Noir City: The Asphalt Jungle
February 21, 2024
A landmark in the history of crime movies and the progenitor of all heist films that followed. John Huston’s film had an immediate and lasting impact on crime movies and literature. It subverted the Production Code by making its criminals working professionals with whom audiences empathized. Vivid and note-perfect.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
A landmark in the history of crime movies and the progenitor of all the heist films that followed. John Huston had provided the script for Raoul Walsh’s 1940 film version of author Burnett’s outlaw saga High Sierra and, ten years later, he snapped up Burnett’s latest crime novel to direct himself. The result is a classic noir caper fusing Hollywood-style noir with the authenticity of European neo-realism. MGM boss Louis B. Mayer famously disdained his own studio’s film saying, “I wouldn’t cross the street to watch trash like that,” but the film had an immediate and lasting impact on crime movies and literature. It subverted the Production Code by making its criminals working professionals with whom audiences empathized. The performances, top to bottom, are vivid and note-perfect, making this the best ensemble cast since 1941’s The Maltese Falcon, directed, not coincidentally, by John Huston. —Film synopsis courtesy of Noir City
- Director: John Huston
- Principal Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Marilyn Monroe
- Country: USA
- Year: 1950
- Running Time: 112 min.
- Producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr.
- Screenplay: Ben Maddow, John Huston
- Cinematographers: Harold Rosson
- Editors: George Boemler
- Music: Miklós Rózsa
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Prizzi’s Honor (1985), Fat City (1972), The Treasuer of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer