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The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Not Rated | | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir | 1 June 1950 (USA)
The Asphalt Jungle Poster
A major heist goes off as planned, until bad luck and double crosses cause everything to unravel.

Director:

Writers:

(screen play), (screen play) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

, , | See full cast & crew »
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Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
... Dix Handley
... Alonzo D. Emmerich
... Doll Conovan
... Gus Minissi
... Doc Erwin Riedenschneider
... Police Commissioner Hardy
... Cobby
... Lt. Ditrich
... Louis Ciavelli
... Maria Ciavelli
... Angela Phinlay
... Timmons (as William Davis)
... May Emmerich
... Bob Brannom
... Dr. Swanson
See full cast »
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Storyline

When the intelligent criminal Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider is released from prison, he seeks a fifty thousand-dollar investment from the bookmaker Cobby to recruit a small gang of specialists for a million-dollar heist of jewels from a jewelry. Doc is introduced to the lawyer Alonzo D. Emmerich that offers to finance the whole operation and buy the gems immediately after the burglary. Doc hires the safecracker Louis Ciavelli, the driver Gus Minissi and the gunman Dix Handley to the heist. His plan works perfectly but bad luck and betrayals compromise the steps after the heist and the gangsters need to flee from the police. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

jewel heist | heist | financial problem | criminal mastermind | mortal wound | See All (46) »

Taglines:

The City Under the City

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Certificate:

Not Rated | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

1 June 1950 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The Asphalt Jungle (The City Under the City)  »

Filming Locations:

 »
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Box Office

Budget:

$1,232,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,077,000, 31 December 1950

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,137,000, 31 December 1950
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was colorized by Turner Entertainment Co. in the late 1980s. In July 1989 John Huston's heirs made an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a colorized version of the film from being broadcast on French television, but they lost their case in French court. The case pitted the country's longstanding legal protection of authors' rights against the legal standing of contracts signed in the US between directors and studios. The colorized version was broadcast in 1989, but in 1994 the appeals court in Versailles reversed the 1989 ruling and fined Turner 400,000 francs (then about $74,000) for having broadcast the colorized version. See more »

Goofs

In the juke-joint scene, the music continues to be heard as the record machine is seen to be changing records. See more »

Quotes

Alonzo D. Emmerich: Shut up.
Bob Brannom: How's that? No one tells me to shut up.
See more »

Connections

Version of Cool Breeze (1972) See more »

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User Reviews

 
Darkly absorbing Jungle Caper
17 February 2005 | by – See all my reviews

I hadn't seen The Asphalt Jungle for nearly 30 years until tonight, I think I must have (wrongly) considered it to be a "modern film", ie post rock'n'roll and dismissed it as too earthy as a result. Well I was wrong, it's certainly a Golden Age film made with high production values, with all the right actors, direction, music and story the Golden Age had produced. The music especially links it back to Double Indemnity and of course Huston to The Maltese Falcon, Jaffe to Lost Horizon etc. It was simply a signpost to the type of films to come , the ones I avoid.

It's gritty, as realistic as a gritty fantasy could be in 1950, as realistic as I want. The multi character interplay sticks in the mind, everyone's grafting and ready to dump on the next guy, apart from The Hooligan who dumb as he is really has a heart. It's Sam Jaffe's film though, his calculating but flawed dirty old man character was a classic perv-ormance, nowadays we would not have been spared the sleaze, but he walked a fine line successfully.

And again, the sleazy relationship between Uncle Louis Calhern and young Marilyn Monroe was perfectly handled.

All in all a marvellous film from the twilight years of the Golden Age.
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