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The Asphalt Jungle
Fans of the Stanley Kubrick classic The Killing will have a head start with 1950's The Asphalt Jungle, another noir-ish crime drama like Kubrick's film, except in this story, things start falling apart after the crime is committed.
A career criminal named Doc who has just been released from prison already has a plan for a jewel heist worth about half a million dollars. A bookie friend of his leads him to a lawyer of questionable ethics named Alonzo Emmerich for $50,000.00 to front the operation, who also offers to buy the diamonds after the heist. Doc's crew includes a gunman named Dix Handley who plans to return to the farm where he grew up with his share, Gus as the driver, and Louis as the safecracker. The heist goes off without a hitch, but our pertinent players begin to start double crossing each other and going into self preservation, resulting in most of the pertinent players ending up in jail or dead.
Two time Oscar winner John Huston provides meticulous artistry as the director and co-screenwriter of this slick crime thriller, based on a novel by WR Burnett that doesn't waste any time with exposition or backstory, getting to the story at hand immediately and quickly introducing the primary players with precious little background. What the screenplay does do effectively is, despite the fact that most of the characters are criminals, quickly establishes who the good guys and the bad guys are. I was impressed that the Emmerich character was in bed with a dirty cop, which I didn't see coming at all.
Eventually, two characters come into focus as the most compelling elements of the story. We connect immediately with Doc because he is older, experienced, and easily the smartest character in the movie. His ability to gauge who he can trust and who he can't is a joy to behold. I also found the Emmerich character equally as fascinating, whose smarm factor bubbles quietly to the surface, but is not as smart as he thinks he is. His treatment of his invalid wife and his sexy young mistress doesn't endear him to the viewer either, but definitely makes us want to see this guy get what's coming to him.
Houston received two Oscar nominations for his taut direction and for his contribution to the screenplay. Hollywood veteran Sam Jaffe also received a supporting actor nomination for his crisp performance as Doc. Sterling Hayden commands the screen as Dix the same way he did in The Killing and Jean Hagen, who a couple of years later would almost steal Singin in the Rain as Lina Lamont, is terrific as Dix's ex who re-enters his life and is oblivious to the danger Dix might have put her in. The character reminds me of Lucille Ball's character in The Dark Corner. A young Marilyn Monroe also impresses in her sixth feature film role as Emmerich's young mistress, Angela. Some of the posters for this movie have Marilyn plastered all over them like she's the star of the movie, but she has less than 10 minutes of screen time. The real scene stealer here was Louis Calhern in the complex role of Emmerich. I've seen a pretty good chunk of Calhern's work over the years but this is the first time I've seen him in a straight dramatic role and he nails it. Another classic that lived up to its reputation.
Fans of the Stanley Kubrick classic The Killing will have a head start with 1950's The Asphalt Jungle, another noir-ish crime drama like Kubrick's film, except in this story, things start falling apart after the crime is committed.
A career criminal named Doc who has just been released from prison already has a plan for a jewel heist worth about half a million dollars. A bookie friend of his leads him to a lawyer of questionable ethics named Alonzo Emmerich for $50,000.00 to front the operation, who also offers to buy the diamonds after the heist. Doc's crew includes a gunman named Dix Handley who plans to return to the farm where he grew up with his share, Gus as the driver, and Louis as the safecracker. The heist goes off without a hitch, but our pertinent players begin to start double crossing each other and going into self preservation, resulting in most of the pertinent players ending up in jail or dead.
Two time Oscar winner John Huston provides meticulous artistry as the director and co-screenwriter of this slick crime thriller, based on a novel by WR Burnett that doesn't waste any time with exposition or backstory, getting to the story at hand immediately and quickly introducing the primary players with precious little background. What the screenplay does do effectively is, despite the fact that most of the characters are criminals, quickly establishes who the good guys and the bad guys are. I was impressed that the Emmerich character was in bed with a dirty cop, which I didn't see coming at all.
Eventually, two characters come into focus as the most compelling elements of the story. We connect immediately with Doc because he is older, experienced, and easily the smartest character in the movie. His ability to gauge who he can trust and who he can't is a joy to behold. I also found the Emmerich character equally as fascinating, whose smarm factor bubbles quietly to the surface, but is not as smart as he thinks he is. His treatment of his invalid wife and his sexy young mistress doesn't endear him to the viewer either, but definitely makes us want to see this guy get what's coming to him.
Houston received two Oscar nominations for his taut direction and for his contribution to the screenplay. Hollywood veteran Sam Jaffe also received a supporting actor nomination for his crisp performance as Doc. Sterling Hayden commands the screen as Dix the same way he did in The Killing and Jean Hagen, who a couple of years later would almost steal Singin in the Rain as Lina Lamont, is terrific as Dix's ex who re-enters his life and is oblivious to the danger Dix might have put her in. The character reminds me of Lucille Ball's character in The Dark Corner. A young Marilyn Monroe also impresses in her sixth feature film role as Emmerich's young mistress, Angela. Some of the posters for this movie have Marilyn plastered all over them like she's the star of the movie, but she has less than 10 minutes of screen time. The real scene stealer here was Louis Calhern in the complex role of Emmerich. I've seen a pretty good chunk of Calhern's work over the years but this is the first time I've seen him in a straight dramatic role and he nails it. Another classic that lived up to its reputation.