the first films to be told [realistically] through the point of view of the criminals, one can see itâ(TM)s influence reach to gangster films like Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction. The Asphalt Jungle is an essential piece of cinema and comes highly recommended to movie fans that love crime films. 10/10.