Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar “Doc” Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.


Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
Dix Handley: Sterling Hayden
Alonzo D. Emmerich: Louis Calhern
Doc Erwin Riedenschneider: Sam Jaffe
Doll Conovan: Jean Hagen
Gus Minissi: James Whitmore
Police Commissioner Hardy: John McIntire
Cobby: Marc Lawrence
Lt. Ditrich: Barry Kelley
Louis Ciavelli: Anthony Caruso
Angela Phinlay: Marilyn Monroe
Maria Ciavelli: Teresa Celli
Timmons: William ‘Wee Willie’ Davis
May Emmerich: Dorothy Tree
Bob Brannom: Brad Dexter
Dr. Swanson: John Maxwell
Police Broadcaster (voice) (uncredited): Mary Anderson
Detective in Hardy’s Office (uncredited): Ray Bennett
Father Sortine (uncredited): David Bond
Man at Line-Up (uncredited): Chet Brandenburg
Taxi Driver (uncredited): Benny Burt
Night Clerk (uncredited): Frank Cady
Woman (uncredited): Jean Carter
Gambler (uncredited): Mack Chandler
Mr. Atkinson (Railroad Man) (uncredited): David Clarke
Policeman (uncredited): John Cliff
Gambler (uncredited): Harry Cody
Reporter (uncredited): Gene Coogan
Karl Anton Smith (uncredited): Henry Corden
Red (Boy in Diner) (uncredited): Chuck Courtney
Reporter (uncredited): John Crawford
Policeman (uncredited): Ralph Dunn
Policeman at Ciavelli’s Apartment (uncredited): Gene Evans
Policeman (uncredited): Pat Flaherty
Maxwell (uncredited): Alex Gerry
Policeman (uncredited): Sol Gorss
Truck Driver (uncredited): Fred Graham
Det. Andrews (uncredited): Don Haggerty
Vivian (uncredited): Eloise Hardt
James X. Connery (uncredited): Thomas Browne Henry
Policeman (uncredited): Wesley Hopper
Detective at Ciavelli’s Apartment (uncredited): George Lynn
Reporter (uncredited): Fred Marlow
William Doldy (uncredited): Strother Martin
Girl (uncredited): Patricia Miller
Secretary (uncredited): Howard M. Mitchell
Counterman (uncredited): Ralph Montgomery
Eddie Donato (uncredited): Alberto Morin
Girl (uncredited): Kerry O’Day
Tallboy (uncredited): Raymond Roe
Frank Schurz (Doc’s Taxi Driver) (uncredited): Henry Rowland
Jack (Police Clerk) (uncredited): Tim Ryan
Officer Janocek (uncredited): James Seay
Policeman (uncredited): Jack Shea
Gambler (uncredited): Charles Sherlock
Gambler (uncredited): J. Lewis Smith
Police Broadcaster (voice) (uncredited): J.J. Smith
Reporter (uncredited): Joseph Darr Smith
Jeannie (Girl in Diner) (uncredited): Helene Stanley
Cop in Car Barn Slugged by Dix (uncredited): Ray Teal
Girl (uncredited): Leah Wakefield
Reporter (uncredited): Harlan Warde
Man (uncredited): Jack Warden
Suspect (uncredited): William Washington
Woman (uncredited): Constance Weiler
Woman (uncredited): Judith Wood
Evans (uncredited): Victor Wood
Man (uncredited): Wilson Wood
Policeman (uncredited): Jeff York
Film Crew:
Sound: Robert B. Lee
Hair Designer: Sydney Guilaroff
Producer: John Huston
Original Music Composer: Miklós Rózsa
Director of Photography: Harold Rosson
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons
Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis
Art Direction: Randall Duell
Makeup Designer: Jack Dawn
Orchestrator: Eugene Zador
Editor: George Boemler
Script Supervisor: Leslie H. Martinson
Recording Supervision: Douglas Shearer
Production Manager: Lee Katz
Screenplay: Ben Maddow
Novel: W.R. Burnett
Producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Camera Operator: Robert Martin
Still Photographer: S.C. Manatt
Assistant Director: Jack Greenwood
Set Decoration: Jack D. Moore
Assistant Director: Frank E. Myers
Grip: Lloyd Isbell
Painter: Frank Wesselhoff
Makeup Artist: Lou LaCava
Script Supervisor: John Banse
Other: Joan Joseff
Makeup Artist: John Truwe
Hairstylist: Elaine Ramsey
Assistant Camera: Andrew J. McIntyre
Gaffer: P.R. Keeler
Movie Reviews:
John Chard: Experience has taught me never to trust a policeman. Just when you think one’s all right, he turns legit.

Out of MGM, The Asphalt Jungle is directed by John Huston and based on the novel of the same name by W.R. Burnett. It stars Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, Teresa Celli, and in a minor but important role, Marilyn Monroe. Miklós Rózsa scores the music and Harold Rosson photographs it in black & white. Plot sees Erwin “Doc” Riedenschneider (Jaffe) leave prison and quickly assemble a gang to execute a long in gestation jewellery heist. However, with suspicion rife and fate waiting to take a hand, the carefully constructed caper starts to come apart at the seams.
John Huston liked a tough movie, having given film noir in America a jump start with The Maltese Falcon in 1941, he also that same year adapted W.R. Burnett’s novel High Sierra. Burnett also had on his CV crime classic stories Little Caesar & Scarface, so it’s no surprise that Huston was drawn to The Asphalt Jungle. As it turned out, it was a match made in gritty urban heaven.
The Asphalt Jungle was one of the first crime films to break with convention and tell the story from the actual side of the criminals. Where once it was the pursuing law officers or private detectives that were the heavy part of the plotting, now under Huston’s crafty guidance we have a study in crime and a daring for us to empathise with a bunch of criminals, villains and anti-heroes. As a group the gang consists of very differing characters, and yet they have a common bond, for they each strive for a better life. Be it Hayden’s luggish Dix, who dreams of buying back his father’s horse ranch back in Kentucky, or Jaffe’s Doc, who wants to retire to Mexico and surround himself with girls – it’s greed and yearning that binds them all together – With alienation and bleakness, in true film noir traditions, featuring heavily as the plot (and gang) unravels.
With gritty dialogue and atmospherically oozing a naturalistic feel, it’s also no surprise to note that Huston’s movie would go on to influence a ream of similar type films. Some good, some bad, but very few of them have been able to capture the suspense that is wrung out for the actual heist sequence in this. Fabulous in its authenticity, and with that out of the way, it then sets the decaying tone for the rest of the piece. Interesting to note that although we are now firmly in the lives of the “gang”, including their respective women (Hagen, Monroe & Celli all shining in what is a very macho movie), we still know that the society outside of their circle is hardly nice either! This is stripped down brutalistic film noir. Merciless to its characters and thriving on ill fate, and closing with a finale that is as perfect as it gets, this is a top line entry in what is the most wonderful of film making styles. 9.5/10