History Film / TheAsphaltJungle

After getting out of prison, Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider goes to Cobby, a bookie, with an idea for a diamond heist. Cobby puts him in touch with Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, who agrees to front Doc and his crew in the heist, who eventually include Dix, a "hooligan" who's been in and out of prison, his friend Gus, who runs a diner, and Louis, a safe-cracker. What none of them know is Emmerich, who has money troubles, is looking to double-cross the gang by taking the diamonds for himself.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Ditrich uses this technique successfully on Cobby.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/MarilynMonroe has an early role as Emmerich's mistress
** Creator/JackWarden and Creator/StrotherMartin have uncredited bit roles

A solid (though not spectacular) hit when it was first released, Huston's film is now considered one of the classics in its genre, and one of the most influential FilmNoir ever made. TropeMaker for TheCaper and the heist film genre, [[FollowTheLeader inspiring several more heist films]] throughout the decade, including Creator/StanleyKubrick's ''Film/TheKilling'', Creator/JeanPierreMelville's ''Bob le Flambeur'', and Jules Dassin's ''Film/{{Rififi}}''.

-> ''"It's not anything strange that there are corrupt officers in police departments. The dirt they're trying to clean up is bound to rub off on some of 'em, but not all of 'em. Maybe one out of a hundred. The other ninety-nine are honest men trying to do an honest job. Listen...I know you're police reporters and you hear [police radio] all day long, but I want you to listen with your conscience, not just your ears. We send police assistance to every one of those calls 'cause they're not just code numbers on a radio beam, they're cries for help. People are being cheated, robbed, murdered, raped. And that goes on twenty-four hours a day, every day in the year. And that's not exceptional, that's usual. It's the same in every city of the modern world. But suppose we had no police force, good or bad. Suppose we had...just silence. Nobody to listen, nobody to answer. The battle's finished. The jungle wins. The predatory beasts take over. Think about it. Well, gentlemen, three men are in jail, three men dead, one by his own hand. One man's a fugitive, and, we have reason to believe, seriously wounded. That's six out of seven. Not bad. And we'll get the last one, too. In some ways, he's the most dangerous of them all. A hardened killer. A hooligan. A man without human feeling or human mercy."''
-->-- '''Police Commissioner Hardy'''

->''"Crime is only...a left-handed form of human endeavor."''
-->-- '''Alonzo Emmerich'''

''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 [[TheCaper Caper]] crime drama directed by Creator/JohnHuston, [[FilmOfTheBook based on the novel]] of the same name by W. R. Burnett. It was the first major example of this trope while simultaneously being a deconstruction of it. It's also considered a classic of the FilmNoir genre with an ensemble cast including Creator/SterlingHayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, and, in a minor but key role, MarilynMonroe, an unknown at the time who was pictured but not mentioned on the posters.

** '''The Mastermind:''' Doc.

* MsFanservice: MarilynMonroe, naturally...but in this early role, it's pretty [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], comparatively.

''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 [[TheCaper Caper]] crime drama directed by Creator/JohnHuston, [[FilmOfTheBook based on the novel]] of the same name by W. R. Burnett. It was the first major example of this trope while simultaneously being a deconstruction of it.\\
It's also considered a classic of the FilmNoir genre with an ensemble cast including Creator/SterlingHayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, and, in a minor but key role, MarilynMonroe, an unknown at the time who was pictured but not mentioned on the posters.

A solid (though not spectacular) hit when it was first released, Huston's film is now considered one of the classics in its genre, and one of the most influential FilmNoir ever made.

* FollowTheLeader: The Asphalt Jungle over-night inspired the heist film genre and a slew of copycats followed. Some of them, Creator/StanleyKubrick's ''Film/TheKilling'', Creator/JeanPierreMelville's ''Bob le Flambeur'' being great films in their own right and similarly influential in turn. Indeed the film was popular enough that in the fifties it led to a spoof ''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' that was also a classic in its own right. It's among the most influential crime films ever made.

It's also considered a classic of the FilmNoir genre with an ensemble cast including Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, and, in a minor but key role, MarilynMonroe, an unknown at the time who was pictured but not mentioned on the posters.

----

** Emmerich who has a mistress played by Marilyn Monfure, who calls hinm "Uncle Lon".
* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: And how!

* GreyAndGrayMorality: The bad guys aren't all bad: one is a family man, one is tough but has an intense loyalty, even Dix has his generous side, a poor kid who just had a lot of bad breaks. And the good guys are hardly all good. One detective is corrupt, others are a bit slow, and the Commissioner comes across as a morally superior fanatic who sees everything in [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white]].
** Adding an extra punishment for Dix...that he will be remembered only as the Commissioner describes him to the newspapers, as "a man without human feeling or human mercy," with his human, brave, and honorable sides being forgotten.
* UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode: The police commissioner's spiel near the end when he tells everyone what a great job the police do. Also the fact that [[spoiler:all criminals involved in the caper get caught or die.]]

A solid (though not spectacular) hit when it was first released, Huston's film is now considered one of the classics in its genre, and one of the most influential.

* DirtyOldMan: Doc, and [[spoiler: he's HoistByHisOwnPetard because of it]].
** Emmerich as well ("Uncle Lon" indeed).

* HonorAmongThieves: Gus is picked because he'll take the rap and not squeal, and the actual thieves show loyalty and trust with each other -- Gus goes out on a limb to advance money to Dix; and after things fall apart, Dix still advances a large sum to Doc.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8ktr1wdk_7237.jpg]]

'''''The Asphalt Jungle''''' is a 1950 [[TheCaper Caper]] crime drama directed by Creator/JohnHuston, [[FilmOfTheBook based on the novel]] of the same name by W. R. Burnett. It was the first major example of this trope while simultaneously being a deconstruction of it.\\