In today's world of non stop action films, heavily stylized CGI masterpieces creating unimaginable worlds and an endless parade of beautiful stars, films from Hollywood's Golden Age often do not hold up with contemporary audiences. The narratives are comparatively slow and and often perceived as dull while the technical work is seemingly so far behind that which dazzles us today that the films look prehistoric. Yet many of these films are considered classic for good reason; the narratives hold up over time, the stars of such features have become embedded within our collective consciences and these films tend to foreshadow our contemporary society. The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston, MGM,1950) is no exception to any of this. The narrative is drudgingly slow at times, the claustrophobic use of light and shadow serves to trap the viewer and the complete void of star power emphasizes just how important the star system is to films. Take the film in the context of a viewer from 1950 and this film becomes a revelation!
By 1950 film styles had already started undergoing major changes and The Asphalt Jungle reflects many of these changes. Throughout the film there is extensive use of location shooting, using the city streets and old dilapidated buildings of our urban world as ready made sets, emphasizing urban decay along with our own eroding morality. This lends the film an incredible realism as compared to films released prior to 1950. Also noticeable is the way in which the camera is employed. Tilted angles, extreme high and low shots, imperceptible lighting all add to the dreariness portrayed in a decaying urban society. The cinematography for the film is incredible. The film is constantly bathed in darkness, adding a shadowy layer to the film, giving the city a life of its own. At times there is no light whatsoever, and it isn't until the final scene of the film that we see a screen saturated with light. This endless darkness further ensconces the audience within the city and helps to reinforce the themes the script focuses on.
The array of themes and issues dealt with in the script are endless, themes facing urban society in the late 1940's as well as contemporary society. Human fallibility, a rising and unfettered criminal faction, greed and corruption, a burgeoning urban decay coupled with a declining morality are all some of the issues or themes touched on by the film. It's a credit to the adaptation by John Huston and Ben Maddow that they were able to pack so much into their script.
With a professional ensemble cast that serves the film quite well (the use of no stars emphasizes the anonymity of life in the city) it is a minor role which stands out within this film. Marilyn Monroe gets her first taste of the silver screen in a minor role but every second she is on the screen is electric. All she was to become as an actress and pop culture icon is on display in this film. The sultry vixen, the coquettish young girl pouting her way into what she wants, the bombshell to be just waiting to emerge from her cocoon. Two things stand out to me particularly in regards to Marilyn here (please note that I actually studied Marilyn for a semester while at USC so I have more knowledge than most regarding this icon). Her very first scene involves her sitting in her "uncle's" lap (Alonzo Emmerich played by Louis Calhern) as he pulls her in for a kiss. Marilyn owed her career to a long string of such affairs and it is ironic that her first appearance on screen is her showing what got her there in the first place. The second thing that got my attention is her body. In this film she completely has the ideal 1940's body for a woman. Her body changed drastically over the next decade as she became the feminine ideal of the 1950's and it is striking just how much change that body underwent. It's almost as if she was two completely different woman.
I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea but the film is worth just to see Marilyn at such a young age, before fame wrecked her. Tell me, isn't she stunningly beautiful in the film? Google still images and write a comment. Thanks for reading and sharing!
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