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The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Marilyn Monroe
Screenwriter: Ben Maddow, John Huston
Producer: Arthur Hornblow
Composer: Miklos Rozsa
DVD Info
Release:
Jun 7, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.37
Audio:
- Mono - English
- Mono - French
Reviews
This tale of a jewel theft gone wrong is notable for its gritty procedural detail and an emphasis on the inner lives of the small time crooks, expertly played by Sterling Hayden and Sam Jaffe.
One of The Asphalt Jungle's strengths is that the crims seem about as thick as you suspect they would be in real life: no Cruise or Clooney-style braniac super-athletes here.
One of the first films to depict crime from the POV of the deviants rather than the police, this seminal film (arguably Huston's best) had a huge influence on the genre, manifest in the early work of Kubrick--and decades later Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs
One of the first caper films told from the criminal's viewpoint.
Huston concentrates mostly on the film's performances, but like The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, he uses space, shadow and a very clever mise-en-scene to physically illustrate the film's themes.
Among John Huston's most overrated works, only partially redeemed by Jaffe's brilliance and Marilyn's cameo.
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