The recent shock waves from the Paris Louvre heist joins a long line of calamities throughout cultural and political history. From England’s crown jewel attempts and multiple robbery and conspiracy plans globally before and many since, some still unsolved, such debacles still occur regularly in the bizarre world of museums and treasure houses for reasons reflecting incompetence, madness and occasionally brilliance at the sheer planning and execution.
The film world has long been on to it and then some with a plethora of heist movies, most forgettable but one standing above all the rest for art and understanding — John Huston’s “The Asphalt Jungle,” a 1950 film great beyond genre.
“The Asphalt Jungle” is great for its reveals of method and the inner lives of characters willing and able to carry out a scheme that risks everything yet reflects the banalities of a cross section of people in modern times stuck in their own delusions. From the opening tracking shot across the city pavement to the lives of robbers involved, we are cunningly drawn into the abyss of their emotional lives.
Lead actor Sterling Hayden is Dix Handley, gambling addict always chasing bets on horse racing and losing, filling the psychological hole of his childhood financed by risky street mugging and robbery until he meets Doll Conovan, a desperate nightclub performer played brilliantly by Jean Hagen and their relationship has some hope until it doesn’t.
This is Hayden’s greatest role. Best known for many crime films and a sneer that could freeze boiling water (his corrupt cop in “The Godfather” movie is typical), in this film he distills pathos and hurt that rings true till the end. His every destructive move is matched by Hagen’s agonizing loyalty.
The plot is set with a heist plan to hit a major jewelry store vault via Doc Riedenschneider, just out of prison and known for his masterful crime schemes. Doc is played with a fine edge by Sam Jaffe, one of the greatest unsung character actors, who knits together Hayden and a perfect cast of career criminals, each with a specialty to serve, led by a money man and bookie called Cobby (actor Marc Lawrence) who foolishly lays off some of the backing funds through crooked society attorney Alonzo Emmerich, played with oily finesse by also unsung great Louis Calhern. No actor can match Calhern’s turn as plutocrat liar scene after scene. Other actors chime in flawlessly, led by James Whitmore and his contacts. Whitmore’s character has a front of a sleazy diner for his crime jobs. Not the place to order chili.
The heist itself is a credible ballet set by director Huston but the major writing credit goes to W. R. Burnett’s novel though Huston and Ben Maddow worked up the screenplay. Burnett has rightly been celebrated as a king of noir film writing by critic and noir genre scholar Eddie Muller. His genius underpins the film.
This is a film that demands a second and third viewing. There has never been a better production capturing the essence of a heist and the minds of those willing to do the deed.
It stands alone.