The Asphalt Jungle

What’s fascinating about John Huston’s masterpiece, The Asphalt Jungle, is that it contains very little action; instead, Huston chose to stay close to the source material and created something more akin to a filmed novel, providing a collective character study of psychologically tormented characters and inaugurating a new model for heist films utilized later in Rififi (1955), The Killing (1956), Seven Thieves (1960), and many others. Exploring the backgrounds and motivations of a variety of characters involved in a big-ticket jewelry heist, the film revolves around three key figures brought to life by brilliant, nuanced performances: the greedy, adulterous attorney Alonzo Emmerich (Louis Calhern), the cerebral, German-American ex-convict Doc Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe), and the simpleminded, noncommittal dreamer Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden). Coming at the midpoint of the film, the heist itself is less interesting than the before and after, which is a testament to Huston’s talent; he transforms what other directors might view as filler (Emmerich’s card game with his ailing wife, Doc’s diner experience with the dancing girl) into pivotal moments that deepen the film’s impact. Indeed, the final scene (and final shot) at the horse farm is moving and breathtaking, reinforcing the noir ethos while also transcending it. When not foregrounding the tensions inside Emmerich’s luxurious home on the right side of the tracks, most of the story takes place in what looks like an abandoned, permanently overcast neighborhood in an unnamed Midwestern city, dead storefronts outnumbering live citizens ten to one. A child-like Marilyn Monroe plays Emmerich’s mistress, young enough to be his granddaughter and constantly calling him “uncle” in her baby voice, Emmerich himself obviously flabbergasted by his ability to satisfy such a “sweet kid.”