Rating: NR
Genre: Crime
Theatrical Release: 06/08/1950(USA)
Release Date: 07/06/2004
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 112 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video

The Asphalt Jungle is a brilliantly conceived and executed anatomy of a crime -- or, as director John Huston and scripter Ben Maddow put it, "a left-handed form of human endeavor." Recently paroled master criminal Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe), with funding from crooked attorney Emmerich (Louis Calhern), gathers several crooks together in Cincinnati for a Big Caper. Among those involved are Dix (Sterling Hayden), an impoverished hood who sees the upcoming jewel heist as a means to finance his dream of owning a horse farm. Hunch-backed cafe owner (James Whitmore) is hired on to be the driver for the heist; professional safecracker Louis Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) assembles the tools of his trade; and a bookie (Marc Lawrence) acts as Emmerich's go-between. The robbery is pulled off successfully, but an alert night watchman shoots Ciavelli. Corrupt cop (Barry Kelley), angry that his "patsy" (Lawrence) didn't let him in on the caper, beats the bookie into confessing and fingering the other criminals involved. From this point on, the meticulously planned crime falls apart with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy. Way down on the cast list is Marilyn Monroe in her star-making bit as Emmerich's sexy "niece"; whenever The Asphalt Jungle would be reissued, Monroe would figure prominently in the print ads as one of the stars. The Asphalt Jungle was based on a novel by the prolific W.R. Burnett, who also wrote Little Caesar and Saint Johnson (the fictionalized life story of Wyatt Earp).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Cast:
Sterling Hayden - Dix Handley
Louis Calhern - Alonzo D. Emmerich
James Whitmore - Gus Ninissi
Jean Hagen - Doll Conovan
Sam Jaffe - Doc Erwin Riedenschneider
Marilyn Monroe - Angela Phinlay
John McIntire - Police Commissioner Hardy
Marc Lawrence - Cobby
Barry Kelley - Lt. Ditrich
Anthony Caruso - Louis Ciavelli
Teresa Celli - Maria Ciavelli
Wee Willie Davis - Timmons
Dorothy Tree - May Emmerich
Brad Dexter - Bob Brannen
John Maxwell - Dr. Swanson

Production:
John Huston - Director
Arthur Hornblow, Jr. - Producer
Miklos Rozsa - Composer
George Boemler - Editor
John Huston Ben Maddow - Screen Writer
Jack D. Moore Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director
Randall Duell - Art Director
W.R. Burnett - Book Author
Harold Hal Rosson - Cinematographer
Jack Dawn - Makeup
Douglas Shearer - Sound/Sound Designer

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1950 Directors Guild of America

1950 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie

1950 British Academy of Film and Television

1950 Golden Globe

1950 National Board of Review

1950 Venice International Film Festival