The Asphalt Jungle
The Asphalt Jungle • 1h 52m
Directed by John Huston • 1950 • United States
Starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen
In a smog-choked city somewhere in the American Midwest, an aging criminal mastermind, newly released from prison, hatches a plan for a million-dollar jewel heist and draws a wealthy lawyer and a cherry-picked trio of outlaws into his carefully devised but inevitably doomed scheme. Anchored by an abundance of nuanced performances from a gifted ensemble—including a tight-jawed Sterling Hayden and a sultry Marilyn Monroe in her breakout role—this gritty crime classic by John Huston climaxes in a meticulously detailed anatomy of a robbery that has reverberated through the genre ever since. An uncommonly naturalistic view of a seamy underworld, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE painstakingly depicts the calm professionalism and toughness of its gangster heroes while evincing a remarkable depth of compassion for their all-too-human fragility, and it showcases a master filmmaker at the height of his powers.
Up Next in The Asphalt Jungle
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THE ASPHALT JUNGLE Commentary
This 2004 commentary features film historian Drew Casper (“Postwar Hollywood: 1946–1962”) and archival recordings of actor James Whitmore.
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John Huston on THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
In this brief archival interview excerpt, director John Huston discusses THE ASPHALT JUNGLE.
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Philip Kaufman on THE ASPHALT JUNGLE