# The Asphalt Jungle

The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 American heist film noir directed and cowritten by John Huston and starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire and Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles. Based on the 1949 novel by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city.
Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film was released on May 12, 1950. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and Huston won a National Board of Review Award for his direction. At the 1950 Venice Film Festival, Huston was nominated for the Golden Lion and Sam Jaffe won the Best Actor Award.
Retrospective reviews of the film have been highly positive, with several critics describing it as one of the most influential works in the crime film genre, and one of Huston's best films. The film spawned a television series of the same name that aired on ABC in 1961.
In 2008, The Asphalt Jungle was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

## Plot

When criminal mastermind Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider is released from prison, he visits a bookie named Cobby in an unnamed Midwestern river city. Doc needs $50,000 to hire three men—a safecracker, a driver and a hooligan—to commit a huge jewel robbery. Cobby arranges a meeting between Doc and Alonzo Emmerich, a high-society lawyer and known fixer. Doc tells Emmerich that the theft will yield half a million dollars or more. Emmerich agrees to front the money and find a fence. After they leave, Emmerich finds his young girlfriend Angela asleep on the couch. Private detective Bob Brannom visits Emmerich to collect some debts, but Emmerich is broke and convinces Brennom to help him double-cross the others, proposing a scheme for him to abscond with the gems.
Doc secures Louie Ciavelli as the safecracker. Ciavelli only trusts Gus Minissi, a hunchbacked diner owner, to be the getaway driver. Last hired is Dix Handley, who tells Doll Conovan, who is in love with him, of his dream to buy the horse farm that his family had lost after a terrible year. To access the jewelry store, Ciavelli hammers through a brick wall, deactivates an alarm to admit Doc and Dix, and uses nitroglycerine to open the safe. However, the explosion triggers several burglar alarms, and Dix slugs a security guard. The guard drops his revolver, which fires, striking Ciavelli in the abdomen. The men escape and a police manhunt begins.
Ciavelli insists that Gus take him home. Ciavelli's wife wants him taken to the hospital, but Gus sends for a trusted but illicit doctor. Doc and Dix arrive at Emmerich's place, but are aware of Emmerich's attempt to stall them. Realizing this, Brannom draws a gun but is killed by Dix, who receives a flesh wound in his side. Doc scolds Emmerich for his foolish plan and tells him to offer the money to the jeweler's insurance company for 25% of its value to avoid suspicion.
Emmerich dumps Brannom's body in the river. The police find the list of debtors on Emmerich's letterhead on the corpse. When they question him, Emmerich claims that he spent the night with his mistress, Angela Phinlay. Under pressure from police commissioner Hardy, police lieutenant Ditrich, a corrupt cop on Cobby's payroll, beats the bookie into confessing everything in a vain attempt to save himself from becoming ensnared. Hardy arrests Emmerich at Angela's home and threatens her with jail for providing Emmerich with an alibi. When the police allow Emmerich to leave the room to phone his wife, he shoots himself dead.
After Gus is arrested, he attacks Cobby in the jail. The police go to Ciavelli’s to arrest him, but when they forcibly enter, they find his funeral in progress. In Doll's apartment, Doc offers Dix some of the stones, but he refuses. Doll secures a car for Dix and insists on accompanying him. Doc persuades a taxi driver to drive him to Cleveland, hours away. They stop at a roadside diner, where Doc becomes entranced by a pretty young woman dancing to the jukebox. Because of the delay, Doc is recognized by two policemen, who arrest him after finding the stolen jewels hidden in his overcoat. Suffering from blood loss, Dix faints at the wheel. He is taken to a doctor, who phones the local police to report a gunshot wound. Dix regains consciousness and escapes.
At a press conference, Hardy notes that three of the seven suspects have died, three others have been arrested and the one on the loose is a hardened killer. Back at the wheel, the rolling green fields of Bluegrass country pass as Dix speaks deliriously. Arriving at his childhood pasture, he collapses. Doll runs for help, while horses gather around him.

## Cast

* Sterling Hayden as Dix Handley
* Louis Calhern as Alonzo D. Emmerich
* Jean Hagen as "Doll" Conovan
* James Whitmore as Gus Minissi
* Sam Jaffe as "Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider
* John McIntire as Police Commissioner Hardy
* Marc Lawrence as Cobby
* Barry Kelley as Lt. Ditrich
* Anthony Caruso as Louis Ciavelli
* Teresa Celli as Maria Ciavelli
* Marilyn Monroe as Angela Phinlay
* William "Wee Willie" Davis as Timmons
* Dorothy Tree as May Emmerich
* Brad Dexter as Bob Brannom
* John Maxwell as Dr. Swanson
* Alex Gerry as Maxwell
* Tom Browne Henry as James X. Connery
* Don Haggerty as Detective Andrews
* James Seay as Detective Janocek
* Theodore Bikel as Franz Schurz
* Helene Stanley as Jeannie
* David Clarke as Mr. Atkinson
    Source:

## Production

The film was an adaptation by director John Huston and screenwriter Ben Maddow of the 1949 novel by crime writer W. R. Burnett. It was backed by the major film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where it was greenlighted by production chief Dore Schary over the objections of studio head Louis B. Mayer. From the publication of Burnett's first novel Little Caesar in 1929, he had written numerous books that were adapted into films shortly after publication. Huston and Ben Maddow wrote the adaptation, which emphasized the crooks' story and reduced the police procedural aspect. Burnett was consulted as the shooting script was being written, and he approved the final version. The studio allowed the production a relatively free hand.
Maddow said: "[A] lot of the power [of the film] was due to the fact that these were New York actors who all knew one another and were trying to outdo one another—and who were stimulants to one another. There was nobody who had a name of any consequence... Most of Huston's talent came in the choice of casting, which most directors will tell you anyway, in moments of frankness. It could have been quite a banal film if badly cast. Imagine Van Johnson or somebody else in the leading part! But it was not an important film, so it was easier to cast."
Production for The Asphalt Jungle took place from October 21, 1949 to late December of that year. Location shooting took place in Lexington and Keeneland, Kentucky and in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In shooting the film, Huston was influenced by European neorealist films such as Open City (1945) and Bicycle Thieves (1948). He combined the naturalism of neorealism with the stylized look of film noir and Hollywood crime films. When the film was complete, Mayer said: "It's trash. That Asphalt Pavement thing is full of nasty, ugly people doing nasty things. I wouldn't cross the street to see a picture like that."
The Production Code Administration's main concerns with the script were the detailed depiction of the heist and the fact that the character of the corrupt lawyer Emmerich seemed to cheat justice by killing himself. Neither the studio nor the censors interfered significantly with the script, however, and both the heist and the suicide were included in the final cut, although the suicide scene was rewritten. The original scene had Emmerich finishing a suicide note, but in the revised scene, he stalls after writing an endearing salutation to his wife, crumples the note and become extremely agitated about the decision to kill himself before an abrupt cutaway to an offscreen shot being heard.
Huston's first choice for the breakout role played by Marilyn Monroe was Lola Albright, who was unavailable. Huston invited Monroe to a screen test and rehearsed for it with her in his office. He did not feel that she was right for the part and dismissed her, but changed his mind when he watched her leave the room. According to film noir authority Eddie Muller, Huston later said that Monroe was "one of the few actresses who could make an entrance by leaving the room."

## Reception
### Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,077,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,060,000 overseas, resulting in a profit of only $40,000.

### Critical response

A contemporary review in Photoplay stated:
   This brutally frank story of crime and punishment in a Midwestern city was directed by two-time Academy Award winner, John Huston—son of the late Walter Huston. John's pictures are usually grim (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), but always dramatic and exciting. This time he exposes the behind-the-scenes details of the robbery of a jewelry store... This picture is packed with stand-out performances... There's a beautiful blonde, too, name of Marilyn Monroe, who plays Calhern's girl friend, and makes the most of her footage.
At the time of its release The New York Times said of the film:
   Louis Calhern as the big lawyer who tries to pull a double cross and muffs it is exceptionally fluid and adroit and Sterling Hayden is sure-fire as a brazen hoodlum who just wants to go back home. Likewise Sam Jaffe does wonders as a cool-headed mastermind, James Whitmore is taut as a small 'fixer' and John McIntire is crisp as a chief of police. But, then, everyone in the picture—which was produced incidentally, by M.G.M.—gives an unimpeachable performance. If only it all weren't so corrupt.
In 1988 the Criterion Collection critic Peter Heath Becker admired Huston's technique:
   Through his experience as a painter, [Huston] learned to frame an image, and throughout the film, he uses one shot where other directors might have needed three. He dispenses with editing flourishes and over-dramatic lighting and opts instead for sustained, well-composed shots. By balancing elements in the foreground and background of his images, Huston frames events and responses at once, without cutting between them.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Asphalt Jungle is an expertly told crime story with attention paid to the crime and characters in equal measure."

### Awards and nominations

| Institution | Year | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| Academy Awards | 1951 | Best Director | John Huston | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | 1951 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Ben Maddow, John Huston | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | 1951 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Sam Jaffe | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | 1951 | Best Cinematography – Black-and-white | Harold Rosson | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | 1951 | Best Film from any Source | Best Film from any Source | Nominated |
| Directors Guild of America Award | 1950 | Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film | John Huston | Nominated |
| Edgar Allan Poe Awards | 1951 | Best Motion Picture Screenplay | Ben Maddow, John Huston | Won |
| Golden Globe Award | 1951 | Best Director | John Huston | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Award | 1951 | Best Cinematography | Harold Rosson | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Award | 1951 | Best Screenplay | Ben Maddow, John Huston | Nominated |
| National Board of Review | 1950 | Best Director | John Huston | Won |
| Venice Film Festival | 1950 | Golden Lion | Golden Lion | Nominated |
| Venice Film Festival | 1950 | Best Actor | Sam Jaffe | Won |
| Writers Guild of America Award | 1951 | Best Written Drama | Ben Maddow, John Huston | Nominated |
| Writers Guild of America Award | 1951 | The Robert Meltzer Award (Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene) | Ben Maddow, John Huston | Nominated |

## Television series

The film spawned a television series of the same name starring Jack Warden, Arch Johnson and William Smith, which ran for 13 episodes in the spring and summer of 1961 on ABC. The series resembled the film in name only, except for one episode, "The Professor", which was constructed as a sequel to the feature film. None of the characters in the film appeared in the television scripts, and the plots were devoted to the exploits of the major case squad of the New York Police Department. One of the most notable features of the series is the theme song, written by Duke Ellington.

## Legacy

Over time The Asphalt Jungle has become to be regarded as one of the more influential crime films of the 1950s. According to the AFI Film Catalog, "is widely regarded by film critics as one of John Huston's best."
Burnett's novel The Asphalt Jungle was the basis of M-G-M's western film The Badlanders (1958) directed by Delmer Daves, as well as Cairo (1963) starring George Sanders, followed by the blaxploitation film Cool Breeze (1972), directed by Barry Pollack.
The Asphalt Jungle further developed the crime thriller subgenre of caper films. The 1955 French film Rififi, which critics such as Leonard Maltin have labeled as the best heist film ever, drew much inspiration from The Asphalt Jungle.
In 2008, The Asphalt Jungle was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

## Colorization dispute

The film was the subject of a colorization lawsuit and controversy in France. Turner Entertainment entered into an agreement with the French television channel La Cinq, to broadcast the film in artificially colorized form. John Huston's heirs objected and filed a lawsuit. On November 23, 1988, The Asphalt Jungle was prohibited from being broadcast in France. On July 6, 1989, La Cinq won on appeal, broadcasting the film on August 6, 1989. Finally in Turner Entertainment Co. v. Huston, on May 28, 1991, the Court of Cassation canceled the July 6 judgment, stating that colorizing the film transformed the original artwork enough to potentially transgress the author's moral rights.