In 1941, director John Huston’s first feature, The Maltese Falcon, established the noir film in Hollywood. Nine years later, this film establishes a soon-to-be-successful sub-genre of noir, the heist film. Not only does it focus primarily on criminals, but more specifically on one particular job, from planning to thrilling execution to aftermath. Its influence was immediate - witness the fantastic French heist film Rififi, Kubrick’s The Killing, and many others. The Asphalt Jungle is a solid piece of work. There aren’t the twists and triple-crossings that heist films came to be known for - it was the first major one, so it didn’t need those yet - just bad, clever men planning things, and then letting their guilt, fear, or anger run them into trouble. The audience knows the plan, the drama is A) if it will work, and B) can they keep from destroying each other with greed? The heist itself is great, quiet and tense (a style wonderfully elaborated on in the brilliantly stressful and quiet heist scene in Rififi), and some top notch acting. Most notable for yours truly are James Whitmore (Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption), Jean Hagen (straight-up hilarious two years later as Lina Lamont in Singin’ In The Rain) and a young 24 year old bombshell named Marilyn Monroe (with the best acting I’ve seen her do).
