#2 THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
"There's nothing so different about them. After all crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavor."
The Asphalt Jungle is not only the best heist film in the history of cinema it is also one of the best films regardless of genre. It is this film that epitomizes John Huston's gift for spinning a mesmerizing tale and developing and humanizing the film's characters.
There are no fewer than nine different characters given their own unique characteristics that makes the audience feel an immediate connection. Huston directs this ensemble cast with the skill and virtuoso of a great orchestral conductor and does so regardless of their screen time.
The heist movie along with the Western and film noir/crime genres are the beneficiaries of America's egalitarian society. No country, before or since, offered the freedom of geographical movement to its citizens buttressed by self-reliance and a desire to further one's 'pursuit of happiness from the repressive dictates of centralized government This pursuit of happiness could be homesteading, farming, raising cattle, or, if the endeavor is left handed even implementing ingenious methods of breaking the law.
In cinema the heist is a well planned military assault that differs from the hit and run guerilla attacks of its gangster and western cousins; the bank robbery. Ironically TAJ is superficially about a heist. There is no meticulous planning. There is more thought and design in Criss Cross, The Killers, Plunder Road to name but three. The contents of the safe they rob, just as the black bird in The Maltese Falcon and the gold in The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, are Macguffins. This is a film about the outliers of society.
For a genre where ambiguity is a major trope no other film explores that ambiguity than TAJ. These are desperate men whose individual tragedies are worthy of any ancient Greek or Shakespearian tragedy. There are no cinematic stereotypes. We first see evidence of this from an almost throw away line by Lt. Ditrich. He is being read the riot act by Police Commissioner Hardy who wants the bookie parlors, especially that of Cobby's who is paying Ditrich for protection, raided and ultimately destroyed. Ditrich's softly spoken reply to Hardy is:, "People like to bet the horses and just because the law says-" Hardy doesn't want to hear any more. The law is the law. If there's one unambiguous character it's Hardy, the paradigm of law, order and keeping the jungle at bay.
There are no fewer than nine different characters given their own unique characteristics that makes the audience feel an immediate connection. Huston directs this ensemble cast with the skill and virtuoso of a great orchestral conductor and does so regardless of their screen time.
The heist movie along with the Western and film noir/crime genres are the beneficiaries of America's egalitarian society. No country, before or since, offered the freedom of geographical movement to its citizens buttressed by self-reliance and a desire to further one's 'pursuit of happiness from the repressive dictates of centralized government This pursuit of happiness could be homesteading, farming, raising cattle, or, if the endeavor is left handed even implementing ingenious methods of breaking the law.
In cinema the heist is a well planned military assault that differs from the hit and run guerilla attacks of its gangster and western cousins; the bank robbery. Ironically TAJ is superficially about a heist. There is no meticulous planning. There is more thought and design in Criss Cross, The Killers, Plunder Road to name but three. The contents of the safe they rob, just as the black bird in The Maltese Falcon and the gold in The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, are Macguffins. This is a film about the outliers of society.
For a genre where ambiguity is a major trope no other film explores that ambiguity than TAJ. These are desperate men whose individual tragedies are worthy of any ancient Greek or Shakespearian tragedy. There are no cinematic stereotypes. We first see evidence of this from an almost throw away line by Lt. Ditrich. He is being read the riot act by Police Commissioner Hardy who wants the bookie parlors, especially that of Cobby's who is paying Ditrich for protection, raided and ultimately destroyed. Ditrich's softly spoken reply to Hardy is:, "People like to bet the horses and just because the law says-" Hardy doesn't want to hear any more. The law is the law. If there's one unambiguous character it's Hardy, the paradigm of law, order and keeping the jungle at bay.
It is generally acknowledged that The Killers with its opening dialogue taken almost verbatim from the Hemingway short story is the best in the land of noir. A case can be made for TAJ. Consider if you will that Huston introduces almost the entire cast in little more than ten minutes. Each character is unique and not merely a generic trope in a familiar genre. Because TAJ is an ensemble the actors' time on the screen is limited, but each one has a story that could easily have been made into a separate sub-plot.
The movie begins with Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden) keeping one step ahead of the law walking cautiously down empty streets then ducking behind a concrete pillar until entering a diner. He quickly hands a gun to Gus Minissi (James Whitmore) who puts it under the counter just before the cops arrive. Dix is wanted by the police and without hesitation Minissi becomes a willing accomplice and in this manner we are introduced and immersed into their world.
The movie begins with Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden) keeping one step ahead of the law walking cautiously down empty streets then ducking behind a concrete pillar until entering a diner. He quickly hands a gun to Gus Minissi (James Whitmore) who puts it under the counter just before the cops arrive. Dix is wanted by the police and without hesitation Minissi becomes a willing accomplice and in this manner we are introduced and immersed into their world.
Huston utilizes Sterling Hayden's formidable screen presence in the iconic lineup scene when he stares down a witness to a robbery he committed then smiles when the witness is struck by sudden amnesia.
Kentuckians who migrated to the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton were called Briars and ridiculed as hillbillies and farmers. There are several times when Handley's Kentucky background is the topic of derision among the gang members. Louis Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) paints Dix as a rube, to Cobby (Marc Lawrence) he's a manure shoveler and Brannom calls him a hay seed farmer. However both Doc and Minissi see him as a man of honor.
I like hearing regional dialects in movies and it would have been nice to have had an approximation of that Kentucky drawl. Hayden's attempts are limited to two quick scenes the most effective being in the scene when he tells Doll (Jean Hagen) about the black colt.
Kentuckians who migrated to the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton were called Briars and ridiculed as hillbillies and farmers. There are several times when Handley's Kentucky background is the topic of derision among the gang members. Louis Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) paints Dix as a rube, to Cobby (Marc Lawrence) he's a manure shoveler and Brannom calls him a hay seed farmer. However both Doc and Minissi see him as a man of honor.
I like hearing regional dialects in movies and it would have been nice to have had an approximation of that Kentucky drawl. Hayden's attempts are limited to two quick scenes the most effective being in the scene when he tells Doll (Jean Hagen) about the black colt.
Doc Reidenschneider (Sam Jaffe) recently released from prison after nine years is the mastermind of the heist. He makes his first stop at Cobby's bookie joint. Doc's reputation has preceded him such that Cobby all but genuflects when Doc introduces himself.
In lieu of a narrator or flashbacks (both common noir tropes) Huston uses Cobby's bookie office where many of the characters meet. This allows any needed exposition and expedites the movie without stemming the flow of the movie. John Huston gets a lot of mileage out of veteran character actor Marc Lawrence. He is in on the heist from it's inception. He assists Reidenschneider in organizing the crew, connecting him with Emmerich and ultimately hastening the crew's demise.
Jaffee's performance certainly stands out in a film loaded with talented actors. In The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, Sydney Greenstreet and Walter Huston, two older, more experienced and accomplished actors give their respective film a unique character and serve as surrogate narrators. Think if you will of Greenstreet's monologue about the history of the Black Bird, Pere Huston's tales of a lost mine and untold riches and Jaffe's air-tight intricately planned perfect heist. The above two are so good that their performances are as vitally important to the success of the movie as that of the lead character.
Once in Cobby's office we quickly get to know what's inside Doc's soul. When Cobby leaves the room Doc scurries over to where a girly calendar (the kind that would grace auto repair shops) adorns a wall. Doc inspects each girl of the month as carefully as he would the jewels after the heist. Underneath his diminutive stature and grandfatherly looks he is the most morally bankrupt character in the film.
There is little doubt that Doc is a pedophile. Huston hints at this with Doc's repeated references to the pretty young girls in Mexico. Trying not to read too much into what is not in the script, he is impotent and achieves sexual satisfaction through voyeurism.
In lieu of a narrator or flashbacks (both common noir tropes) Huston uses Cobby's bookie office where many of the characters meet. This allows any needed exposition and expedites the movie without stemming the flow of the movie. John Huston gets a lot of mileage out of veteran character actor Marc Lawrence. He is in on the heist from it's inception. He assists Reidenschneider in organizing the crew, connecting him with Emmerich and ultimately hastening the crew's demise.
Jaffee's performance certainly stands out in a film loaded with talented actors. In The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, Sydney Greenstreet and Walter Huston, two older, more experienced and accomplished actors give their respective film a unique character and serve as surrogate narrators. Think if you will of Greenstreet's monologue about the history of the Black Bird, Pere Huston's tales of a lost mine and untold riches and Jaffe's air-tight intricately planned perfect heist. The above two are so good that their performances are as vitally important to the success of the movie as that of the lead character.
Once in Cobby's office we quickly get to know what's inside Doc's soul. When Cobby leaves the room Doc scurries over to where a girly calendar (the kind that would grace auto repair shops) adorns a wall. Doc inspects each girl of the month as carefully as he would the jewels after the heist. Underneath his diminutive stature and grandfatherly looks he is the most morally bankrupt character in the film.
There is little doubt that Doc is a pedophile. Huston hints at this with Doc's repeated references to the pretty young girls in Mexico. Trying not to read too much into what is not in the script, he is impotent and achieves sexual satisfaction through voyeurism.
In comparison to the rest of the film the heist comes across as an after thought. The heist calls for the audience to suspend disbelief. We have to accept the short amount of time it takes to punch a hole in the adjoining wall, open two safes and then evade an alarm trip wire conveniently placed high enough for them to crawl under. But that's okay; for this is not a documentary about cracking safes. What matters are the characters in this film. We've been given an excellent look at them pre-heist and now comes the meat of the film; the resultant effects of the heist for each of them.
In what turns out to be a very cruel twist of fate the heist with all of its planning is blown to hell in a few seconds. Dix slugs the night guard who drops his gun and discharges a shot that hits Ciavelli in the leg. Unable to go to a hospital he is taken home where he would later pass away. And in any heist the meat and potatoes is always what follows. TAZ is the epitome of course, but there was also Criss Cross, The Killers the Grade B gem Plunder Road and the aftermath of the famed Lufthansa Heist in Goodfellas.
In what turns out to be a very cruel twist of fate the heist with all of its planning is blown to hell in a few seconds. Dix slugs the night guard who drops his gun and discharges a shot that hits Ciavelli in the leg. Unable to go to a hospital he is taken home where he would later pass away. And in any heist the meat and potatoes is always what follows. TAZ is the epitome of course, but there was also Criss Cross, The Killers the Grade B gem Plunder Road and the aftermath of the famed Lufthansa Heist in Goodfellas.
Doc's post-heist demise is shown incrementally throughout the film. We first see Doc's predilections for young girls when he thumbs through the calendar in Cobby's office. The next comes after a meeting with Emmerich when Cobby agrees to finance the heist. As they leave Emmerich offers Doc the services of a young woman. The following day Doc tells Cobby that while the girl was too drunk to perform, or more likely Doc was content to watch, she told him that Emmerich was broke. Her revelatory information shows Emmerich not to be a man of power and wealth but a man who is broke, much less able to front fifty thousand and with few connections.
Cobby believes Emmerich over the word of a call girl/prostitute. And why wouldn't he? The kicker to all of this is Cobby doesn't need the cash. Fifty thousand dollars is no small amount of money to have today much less back in 1950. Cobby was doing just fine thank you, and as the saying goes; 'If it ain't broke don't fix it.' But he wanted more. He wanted it known that he fronted the money for Emmerich. It would be his entre into the world of the rich and influential. There would be invites to higher class parties, high rolling card games, mixing with the mint julep crowd at the Derby and the opportunity to tell Ditrich to 'drop dead.' Bob Brannom (Brad Dexter) had Cobby pegged right. When Emmerich doubted Cobby would agree to the deal Brannom told him: "Cobby wants to feel big. Here's his chance advancing money for the great Alonzo D. Emmerich. He'll sweat but he'll do it."
The penultimate example of Doc's vice inadvertently hastens the crew's demise. It comes when the gang is on the run. He and Handley are stopped by a cop (filmdom's omnipresent Roy Teal) as they cut across a railroad yard. The cop buys Handley's story and lets them go. He then blurts out how kids are using the place for making out. This stops Doc in his tracks. He asks for more details and is recognized. Doc's later behavior at the diner was consistent and predictable. Doc's perversion is understated and could only be hinted at; the Hays Code would not permit any physical contact or overtly sexual innuendo.
In the famous dance scene at the diner there is a sense of lasciviousness and desire. Doc does not appear to be a physical sexual threat and he lacks aggressiveness; rather he is literally motionless and can only leer and oggle the dancer. Compare this scene of voyeurism to Raymond Burr's inspecting and mentally undressing Liz Scott in Pitfall. Never does Huston beat us over the head in regard to Riedenschneider's perversions but sets it up wonderfully throughout the film and Jaffee brilliantly delivers.
Sam Jaffee's performance is indispensable to the film and mirrors what I wrote about Sydney Greenstreet in my review of The Maltese Falcon. "...Sydney Greenstreet is the only indispensable actor in the film. If you were to take out one of the five leads... we (would) still get a very good movie... had I to choose between either Bogart or Greenstreet it would be Sydney."
Cobby believes Emmerich over the word of a call girl/prostitute. And why wouldn't he? The kicker to all of this is Cobby doesn't need the cash. Fifty thousand dollars is no small amount of money to have today much less back in 1950. Cobby was doing just fine thank you, and as the saying goes; 'If it ain't broke don't fix it.' But he wanted more. He wanted it known that he fronted the money for Emmerich. It would be his entre into the world of the rich and influential. There would be invites to higher class parties, high rolling card games, mixing with the mint julep crowd at the Derby and the opportunity to tell Ditrich to 'drop dead.' Bob Brannom (Brad Dexter) had Cobby pegged right. When Emmerich doubted Cobby would agree to the deal Brannom told him: "Cobby wants to feel big. Here's his chance advancing money for the great Alonzo D. Emmerich. He'll sweat but he'll do it."
The penultimate example of Doc's vice inadvertently hastens the crew's demise. It comes when the gang is on the run. He and Handley are stopped by a cop (filmdom's omnipresent Roy Teal) as they cut across a railroad yard. The cop buys Handley's story and lets them go. He then blurts out how kids are using the place for making out. This stops Doc in his tracks. He asks for more details and is recognized. Doc's later behavior at the diner was consistent and predictable. Doc's perversion is understated and could only be hinted at; the Hays Code would not permit any physical contact or overtly sexual innuendo.
In the famous dance scene at the diner there is a sense of lasciviousness and desire. Doc does not appear to be a physical sexual threat and he lacks aggressiveness; rather he is literally motionless and can only leer and oggle the dancer. Compare this scene of voyeurism to Raymond Burr's inspecting and mentally undressing Liz Scott in Pitfall. Never does Huston beat us over the head in regard to Riedenschneider's perversions but sets it up wonderfully throughout the film and Jaffee brilliantly delivers.
Sam Jaffee's performance is indispensable to the film and mirrors what I wrote about Sydney Greenstreet in my review of The Maltese Falcon. "...Sydney Greenstreet is the only indispensable actor in the film. If you were to take out one of the five leads... we (would) still get a very good movie... had I to choose between either Bogart or Greenstreet it would be Sydney."
John Huston's choice of Sterling Hayden in retrospect was risky. He had six credits and was less than impressive in his last role; Manhandled. His acting has been described as wooden and non-descript. That may be due to his own admission that he looked as acting only as a means of financing his other ventures, notably sailing. It was Huston, he said, who made him think seriously about acting as a craft. Huston also saw that Hayden had a formidable presence; a gravitas and an easily recognizable aura of respect that cannot be taught. This is similar to Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner in The Killers. Director Robert Siodmak surrounded the two with experienced and skillful actors; (Sam Levene, Edmond O'Brien and Albert Dekker among others). Huston did the same and like Siodmak gave Hayden a great story. Even today some question Mr. Hayden's skill but any doubts about his acting ability are dispelled in this film particularly in one scene.
It is the morning after he had given shelter to Doll, (Jean Hagen) taking her in as one would a shivering puppy scratching at the front door. Handley awakes from a dream mumbling about his childhood in Kentucky. Doll has brought coffee and asks him what was wrong. He lets his guard down and we see him for someone other than as a street tough. He talks about the family farm in Kentucky.
"You know something? One of my ancestors imported the first Irish thoroughbreds in the county...our farm was in our family for generations, one hundred sixty acres; thirty in blue grass..."
The emphasis is the death of a valued black colt, an event that he felt put his life on the wrong path. As the monologue begins it is only Mr. Hayden and the camera. Mr. Hayden comes through in flying colors. It is a great story and Dix has captured our attention as we get some insight into his character.
For that scene did Hayden replace Dix's love for his colt with his personal love of sailing for motivation and guidance? This is speculation of course and perhaps a bit melodramatic from yours truly. Suffice it to say Mr. Hayden is very effective. The audience can't help but empathize for him.
One of the positives about these lengthy labor of loves is I get to see things I missed. I can appreciate the nuances that go into great acting and the creative artistry of an actor applying his craft. In this film that artist was Jean Hagen. Doll tries relating to Dix saying: "Growing up in a place and then having to leave must be awful. I never had a proper home." She is ignored and Dix continues on about the farm, his brother, the black colt. Dix is trapped in the past. For him there is only the past and Doll wants a future. Like a wife ignored by her husband she angrily leaves the room. The delivery of Hayden's monologue in this scene along with his interaction with Ms. Hagen throughout the film constitute what I think is Mr. Hayden's finest performance in his film career.
A true trope of film noir is the protagonist's inability to escape his past (see The Killers, Criss Cross, Act of Violence, Pickup On South Street, Tomorrow Is Another Day) and while the death of the colt isn't entirely the cause of his situation, it was the last straw. It was for him the end of hope. The loss of the colt was enough to keep Handley emotionally trapped on his family farm in rural Kentucky.
It is the morning after he had given shelter to Doll, (Jean Hagen) taking her in as one would a shivering puppy scratching at the front door. Handley awakes from a dream mumbling about his childhood in Kentucky. Doll has brought coffee and asks him what was wrong. He lets his guard down and we see him for someone other than as a street tough. He talks about the family farm in Kentucky.
"You know something? One of my ancestors imported the first Irish thoroughbreds in the county...our farm was in our family for generations, one hundred sixty acres; thirty in blue grass..."
The emphasis is the death of a valued black colt, an event that he felt put his life on the wrong path. As the monologue begins it is only Mr. Hayden and the camera. Mr. Hayden comes through in flying colors. It is a great story and Dix has captured our attention as we get some insight into his character.
For that scene did Hayden replace Dix's love for his colt with his personal love of sailing for motivation and guidance? This is speculation of course and perhaps a bit melodramatic from yours truly. Suffice it to say Mr. Hayden is very effective. The audience can't help but empathize for him.
One of the positives about these lengthy labor of loves is I get to see things I missed. I can appreciate the nuances that go into great acting and the creative artistry of an actor applying his craft. In this film that artist was Jean Hagen. Doll tries relating to Dix saying: "Growing up in a place and then having to leave must be awful. I never had a proper home." She is ignored and Dix continues on about the farm, his brother, the black colt. Dix is trapped in the past. For him there is only the past and Doll wants a future. Like a wife ignored by her husband she angrily leaves the room. The delivery of Hayden's monologue in this scene along with his interaction with Ms. Hagen throughout the film constitute what I think is Mr. Hayden's finest performance in his film career.
A true trope of film noir is the protagonist's inability to escape his past (see The Killers, Criss Cross, Act of Violence, Pickup On South Street, Tomorrow Is Another Day) and while the death of the colt isn't entirely the cause of his situation, it was the last straw. It was for him the end of hope. The loss of the colt was enough to keep Handley emotionally trapped on his family farm in rural Kentucky.
TAJ's milieu, as is Act of Violence, Nightmare Alley, and Pickup On South Street is that of the outliers of society who inhabit the underside of life. This aspect of film noir is too often over-looked and it’s why I cannot call excellent films like Laura and Gilda as classic film noir. Dix Handley is not only scorned by the legal, law-abiding citizenry but among his peers; the thugs, petty criminals; he is scorned as an outcast because of his rural Kentucky background.
Read any definition of film noir and a constant criterion will be ambiguity of the characters. Unlike its predecessor, the gangster films the difference between good and bad, decent and loathsome are not clearly defined. TAJ is the epitome of this noir trope and ambiguity is a prevailing theme throughout the film.
There has been a lot of criticism of the one sided portrayal of Hardy (played by John McIntire). How were they glamorized? He knows only what can be found in police records. Police veteran Ditrich is a dirty cop whereas Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) is a dedicated family man who worries about his family and takes the heist job to support his young wife and sick child
Emmerich is a crooked lawyer who straddles and often crosses the line between legal and illegal while Gus Minissi (James Whitmore) struggles with a birth deformity yet still keeps his honor and dignity. Gus is a man of honor, dignity and loyalty. He covers for Dix when the police come to his diner hides his gun and later refuses to return it to him as he says, for Dix's own good. Gus is an outsider, an outlier among the outliers, and may see a kinship to Handley whose rural, hillbilly ways in a large city make him an outsider.
Then there is Police Captain Hardy who leaves no doubt about his feelings about crooks, or to be specific, law breakers. Near the end of the film as the strait-laced Captain pontificates to the members of the press Dix rushes home to where his colt and childhood dreams began and ended. The cinematography in noirs is black and white but the characters are bathed in shades of gray. Huston shows us those grays in a manner befitting an auteur.
Earlier in the movie Gus tries but cannot comfort Ciavelli's distraught widow. When the cops, unaware of Ciavelli's death, come to arrest him they intrude upon his wake in the living room of his small apartment. Huston doesn't paint Ciavelli in broad strokes but rather in tones of gray; he is, as Emmerich would later say an example of the left handed endeavor of the law.
Gus' loyalty and honor is magnified when compared to those around him. Cobby's fealty rests in money and greed, Ditrich's in power, Emmerich's in personal wealth and material comforts. The compassion and human warmth of Gus is in stark contrast to the lack of compassion shown by the duty bound, upholder of the law Commissioner Hardy.
If we were to compare Louis Ciavelli and Gus Minissi to Ditrich and Emmerich who would come across as the better man? Which is the more criminal? Breaking into a safe to steal jewels/trinkets to feed a family or fencing those stolen goods to support Mistresses and indulge in other dubious endeavors? It is this ambiguity among the characters' moral makeup and codes of conduct that constitute a major trope of film noir. One might say the entire film is one of moral conflict as much as for the audience and it's perception of the characters as for the characters themselves.
Is wanting Dix to survive and find happiness with Doll or Gus to tear Cobby in two and Ciavelli to recover from his wound some sort of Rorschach test? And that brings to mind the dramatic ending of Angels With Dirty Faces. Just between you and me I shed a few tears when Rocky got the chair. Rocky was a good guy, he played basketball with the Bowery Boys for goodness sakes! And did he turn yellow at the end? Not in my book. And then with the noir trope of the antagonist being a victim of fate combined with a touch of social consciousness the Priest (Pat O'Brien) explains it all to the gang: "Let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could." Is it wrong to want Rocky to go to his death like a man with head unbowed and not a sniveling coward?
Gus' loyalty and honor is magnified when compared to those around him. Cobby's fealty rests in money and greed, Ditrich's in power, Emmerich's in personal wealth and material comforts. The compassion and human warmth of Gus is in stark contrast to the lack of compassion shown by the duty bound, upholder of the law Commissioner Hardy.
If we were to compare Louis Ciavelli and Gus Minissi to Ditrich and Emmerich who would come across as the better man? Which is the more criminal? Breaking into a safe to steal jewels/trinkets to feed a family or fencing those stolen goods to support Mistresses and indulge in other dubious endeavors? It is this ambiguity among the characters' moral makeup and codes of conduct that constitute a major trope of film noir. One might say the entire film is one of moral conflict as much as for the audience and it's perception of the characters as for the characters themselves.
Is wanting Dix to survive and find happiness with Doll or Gus to tear Cobby in two and Ciavelli to recover from his wound some sort of Rorschach test? And that brings to mind the dramatic ending of Angels With Dirty Faces. Just between you and me I shed a few tears when Rocky got the chair. Rocky was a good guy, he played basketball with the Bowery Boys for goodness sakes! And did he turn yellow at the end? Not in my book. And then with the noir trope of the antagonist being a victim of fate combined with a touch of social consciousness the Priest (Pat O'Brien) explains it all to the gang: "Let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could." Is it wrong to want Rocky to go to his death like a man with head unbowed and not a sniveling coward?
A popular icon of film noir is the femme fatale. She is a mysterious, dangerous woman who seductively leads a man to his demise. So popular is this image one might think it’s a requirement of a film noir but it's not. Doc and Emmerich are not noir chumps of one particular woman, which is usually the case. Doc's demise is directly due to his perversion while Emmerich's dire financial straits cannot be solely related to women they were certainly one of the reasons.
They both share a weakness for younger women. For Emmerich (Louis Calhern) they are decorations, symbols, facades, part of the false front he shows to the public. Angel Phinlay (Marilyn Monroe) was not his first mistress and had he absconded with the jewels would not have been the last.
Doc's tastes are plebian, utilitarian and functional. Their 'weakness' intersects when Doc accepts Emmerich’s offer for the services of a prior mistress. She tells him the true state of Emmerich's financial status. He refuses to believe her and instead buys into the façade of Emmerich.
Dix Handley has done his best to keep Doll at at a distance despite her obvious desire to be with him. Doll is far from a femme fatale yet unknowingly and with the best intentions hastens his death. After Doc leaves with his cut of the diamonds Handley starts to bleed again from his bullet wound. Doll, now being in a position where he actually needs her, rushes to give him aspirin thinking it will stop the bleeding not knowing aspirin is a blood thinner that exacerbated his condition.
They both share a weakness for younger women. For Emmerich (Louis Calhern) they are decorations, symbols, facades, part of the false front he shows to the public. Angel Phinlay (Marilyn Monroe) was not his first mistress and had he absconded with the jewels would not have been the last.
Doc's tastes are plebian, utilitarian and functional. Their 'weakness' intersects when Doc accepts Emmerich’s offer for the services of a prior mistress. She tells him the true state of Emmerich's financial status. He refuses to believe her and instead buys into the façade of Emmerich.
Dix Handley has done his best to keep Doll at at a distance despite her obvious desire to be with him. Doll is far from a femme fatale yet unknowingly and with the best intentions hastens his death. After Doc leaves with his cut of the diamonds Handley starts to bleed again from his bullet wound. Doll, now being in a position where he actually needs her, rushes to give him aspirin thinking it will stop the bleeding not knowing aspirin is a blood thinner that exacerbated his condition.
CAPTIONS: Doc: Was ist deiner Meinung nach der beste Heist-Film aller Zeiten? (What in your opinion is the best heist film of all time?)
Franz: Du machst Witze, oder? Der Asphaltdschungel natürlich. (Are you kidding? The Asphalt Jungle of course.)
The difference between a good and a great film is often in the casting of the minor roles. They are a step below the supporting stars as Marc Lawrence and Anthony Caruso. My favorite example of this is Henry Rowland who plays Franc Schurz the cabby Doc hires to drive him to Cleveland.
Cabbies are often stereotyped as comic relief but not here (ironically Doc’s journey to the heist began with a cab ride to Cobby’s and ended with a cab ride to the diner). To my ears Schurz sounds like a first generation American raised in a family where German was the main language. He mentions Doc's accent as Muenchen (Munich). That Jaffe's German accent is distinctly different than Schurz's (it sounds distinctively Yiddish) along with their conversation in German adds a nice touch of realism to the film's locale which I believe is Cincinnati which has a large German-American population.
Would the film have been lesser without these references to language and typical cabbie and passenger banter? Of course not but this scene is another example of Huston giving every character his/her own unique identity.
Another character who doesn't get much credit is Brad Dexter as Bob Brannom. In our introduction to Brannom we learn all we need to about Emmerich. Brannom is Emmerich’s debt collector a private investigator, and in true P.I. fashion is his own man. It is through Brannom we learn that underneath the fine clothes, the big house, and the mistresses Emmerich is a weak, loathsome, dishonest person and save for the penultimate act of his life has lived a lie. In addition Dexter not only physically matches up with Hayden but also in temperament. He, like Dix, says little, and says it succinctly and with a tone that connotes his seriousness. He is not a person to fool with. Those traits are totally different from that of Emmerich.
Emmerich is the most dishonest of anyone in the film. He hires others to do his dirty work, but it can't be too dirty, and if it is he doesn't want to know. Dexter figures him to be a fraud, Dix wonders what kind of man he is, and Doc is astonished that Emmerich killed himself over what could have been a one or two year jail sentence. In the last act of his life he tries does he do something honest. He is writing a farewell letter to his wife. He writes, "I am sorry for having to put you through this." but that would be a lie. He re-reads it, ,tears it up then shoots himself. It took until the end of his life to be honest with himself.
Franz: Du machst Witze, oder? Der Asphaltdschungel natürlich. (Are you kidding? The Asphalt Jungle of course.)
The difference between a good and a great film is often in the casting of the minor roles. They are a step below the supporting stars as Marc Lawrence and Anthony Caruso. My favorite example of this is Henry Rowland who plays Franc Schurz the cabby Doc hires to drive him to Cleveland.
Cabbies are often stereotyped as comic relief but not here (ironically Doc’s journey to the heist began with a cab ride to Cobby’s and ended with a cab ride to the diner). To my ears Schurz sounds like a first generation American raised in a family where German was the main language. He mentions Doc's accent as Muenchen (Munich). That Jaffe's German accent is distinctly different than Schurz's (it sounds distinctively Yiddish) along with their conversation in German adds a nice touch of realism to the film's locale which I believe is Cincinnati which has a large German-American population.
Would the film have been lesser without these references to language and typical cabbie and passenger banter? Of course not but this scene is another example of Huston giving every character his/her own unique identity.
Another character who doesn't get much credit is Brad Dexter as Bob Brannom. In our introduction to Brannom we learn all we need to about Emmerich. Brannom is Emmerich’s debt collector a private investigator, and in true P.I. fashion is his own man. It is through Brannom we learn that underneath the fine clothes, the big house, and the mistresses Emmerich is a weak, loathsome, dishonest person and save for the penultimate act of his life has lived a lie. In addition Dexter not only physically matches up with Hayden but also in temperament. He, like Dix, says little, and says it succinctly and with a tone that connotes his seriousness. He is not a person to fool with. Those traits are totally different from that of Emmerich.
Emmerich is the most dishonest of anyone in the film. He hires others to do his dirty work, but it can't be too dirty, and if it is he doesn't want to know. Dexter figures him to be a fraud, Dix wonders what kind of man he is, and Doc is astonished that Emmerich killed himself over what could have been a one or two year jail sentence. In the last act of his life he tries does he do something honest. He is writing a farewell letter to his wife. He writes, "I am sorry for having to put you through this." but that would be a lie. He re-reads it, ,tears it up then shoots himself. It took until the end of his life to be honest with himself.
One of the benefits of rewatching a movie when I review is I can focus on a particular actor. I paid particular attention to Ms. Hagen's performance. Suffice it to say that Jean Hagen doesn't get nearly the amount of credit she deserves.
Ms. Hagen's touching portrayal of the desperate, needy, lonely and fragile Doll played with minimalist and low-keyed brilliance makes Ms. Hagen stand out in a film with stand out performances. Doll is one of those people who mean well but never get a break, one whose name seems to be on every short straw picked at random. We first see her walking tentatively up to Dix's apartment with the hang-dog look of a lost soul. Doll tells Dix the police have raided the dance hall and she has been locked out of her apartment. She tells him she needs a place to stay for the night. She struggles and cries while taking off her eyelashes as her eye mascara runs. The scene borders between absurd and poignant. There is a fine line between the two which Huston does not cross. Dix could no more refuse Doll than he could turn away a whimpering wet puppy.
Later she attentively listens to Dix's reminiscence of his childhood. When Dix aborts her attempt to talk about her own childhood she shows her frustration by rattling cups and saucers, and complaining about his slovenly housekeeping. It's like that of a wife's reaction to a husband who never has the time to listen. Dix had warned her not to get any ideas when he took her in but she gets ideas and as far as she's concerned she's firmly connected to Dix and will never leave him.
Doll is dependent upon him. When faced with the inevitability of losing Dix she implores him to take her even though he's facing a murder rap. He agrees but has no clue why she cares so much for him. Doll loves him, and in his condition he needs her.
There is a similarity in her character to that of Claire Trevor's Pat Regan in Raw Deal. They both display a quality of neediness and desperation and see in their respective men a way out. If push came to shove Ms. Trevor would do almost anything to keep Dennis O'Keefe and the same goes for Doll with Handley. It's a pity that her role is usually eclipsed by the 'other' female in the film and that is Marilyn Monroe (who was excellent). Emmerich tells Angela Phinlay there will be a lot more vacations for her in the future. Not so for Doll. She once again draws the short straw.
Ms. Hagen's touching portrayal of the desperate, needy, lonely and fragile Doll played with minimalist and low-keyed brilliance makes Ms. Hagen stand out in a film with stand out performances. Doll is one of those people who mean well but never get a break, one whose name seems to be on every short straw picked at random. We first see her walking tentatively up to Dix's apartment with the hang-dog look of a lost soul. Doll tells Dix the police have raided the dance hall and she has been locked out of her apartment. She tells him she needs a place to stay for the night. She struggles and cries while taking off her eyelashes as her eye mascara runs. The scene borders between absurd and poignant. There is a fine line between the two which Huston does not cross. Dix could no more refuse Doll than he could turn away a whimpering wet puppy.
Later she attentively listens to Dix's reminiscence of his childhood. When Dix aborts her attempt to talk about her own childhood she shows her frustration by rattling cups and saucers, and complaining about his slovenly housekeeping. It's like that of a wife's reaction to a husband who never has the time to listen. Dix had warned her not to get any ideas when he took her in but she gets ideas and as far as she's concerned she's firmly connected to Dix and will never leave him.
Doll is dependent upon him. When faced with the inevitability of losing Dix she implores him to take her even though he's facing a murder rap. He agrees but has no clue why she cares so much for him. Doll loves him, and in his condition he needs her.
There is a similarity in her character to that of Claire Trevor's Pat Regan in Raw Deal. They both display a quality of neediness and desperation and see in their respective men a way out. If push came to shove Ms. Trevor would do almost anything to keep Dennis O'Keefe and the same goes for Doll with Handley. It's a pity that her role is usually eclipsed by the 'other' female in the film and that is Marilyn Monroe (who was excellent). Emmerich tells Angela Phinlay there will be a lot more vacations for her in the future. Not so for Doll. She once again draws the short straw.
If the opening scenes of The Killers is considered the most iconic in the land of noir, then the ending of TAJ holds that honor for a noir finale. The scene begins after Commissioner Hardy's describes the sole unaccounted for robber (Dix) as an animal, devoid of human feeling while Dix is driving to his home bleeding to death and incoherently rambling.
He had previously told Doll that the black colt had broken a leg and had to be shot but now the story changes. He says: "If Pa can just hold on, if he just doesn't sell the colt, everything will be alright." Of all the noir protagonists Dix may be the most ambiguous of them all. He is a proud man insulted when Cobby insinuates he's not good for his debts. Doc senses honor in the man. When Emmerich breaks down and cries Dix barks at him: What kind of man are you?" Dix won't admit his dirt poor past, his country background and even when retelling the story to Doll fails to tell the truth as to why they lost the colt. It wasn't an accident; his Pa couldn't afford to keep it and as a result failed the boy. Is that why he kept it a secret? Or am I reading too much into that one softly spoken line that comes as he approaches death. I think Pa selling the horse gives us some insight into Dix's character and adds another layer of complexity to a man who to Hardy is an enemy of the state; an unfeeling animal.
The Asphalt Jungle abounds in elements that constitute a classic noir. It has the appropriate cinematography, there is ambiguity not only for the lead but for all the characters. There is a blurring between right and wrong, good and bad. It takes us into the belly of a subculture of criminality that exists side by side with honor. We wonder why Dix couldn't bury his past and the colt along with it? It is the best of all heist films. One of the best noirs and one of the best films of any genre. It is another achievement by one of the world's great directors John Huston.
He had previously told Doll that the black colt had broken a leg and had to be shot but now the story changes. He says: "If Pa can just hold on, if he just doesn't sell the colt, everything will be alright." Of all the noir protagonists Dix may be the most ambiguous of them all. He is a proud man insulted when Cobby insinuates he's not good for his debts. Doc senses honor in the man. When Emmerich breaks down and cries Dix barks at him: What kind of man are you?" Dix won't admit his dirt poor past, his country background and even when retelling the story to Doll fails to tell the truth as to why they lost the colt. It wasn't an accident; his Pa couldn't afford to keep it and as a result failed the boy. Is that why he kept it a secret? Or am I reading too much into that one softly spoken line that comes as he approaches death. I think Pa selling the horse gives us some insight into Dix's character and adds another layer of complexity to a man who to Hardy is an enemy of the state; an unfeeling animal.
The Asphalt Jungle abounds in elements that constitute a classic noir. It has the appropriate cinematography, there is ambiguity not only for the lead but for all the characters. There is a blurring between right and wrong, good and bad. It takes us into the belly of a subculture of criminality that exists side by side with honor. We wonder why Dix couldn't bury his past and the colt along with it? It is the best of all heist films. One of the best noirs and one of the best films of any genre. It is another achievement by one of the world's great directors John Huston.
"If Pa can just hold on, if he just doesn't sell the colt, everything will be alright."