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The Asphalt Jungle (1950) is a film noir directed by John Huston. The caper film, is based on the novel of the same name by W.R. Burnett and stars an ensemble cast including Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, and Marilyn Monroe.
The film tells the story of a group of men planning and executing a jewel robbery. It was nominated for four Academy Awards.
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".
ntly paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider (Jaffe), with funding from Alonzo Emmerich (Calhern), a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big heist.
The film was shot in Los Angeles and Cincinnati, but the name of the city is never mentioned, giving the impression of an "urban jungle," rather than of a real location.
Discussion
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Quotations
Cobby: Here's to the drink habit. It's the only one I got that don't get me into trouble.
Dr. Swanson: He hasn't got enough blood left in him to keep a chicken alive.
Experience has taught me never to trust a policeman. Just when you think one's all right, he turns legit.
Louis Ciavelli: I never saw a hooligan I did like. They're like left-handed pitchers, they all have a screw loose somewhere.
Louis Ciavelli: If you want fresh air, don't look for it in this town.
Lt. Ditrich: referring to Doc He loses you five blocks from the depot and one of the most dangerous criminals alive is now at large in this city.
Encyclopedia
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) is a film noir directed by John Huston. The caper film, is based on the novel of the same name by W.R. Burnett and stars an ensemble cast including Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, and Marilyn Monroe.
The film tells the story of a group of men planning and executing a jewel robbery. It was nominated for four Academy Awards.
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".
Plot
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider (Jaffe), with funding from Alonzo Emmerich (Calhern), a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big heist.
The film was shot in Los Angeles and Cincinnati, but the name of the city is never mentioned, giving the impression of an "urban jungle," rather than of a real location. Doc's gang consists of: Dix (Hayden), a hooligan from Kentucky with a gambling problem who sees the upcoming jewel heist as a means to finance his dream of buying back the horse farm that he lost during the Great Depression; Gus Minissi, a hunchbacked diner owner (Whitmore), who is hired as the getaway driver; Louis Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso), a professional safecracker, and Cobby, a bookie (Marc Lawrence) acting as the go-between.
In a tense scene during the well-planned crime (an 11-minute sequence in the film), the criminals confidently carry out the heist in a patient and calm manner. Ciavelli climbs down into a manhole, pounds his way through a brick wall, climbs the basement stairs to the jewelry store, deactivates the door's alarm and lets in the other thieves, and then heads to the main safe. With care, he slides flat on his back under the electric-eye system, picks the gate's lock, drills holes into the safe's door, gingerly opens a corked bottle of nitroglycerin (called "the soup" by the characters), and sets off a charge on the jewelry store safe.
Unfortunately for the crooks, the explosion sets off the alarms of several nearby businesses and brings the police to the scene more quickly than expected. Another mishap occurs at the end of the caper when a security guard drops his gun when struck by Dix, causing the gun to discharge and wound Ciavelli.
Under increasing pressure from his commanding officer, a corrupt cop (Barry Kelley) beats Cobby into confessing and fingering the other criminals involved.
From this point on, the meticulously planned crime falls apart as the cops begin closing in on the gang one by one. That includes Emmerich, a double-crosser and an adulterer, who ends up cornered with his much-younger mistress, played by Monroe.
Cast
Reaction
Film writer David M. Meyer notes, "The robbery is among the best-staged heists in noir. The simple visual treatment, the precise movements of the actors, and the absence of music on the sound track raise the tension to a boiling point."
Adaptations
The film spawned a television series The Asphalt Jungle starring Jack Warden that ran in the summer of 1961 on ABC. The series, however, resembled the film in name only. None of the characters in the film appeared in the television scripts, and the television plots were devoted to the exploits of the major case squad of the NYPD. One of the most notable features of the series was the theme song written by Duke Ellington.
W.R. Burnett's novel The Asphalt Jungle was also the basis of the western film The Badlanders (1958) directed by Delmer Daves.
Awards
Wins
Nominations
- Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion, John Huston; 1950.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Sam Jaffe; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Harold Rosson; Best Director, John Huston; Best Writing, Screenplay, Ben Maddow and John Huston; 1951.
- British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source, USA; 1951.
- Directors Guild of America: DGA Award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, John Huston; 1951.
- Golden Globes: Golden Globe, Best Cinematography - Black and White, Harold Rosson; Best Motion Picture Director, John Huston; Best Screenplay, John Huston and Ben Maddow; 1951.
- Writers Guild of America: WGA Screen Award; Best Written American Drama, Ben Maddow and John Huston; The Robert Meltzer Award (Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene), Ben Maddow and John Huston; 1951.
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