The Asphalt Jungle |  | Director: John Huston
Actors: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $5.50
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Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 9477
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 65903
ISBN: 0790789655
UPC: 012569590328
EAN: 9780790789651
ASIN: B000244EWO
Theatrical Release Date: May 23, 1950
Release Date: July 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Oscar-winning director John Huston's comprehensive and widely-acclaimed Film Noir "The Asphalt Jungle" featured an extensive cast, including Sterling Hayden (later of Dr. Strangelove fame) and an early film performance by Marilyn Monroe. In this Film Noiric, now on DVD, a group of professional criminals put together an elaborate jewel heist, only to have it unravel disastrously (per Film Noir conv |
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Product Description
A MAJOR HEIST GOES OFF AS PLANNED, UNTIL BAD LUCK AND DOUBLECROSSES CAUSE EVERYTHING TO UNRAVEL.
Amazon.com essential video
The dark urban world of The Asphalt Jungle is one of the essential destinations in film noir, but be warned: despite tough guy Sterling Hayden's dreams of bucolic escape, there is no way out. John Huston directed this superbly calibrated crime classic, which displays his usual wry appreciation of fringies and down-and-outers. This time the task for Huston's eccentric ensemble is a jewel robbery, which--this being a Huston film--can't possibly work out as well as its plan. The cast includes Sam Jaffee, indelible as a criminal mastermind, and the pre-stardom Marilyn Monroe. Hayden plays the kind of mug he would revisit in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, which is an informal homage to this film. And the film's look is definitive: both artful and gritty, it creates a noir landscape that traps its people just as surely as the tar pits trapped the dinosaurs. No wonder they call it noir. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 53
 (Almost) Nothing Else Comes Close ! April 16, 2009
Billy Ashley (Lynch Station, VA.)
This Is Without A Doubt The Cream Of The "Film-Noir" Crop !!! Simply The Best. "Double Indemnity", "Gun Crazy" And "Laura" Are Close, But This Is The Greatest Film Of The Genre...Period ! Except No Substitute ! If You Are A New To The Film-Noir Genre, START HERE !!! 5 Stars !
 Crime Noir at its Best December 6, 2008
John Kahane (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
Despite the fact that THE ASPHALT JUNGLE was a film noir that came out in 1950, as the noir cycle was beginning to shift focus, this movie is one of the classics of the film noir genre. From the sterling acting (no pun intended) of Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe and the rest of the cast to the superb direction of John Huston, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE is a film noir that portrays criminals who commit a heist as human beings with motivations and flaws, and it is this that gives the film its true sense of tragedy when the final reel finishes rolling.
A terrific movie that provides the audience an early look at one Marilyn Monroe, this film noir about a criminal heist gone wrong is 1950 film noir at its best.
"We all work for our vices." January 18, 2008
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Once a key part of the mighty battle between Louis B. Mayer and head of production Dore Schary for creative control at MGM, John Huston's classic 1950 heist movie The Asphalt Jungle is good - very good - but at times it feels like it would have benefited from a lower budget and a tighter running time. Even though it was a comparatively low budget picture for the studio there's still a feeling that it's a film about people with no money made by people with rather a lot of it even if it was part of a conscious move by the studio to tackle grittier subject matter to compete with television. But then, with a track record that included Little Caesar, Scarface and High Sierra, the screen rights to W. R. Burnett's novel were never likely to go to one of the more cash-strapped studios that churned out film noir thrillers for their bread-and-butter.
It's that old favorite, the perfect heist that goes wrong, not because of bad luck or any overlooked detail but because of the inherent character flaws of the men carrying it out: for Sam Jaffe's meticulous and brilliant planner Doc Riedenschneider, it's very young girls ("We all work for our vices"), for Louis Calhern's crooked lawyer it's his belief that he can talk his way in and out of anything, for Marc Lawrence's bookie it's his desire to be seen as the equal of more socially `legitimate' criminals and for Sterling Hayden's not-too-bright hooligan it's his exaggerated sense of his own honor. Although executed with skill, most of the film's pleasures come from the performances, not least Jaffe's uncharacteristic Teutonic precision that earned him an Oscar nomination and Louis Calhern's free-spending but bankrupt criminal lawyer who simply regards crime as "a left-handed form of human endeavor" and who gets much of the best dialogue. But the supporting cast is memorable too, from Jean Hagen's hooker in love with Hayden, eager to please but living on her nerves in a performance completely devoid of vanity, Marc Lawrence's sweaty bookie and James Whitmore's cat-loving but tough-as-nails hunchback barkeep to Brad Dexter's unscrupulous private eye trying to cut himself into the deal, while Dorothy Tree's neglected wife puts a lifetime of desperation to recapture old times in her two scenes. Definitely worthwhile, though it doesn't leave as lasting an impression as many a cheaper film noir. Incidentally, someone really should tell whoever wrote the sleeve blurb for WHV's DVD release what `gunsel' really means...
Extras are few - an audio commentary by Drew Casper and James Whitmore, 'virtual' introduction by John Huston constructed from TV archive footage, and original theatrical trailer - but good.
Good Noir/Good True Crime October 20, 2007
Mcgivern Owen L (NY, NY USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Asphalt Jungle" is a good, solid noir/ heist movie. AJ was shot in beautiful black and white against a grim, unspecified urban background. The cast work is excellent, with Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, James Whitmore, Marc Lawrence and Anthony Caruso as the robbers. For a crew of bad guys, they are surprisingly likable; this viewer was rooting for them! Some had families, girl friends and wives to support. Those roles are in stark contrast to a crooked police detective, Barry Kelley and the overbearing Police Commissioner, John McIntire. Those two were hard to root for! AJ also features fine work by smarmy, greasy Louis Calhern as the fixer/fence and his unlikely girlfriend, a very young Marilyn Monroe. Hollywood noticed AJ! It received 1950 Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jaffe). And Best Screenplay (Director John Huston and Ben Maddow), losing in each case to "All About Eve". AJ has only one weakness- its' length. Mr. Huston must have felt impelled to play out what happened to each of the crew and in a bit too much detail. The resulting 123 minute run time is a bit trying and merits a reduction in rank from 5 stars to 4. Some of the resolutions, particularly Hayden's, could have been cut. That one grievance aside, "The Asphalt Jungle" is a fine 1950s noir/true crime tale and is highly recommended.
A real gem June 25, 2007
D. M. McCullough (Novi, MI)
This movie is fabulous. It's not only well acted, but the story and the lighting (or lack of) makes this one of my favorite movies from this time period. Hayden (Dix) is one terrific actor - watch for the niceties when he is talking with Jean Hagen (Doll). One to be watched over and over as you catch new things upon reviewing. Huston's characters have big plans that are improbable from the start.
See Hayden in The Killing (1956) directed by Kubrick.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 53
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