asphaltjungle

The man who made “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” still manages to impress me, even with a
seemingly low budget film noir from the early 1950s. “The Asphalt Jungle” doesn’t at first feel like a
John Huston movie, but boy does it ratchet up quickly. An extremely powerful story is cleverly
disguised in a dingy, urban setting.

Six men who have seen the darker sides of life come together in a morbidly extraordinary film of
deceit, greed, loyalty and sacrifice. One man, the mastermind, has just been released from prison.
Another, the middleman, is a third-rate boss who answers to bigger men, but who knows who to talk
to. One guy, the muscle, is on the lamb, a petty thief with gambling debts out his ears. One, the
wheelman, stays low and runs a local diner, while another, the safecracker, has a new baby and a
wife. The sixth and final, the fence, is a middle-aged millionaire with problems all his own.

The mastermind comes up with a proposition. Since he’s been in prison, he’s been planning the
perfect heist of a major jewelry store. Through the middleman, he rounds up everyone for the job.
They execute the crime and it begins smoothly, but then everything goes horribly wrong and
suddenly everyone finds themselves on the run from the law in one way or another.

What started as a seemingly typical crime film quickly morphed into the heist version of “The Great
Escape.” We’re not watching these men execute the crime, we’re watching them do anything they
can to escape the experience alive and unnoticed. Each character is distinct. James Whitmore
plays Gus, the wheelman, a guy with what appears to be simple tastes and a hunched back. He’s
just one key footnote in a long list of worthy mentions, including Marilyn Monroe’s early turn here as
the millionaire’s mistress.

What I love the most about this movie is the story’s avoidance of predictability. You can’t call the
shots on this one, not entirely anyway. Every character, each a wholly developed individual, finds
themselves in a motivated pickle later through carefully established exposition. For example, the
guy who’s the hired muscle runs to the apartment of an old flame and in his signature pigheaded
way thinks he can muscle his way out of town. Meanwhile, the mastermind is executing his own
hide-out-in-the-open eccentric plan.

Houston manages a slow, effective build here. Even though we know all of these characters are
petty thugs, we are rooting for them in a twisted way. Most likely because, at least as far as we’ve
seen, none of them have killed anyone. His establishment of the city as a lawless wilderness, a
literal asphalt jungle is palpable. You won’t see one tree in this movie...well, at least not until it’s
symbolically appropriate.

The overall message is, “Crime might pay if you can get away, but you most likely can’t so you
shouldn’t stick your neck out.”

When you watch this one, just wait for another one of Houston’s signature final shots. Always
unforgettable. Write me if you have a particularly interesting reaction to this one. It’s really good.