The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Directed by: John Huston | 112 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Teresa Celli, Marilyn Monroe, William ‘Wee Willie’ Davis, Dorothy Tree, Brad Dexter, John Maxwell

The mother of all ‘caper’ films, as ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ (1950) is often called. John Huston’s crime film is indeed a blueprint for the many exciting crime films in which the robbery of a bank, museum or casino takes center stage. But ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ is also known as the first film to introduce audiences to Marilyn Monroe and, despite her limited screen time of only three minutes in all, she made an indelible impression and laid the foundation for her illustrious stardom. . What fewer people know is that ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ also marked the definitive breakthrough for another great movie star: Sterling Hayden. Although he himself wanted nothing to do with all that fame. Hayden was an unwilling movie star who was always disdainful of his own work. In fact, he much preferred to be at sea, as captain of a ship. To pay for his craft, he decided to audition at the urging of a friend. With his impressive stature (1.94 meters tall, tough look, muscular body and a good head with blond hair) he was subsequently launched by Paramount as ‘the most beautiful man on the silver screen’. Hayden has never made it a secret that he continued to make films purely for the money. “If I had enough money, I would buy all the negatives of my films and set them on fire,” he once said. For someone who didn’t really like the trade, Hayden has built a wonderful career. He has worked with, among others, Stanley Kubrick (‘The Killing’, 1956 and ‘Dr. Strangelove’ (1964)), Francis Ford Coppola (‘The Godfather’, 1972), Robert Altman (‘The Long Goodbye’, 1973) and Bernardo Bertolucci (‘1900’, 1976).

In ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ Hayden, despite the fact that his name is first on the title role, does not play the lead role. It’s for the unnamed city in the midwestern United States, where corruption and power lurk on the corners of every street and can strike at any moment. Recently released on bail, master criminal Erwin “Doc” Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe, he earned an Oscar nomination for this role) spent seven years brooding on what would become his next big blow. He has his sights set on a risky jewelry heist, but still needs the right ‘tough guys’ to do it. The shady bookmaker Cobby (Mark Lawrence) helps him assemble his team and the local dirty cop Dittrich (Barry Kelley) turns a blind eye. Master squatter Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) is assigned to do the actual heist, intrepid jackass Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden) is on hand to deliver punches if needed, and pub owner Gus Minissi (James Whitmore) drives the getaway car. The shadowy lawyer Alonzo Emmerich (Louis Calhern) is brought in to pay for the heist. However, it appears that he spends his money mainly on his expensive, very young mistress Angela (Marilyn Monroe) and appears not to have the promised $ 50,000 at all. Together with private detective Brannom (Brad Dexter), Emmerich devises a plan to scam Doc and co. Would he get away with that…?

If you expect to find yourself right in the middle of the action, you will be disappointed. Director John Huston uses the first half to 45 minutes of the film to carefully sketch the characters and their interrelationships and to create the pessimistic atmosphere that haunts this oppressive concrete city. He does this in a brilliant way right away in the first scene, by having Hayden’s character wander through the deserted streets early in the morning. Throughout the film, Huston carefully chooses his lighting, staging and camera angles, so that every scene looks like a picture and the viewer immediately experiences the right atmosphere of despair, unrest and upheaval. ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ finds itself at the intersection of film noir and another subgenre, that of the heist/caper film that would subsequently experience a revival (first including ‘Rififi’ (1955) and Kubrick’s ‘The Killing’ and later, for example, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ (1960), ‘The Anderson Tapes’ (1971) Neoclassics such as ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992) and ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995) and ‘The Score’ (2001) also owe this film). But where you would expect the robbery to take center stage, here it is all about its aftermath and the characters involved. Because can you actually trust everyone you do business with?

The basis of ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ is the book of the same name by WR Burnett that was published a year earlier. His novels ‘Little Caesar’ (1931) and ‘High Sierra’ (1941) have previously been filmed and he co-wrote the screenplay for ‘Scarface’ (1932). Based on Burnett’s novel, Huston and screenwriter Ben Maddow created a villain-centric angle, along with a slew of memorable characters, superbly portrayed by the largely experienced character actors. The pernicious lawyer with his girlfriend who could have been his granddaughter and wants to drag her into his trap, the seedy but endearing bookie who never seems to have intended to meddle in evil business but still gets dragged into it time and again, the rough-and-tumble powerhouse who doesn’t know what to do with the girl Doll (the ever-great Jean Hagen) who has a heart for him), the devious cafe owner and getaway driver you’d better not argue with, and then, of course, the highly intelligent mastermind (Jaffe gave his character a heavy German accent) with his fondness for dancing girls – especially Mexican! Every character has their weaknesses and since this film was made during the time of the Hays Code, the message that crime doesn’t pay should be clear. That takes away some of the desired tension, although Huston dared to portray the jewel robbery quite explicitly and step by step and one of the characters – completely against the wishes of MGM boss Louis B. Mayer – puts the hand to himself.

‘The Asphalt Jungle’ is not the most exciting caper ever made, but it is one of the more entertaining and fascinating due to the great acting, beautiful photography and some memorable images. Because in addition to the opening scene mentioned earlier, the last image, which is the only one not recorded in that depraved city without a name, also bursts from the screen. It is also remarkable that the score by Miklós Rózsa (who would win a total of three Oscars, including for ‘Ben Hur’ (1959)) is very sparse; the music can only be heard during the opening credits and during the closing scenes. As if this underlines once again that frivolities such as music do not belong in this concrete jungle. Huston made a groundbreaking film with ‘The Asphalt Jungle’, not only because he single-handedly launched the caper film subgenre, but also because never before has a faulty guild of thugs stood so firmly in the foreground and thus managed to win the sympathy of the viewer. They’re just ‘just’ doing their job, Huston seems to want to say. Every scene, every image, every frame is spot on. The hand of a master filmmaker is clearly visible here.