The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Being a black and white caper-gone-bad movie with a gang led by a recently released prisoner with a plan and a largely silent robbery sequence, I couldn’t help comparing this to Jules Dassin’s marvellous Rififi and of course it pales in comparison. But this pre-dates Rififi by five years and is a damn good example of the genre in its own right. In fact, I doubt I’d have Rififi to marvel over (or Kubrick’s The Killing for that matter) without this seminal movie.



John Huston directs a strong cast well bringing out excellent performances from Sterling Hayden (forever known to me as ‘the cop that Michael whacks’ despite his long and varied CV), Louis Calhern and especially from a scene-stealing Sam Jaffe. The minor characters stand up well- including an early Monroe performance- and add colour and depth, from the hunchbacked James Whitmore to the lip-licking greed of Barry Kelley. The story moves along at pace with intelligence covering all bases and adding depth and clarity to the characters’ actions and putting the later plot developments into context.

My only real qualms about the movie are the neatness of its conclusions- things are a little too convenient for the investigating officers, hardened criminals wilt under little pressure etc- the hammered-home pro-police propaganda speech from John McIntire which is very much out of keeping with the tone of the film and the genre and the happy-sad ending which really didn’t do it for me.

So, flawed but recommended. Noteworthy for its influence on the Fim Noir genre and smashing as a film in its own right.