In the second part of the murky film noir universe, the focus shifts from the cynical private eyes along with the disillusioned soldiers who had returned from World War Two, that typified the noir features of the 1940s. In the 1950s some of the grittiest heist noirs were produced with The Asphalt Jungle (1950) being prime among them. The flamboyant, mythic, and psychotic gangsters of the 1930s and early 40s have no place here. The Asphalt Jungle is a standout as the criminal element are very much down-to-earth humans that proved to be another gem for director John Huston of The Maltese Falcon fame discussed in my previous noir post.
The misfits who plan what they believe is the ultimate jewel heist are the little ex-cons, the losers, and working-class people desperate to find a way out of a dead-end existence and finally make it to easy street. However, with most noir narratives there is always a weakness somewhere – and the best-laid plans of criminal enterprise to achieve “easy street” go awry. The big screen version of The Asphalt Jungle was adapted from the novel by W.R. Burnett, who wrote in a style similar to his contemporaries Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain mentioned in Part One of the noir style.
Burnett’s career flourished because of his propensity for creating stories of urban corruption, depicting city life as a bad influence which could be cured by returning to a more bucolic, simple lifestyle. This represented where Burnett’s writing differed from the other writers mentioned above. Interestingly though, only one of the men involved in the heist intends to go back to a simpler life, persistent in the desire to return to his former home, a horse farm in the Kentucky Bluegrass country after they split the proceeds.
In any case, The Asphalt Jungle stands out in the noir pack, a timely tale of crime and punishment where it’s refreshing to see a corrupt, greedy member of the upper-crust suffer the ultimate punishment for his role in the failed heist along with the others. The Asphalt Jungle was the progenitor of the heist film, practically creating the sub genre for the modern cinema. The film also makes good use of noir atmosphere with the stark black & white cinematography and the gritty, wrong-side-of-the-tracks neighborhoods in the “no-name”midwestern city where the action takes place.
Another fascinating sub genre of noir film are the sleazy bottom-feeders, grifters, snitches, and traitors depicted to sharp effect in Pickup On South Street (1953). Undercover communists were one of the major real-life fears of American life in the 1950s played up by the media, with subversives (occasionally real but often imagined) lurking around every corner, intent on destroying the American way of life and turning our society over to communist domination. Pickup On South Street features several petty criminals and a few other just generally disadvantaged characters unwittingly caught up in a communist plot to steal top-secret U.S. military secrets on a microfilm.
At the time of its original release Pickup was not well regarded and critics chastised it for the gratuitous violence depicted. Candy (Jean Peters) as the main female lead was particularly noted in one review as everybody’s “punching bag”. However, by today’s standards, any violence shown in Pickup is quite tame compared to similar fare shown on prime time television – let alone on our movie screens. Still, the brutality of life on skid row in Pickup On South illuminates the desperation of the characters in their high stakes quest to possess critical U.S. government secrets for nefarious purposes – and the grim determination of the NYC Police Dept. to catch them. The film has gained more favor with current critics and is considered a classic of the espionage sub genre.
In a similar vein is the less known Walk East On Beacon (1952). The screenplay was inspired by an article written by the notorious J. Edgar Hoover who served as the first director of the F.B.I. This story concerns an FBI agent trying to infiltrate a Soviet espionage ring in Boston and the race is on to snare as many suspects as possible before a security leak of government secrets has drastic consequences. Films such as Pickup On South Street and Walk East On Beacon work well not only as noirs but also as thrillers with dashes of melodrama for good measure.
Last, but certainly not least of our sabotage noirs is the sizzling (literally!, but no spoiler here) Kiss Me Deadly (1955) based on the crime novel of the same name by Uber-macho crime novelist Mickey Spillane who became one of the best-selling fiction writers of the twentieth century. Spillane introduced the hard-boiled detective Mike Hammer to the world, ultimately making the character an icon much like Ian Fleming’s James Bond, which also adapted well from book to screen. Kiss Me Deadly was originally derided by critics much like Pickup On South Street but is today acclaimed as one of the best noir films of all time and a classic of pulp fiction writing.
Kiss Me Deadly is a menace-filled account wherein Detective Hammer gets sucked into a violent struggle with some unsavory types who are all competing to possess the vague, but somehow deadly contents of a mysterious box. The film version succeeds because it hits all the right noir notes of forbidding atmosphere, seedy settings, pulp fiction style, and the nihilistic themes of life having little value, society weighed in the scales and found to be undesirable. It played well into the Cold War paranoia that permeated life in the 1950s – fear of communists and other subversives destroying the capitalism and democracy of the West through fifth column takeovers – or in the very literal sense by igniting a nuclear Holocaust which obviously would take out the entire planet.
Some fun trivia about these films:
The Asphalt Jungle: The film received four Academy Award nominations for Best Director (John Huston), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Jaffa), Best Adapted Screenplay (John Huston & Ben Maddow), Best Black & White Cinematography (Harold Rosson). Unfortunately, it didn’t pick up any wins. Much of the film was shot on location in Cincinnati, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky giving the story a more authentic look and feel as a noir. The Asphalt Jungle is also noted as providing a small part for Marilyn Monroe, who would soon become a major star.
Pickup On South Street: Was directed by Samuel Fuller, renowned in the 1950s for this and other notable noirs such as House Of Bamboo (1955) and Underworld U.S.A (1961). Thelma Ritter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also, the Academy Archive has preserved Pickup On South Street with at least 1,100 other films. It is also part of the National Film Registry along with The Asphalt Jungle for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Walk East On Beacon: Was produced by Louis de Rochemont, a filmmaker who created the famed March Of Time Newsreels. These short documentaries provided moviegoers with information about current affairs and were shown along with film trailers before the main feature started. The March Of Time newsreels were produced between 1935-1951.
Kiss Me Deadly: The apocalyptic screenplay was written by A.I. Bezzerides, a novelist and screenwriter responsible for several other notable noirs. For instance, his novel The Long Haul became the basis of the screenplay for They Drive By Night (1940) starring Humphrey Bogart, which is considered to be an early example of superior noir about independent truck drivers struggling to survive in a cutthroat business environment.
W.R. Burnett: He might be best known for the 1929 gangster novel Little Caesar which became one of the most famous films of the 1930s. Burnett also wrote the screenplay (along with John Huston) for High Sierra (1941) adapted from his novel of the same name, about a criminal involved in a jewel heist in a remote town in the Sierra Nevada range of California. Once again, the film version became another successful vehicle for Humphrey Bogart of The Maltese Falcon fame.
Mickey Spillane: He was a prolific short story writer earlier in his career and also created numerous adventures for comic book characters like Captain America. His true fame began with his Mike Hammer detective novels which have sold a staggering 225,000,000 copies worldwide. Spillane is easily one of the best selling fiction writers of the modern era. Between 1947 and 1996 he wrote thirteen of the Mike Hammer novel series including Kiss Me Deadly (1952).
