One way or another, we all work for our vice.
-Doc Riedenschneider

My second John Huston adaptation of a W.R. Burnett novel this week, the first one being High Sierra. Huston co-wrote this one with Ben Maddow, but also directed this time around. It is one of the most influential heist films ever made for the simple fact that Huston and Maddow realized, even at this early stage, that what would make the film great wasn't the heist itself, but the characters involved.

The film is filled with clearly defined characterization with, even more impressively, very specific dialogue styles written for everyone in the film. Combine that with great performances by the entire ensemble cast and you end up with…

I have to admit that I was a bit predisposed to like this movie, I might say even giddy. It stars Sterling Hayden, and he plays two of my favourite characters in two of my favourite films; The Killing, and Dr. Strangelove. While it could be argued, successfully, that he plays the same character every time, I don’t really care. I just love his no nonsense tough guy delivery. Probably even more than James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart.

The first thing that struck me was the absence of score. Beyond the opening, there is none. The second thing that struck me was the sumptuous cinematography. This is a master plying his trade. This is the best looking and photographed Noir…

There's part of me that, for the rest of my life, wants to watch nothing but movies about criminal masterminds pulling off elaborate capers. What it says about me as a person I cannot say, but the vicarious thrill I get from watching intelligent professionals pulling off "the crime of the century" is frankly unmatched by any other type of film. As such, I have a tremendous amount of admiration for John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle, as it is generally considered the genesis of the modern heist film. But here's the funny thing about this movie - it's probably the most unglamorous look at the inner-workings of a criminal conspiracy that you could possibly imagine. For all the stories of…

I don't know why I expected Asphalt Jungle to be one of the best film noirs ever made. Perhaps it was because I was so familiar with the title that I made that assumption. There is little doubt that my very high expectations contributed to my disappointment.

The film isn't bad by any stretch; it just isn't the masterpiece I thought it would be.

It takes a while for the film to get going, and there is very little drama in the first few segments to be fully engrossing. The word "flat" describes it best but I'm not sure I could explain it if asked.

There is a very long introduction to all of the characters made interesting simply because…

Remembered for starting the crime subgenre known as caper (or heist/robbery) films. John Huston directs the film with a fitting lack of flair, instead making it a gritty and ugly film that while being an entertaining thriller also works as a convicting condemnation of crime and corruption. Revolving around a group of criminals, lead by German mastermind Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe), who devise a scheme for a jewelry heist. Sterling Hayden quietly steals the show as Dix Handley, a brutish, small-time crook described affectionately as a "hooligan." He is short-tempered and menacing, but we see him in more tender moments with his lady friend, Doll (Jean Hagen), who gets him to reminisce about his childhood in Kentucky and his…

The Asphalt Jungle is at it's heart a heist film. It begins with it's planning, is centered around it's execution and ends once it's fallout is completely finished. It is a pretty tight script in that regard. While it never completely ratchets up the tension in any one scene, there is a cumulative effect from the suspense of the heist, the always approaching aspect of the random chance that you can't plan for as well as an always approaching police presence. John Huston does a good job capturing all of this with the way he shoots The Asphalt Jungle in the gritty and hard boiled style of the criminal underworld where it lives in. His direction, much like the script,…

One way or another, we all work for our vice.
-Doc Riedenschneider

My second John Huston adaptation of a W.R. Burnett novel this week, the first one being High Sierra. Huston co-wrote this one with Ben Maddow, but also directed this time around. It is one of the most influential heist films ever made for the simple fact that Huston and Maddow realized, even at this early stage, that what would make the film great wasn't the heist itself, but the characters involved.

The film is filled with clearly defined characterization with, even more impressively, very specific dialogue styles written for everyone in the film. Combine that with great performances by the entire ensemble cast and you end up with…

For movie history, 1950 and therefor the 50's started with "The Asphalt Jungle". To be honest, I have never found Huston a good director. His body of work in film noir had always forced screenplay's with characters who made too strange and unrealistic choices. For me, this film is a big exception. First of all, the actors. Of course, Monroe has never been that damn sexy as in this motion picture, but the Hayden, Calhern, Hagen, Whitmore and Jaffe are the stars in the jungle. Huston presents a pre-Sin City, the perfect backdrop for this genre. Although the story started too slow, it got my attention after 30 minutes. Huston's theme is the same as always; the positive and negative…

There is a certain subsection of noir that revolves around the big heist, and this subsection has inspired a long history of both great and not-so-great entries, most of them using the same standard elements. This John Huston film from 1950 functions both as a terrific noir and as a terrific heist picture, and one of the earliest standout examples of the latter. Sterling Hayden leads a cast of gruff character actors as a down-on-his luck lowlife who is offered the opportunity to participate in a big heist. Once the heist is completed, however, tensions rise and people are betrayed, and there is a good chance by the end that most of the characters will either be in prison or…

The Asphalt Jungle is at it's heart a heist film. It begins with it's planning, is centered around it's execution and ends once it's fallout is completely finished. It is a pretty tight script in that regard. While it never completely ratchets up the tension in any one scene, there is a cumulative effect from the suspense of the heist, the always approaching aspect of the random chance that you can't plan for as well as an always approaching police presence. John Huston does a good job capturing all of this with the way he shoots The Asphalt Jungle in the gritty and hard boiled style of the criminal underworld where it lives in. His direction, much like the script,…

It's noir films like The Asphalt Jungle that define the genre. It ranks right up there with Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Out of the Past, Sunset Boulevard and The Killing as one of the greatest noir films of all time.

The Asphalt Jungle has a script that is cleverly written. It is structured brilliantly with multiple characters having completely different motives. The narrative is split into three different sub-plots that come together fantastically.

John Huston's direction of The Asphalt Jungle is wonderfully matched with Harold Rosson's gritty and shadowy cinematography. It's odd that the cinematographer of The Wizard of Oz would photograph such a bad ass film like The Asphalt Jungle. The high contrast lighting and use of shadows…