The Asphalt Jungle. John Huston directed this 1950 classic heist drama that has often been copied but never equaled. Huston humanized all the characters in this great cast. They are all flawed human beings who in one way or another elicit our sympathy. It is hard for an audience not to hope they will succeed in pulling off the heist.
Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, and Louis Calhern star as the principals in a plot to steal a fortune in jewels. The film also features Jean Hagan and Marilyn Monroe in the role that launched her into stardom. The musical score is by Miklos Rozsa. 112 minutes. CC.
Sterling Hayden portrays one of the classic good bad guys in film history. He is a "hooligan", a menacing street tough barely eking out a living pulling off petty armed robberies, but he has a sense of honor. How can we not pull for him as mortally wounded he tries to make it back to the family horse farm?
Sam Jaffe gives an Oscar nominated performance as a criminal mastermind with an obsession for pretty young women. Louis Calhern is somehow sympathetic playing a crooked attorney who two times his bed ridden wife for an incredibly sexy young woman played stunningly by Marilyn Monroe.
Jean Hagan plays a down and out B-girl who remains faithful to her man right to the end. Two years later she would become immortal playing Lina Lamont, a blonde silent screen star in Singing in the Rain.
Here is a link to the movie trailer that highlights each of these characters. ###
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| Jean Hagan and Sterling Hayden |
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