Tagline: The City Under the City.
The Asphalt Jungle movie storyline. A classic noirish thriller, an adaptation based on a novel by W. R. Burnett, about a mastermind, aging, ex-convict criminal Doc (Jaffe), who comes out of retirement (prison) for one last jewel robbery with an assemblage of underworld characters – Kentucky horse-farm loving Dix Handley (Hayden) with tough-girlfriend Doll (Hagen), and sleazy lawyer partner Alonzo Emmerich (Calhern) who plans to fence the jewels to support his expensive habits (e.g., an affair with seductive mistress Monroe – in a cameo role).
The heist unravels quickly and everything falls apart when an alarm accidentally sounds and the safecracker is mortally wounded by a stray bullet. While Emmerich commits suicide, and others are either jailed or wounded, Doc’s creepy voyeurism for a young girl dooms him during his escape. Dix reaches his childhood Kentucky farm but expires in a field surrounded by horses. Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Supporting Actor–Sam Jaffe, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best B/W Cinematography.
The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 film noir and heist film directed by John Huston. Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city. The film stars Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, and John McIntire, and also features Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards. 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”.
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Directed by: John Huston
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Anthony Caruso, Teresa Celli, Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Tree, Brad Dexter, John Maxwell
Screenplay by: Ben Maddow, John Huston
Cinematography by: Harold Rosson
Film Editing by: George Boemle
Set Decoration by: Edwin B. Willis
Art Direction by: Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons
Music by: Miklós Rózsa
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: June 7, 1950
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