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Giungla d'asfalto (The Asphalt Jungle) è un film del 1950 diretto da John Huston.
National Film Preservation Board, USA 2008 - Winner National Film Registry
Also available in a computer colorized version.(imdb.alternate)
Version of: Gli uomini della terra selvaggia (1958), I diamanti sono pericolosi (1972).(imdb.connection)
Remade as Rapina al Cairo (1963, almost frame by frame remake of The Asphalt Jungle).(imdb.connection)
Trama
Doc, un ladro di professione, appena uscito dal carcere organizza, assieme ad un avvocato mal ridotto, la rapina del secolo, e quindi sceglie meticolosamente tutti gli uomini della banda, dallo scassinatore al basista. L'obiettivo è una gioielleria e proprio quando sembra fatta, l'allarme li tradisce e a seguito di una colluttazione con un guardiano notturno, a questi cade la pistola da cui parte un colpo che ferisce gravemente lo scassinatore che morirà ben presto. Nessuno degli altri componenti la banda, seppur con vicende diverse, riuscirà a sopravvivere a lungo.
Produzione
The poster showing Marilyn Monroe in a purple dress was created much later, after she became a household name. Monroe was basically unknown when the film was made in 1950, and only has a very small role. She certainly wouldn't have been given top billing at the time. In fact, she wasn't named on the original posters at all.(imdb.trivia)
Both actor/director John Huston and star Sterling Hayden were members of the Committee for the First Amendment, which stood against the blacklisting of alleged Communists working in the film industry during the Red Scare. Huston had never been a Communist, although Hayden at one point had been.(imdb.trivia)
Marilyn Monroe regarded this as one of her best performances, particularly her final scene with Louis Calhern.(imdb.trivia)
The Asphalt Jungle marks the film debut of Jack Warden. NOTE: He later starred in the short-lived The Asphalt Jungle (1961) TV series.(imdb.trivia)
A tribute to Sam Jaffe's character, Doc Riedenschneider, appears in Joel Coen and Ethan Coen's film noir L'uomo che non c'era (2001), which features a defense lawyer named Freddy Riedenschneider, played by Tony Shalhoub.(imdb.trivia)
Film debut of actor Strother Martin (uncredited, in the police line-up).(imdb.trivia)
During the production, Walter Huston came to Hollywood for his son John Huston's 44th birthday party. Two days later, with John at his side, the legendary actor of stage and screen died of heart failure at age 66.(imdb.trivia)
John Huston first met Sterling Hayden in Washington, DC, during a protest against the House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of "subversives" in the film industry. When the pair met to discuss the project, Huston said to Hayden, "I've admired you for a long time, Sterling. They don't know what to make of a guy like you in this business." Huston was honest with Hayden about his chance for the lead role. Hayden recounts in his autobiography Huston's pitch: "Now, Sterling, I want you to do this part. The studio does not. They want a top name star. They say you mean nothing when it comes to box-office draw--I told them there aren't five names in this town [that] mean a damn thing at the box office. Fortunately, they're not making this picture. I am. Now let me tell you about Dix Handley . . . Dix is you and me and every other man who can't fit into the groove." Rumored to be fighting severe alcohol and psychiatric problems, Hayden landed the role of Handley, his first major starring role, over the objection of MGM chief Dore Schary. Hayden's gritty performance proved many Hollywood naysayers flat wrong. For instance, Hayden himself was nervous about the climactic scene in the picture, when Dix breaks down in tears in front of Jean Hagen. According to the director, though, Hayden did not have anything to worry about. After the actor delivered the scene beautifully, Huston took Hayden aside and said, "The next time somebody says you can't act, tell them to call Huston."(imdb.trivia)
In his autobiography, John Huston noted that he consulted with author W.R. Burnett several times during the development of the script, and that Burnett gave his approval of the final screenplay.(imdb.trivia)
Features Sam Jaffe's only Oscar nominated performance.(imdb.trivia)
First feature film role for Brad Dexter in which he was actually credited as Brad Dexter. In his previous credited roles he was credited as Barry Mitchell, but for this film, director John Huston convinced him to change his professional name to Brad Dexter. Dexter decided to keep the name.(imdb.trivia)
When the film was being prepared for a British bow, the producers hesitated because it was so full of American slang. At the time, films heavy with slang were usually re-dubbed for English audiences. Gerard Fairlie, the British author of the "Bulldog Drummond" adventure stories, was called upon as a consultant, and he advised against re-dubbing, even though some words would go right over the heads of British viewers. The film was not re-dubbed and earned good box-office returns in England.(imdb.trivia)
A publicity photo for the film showed Dix between Doll and Angela, who desperately tries to get him to turn away from Doll. Angela and Dix never meet in the film.(imdb.trivia)
All of the dialogue spoken by Alberto Morin, who played Eddie Donato, was dubbed in by another actor--probably because Morin, who was born in Puerto Rico, had a pronounced Puerto Rican accent and Eddie Donato was supposed to be Italian.(imdb.trivia)
At least two versions exist as to how Marilyn Monroe came to be cast in the film. One has an employee of MGM's talent department suggesting that John Huston try out Monroe, with Huston immediately recognizing her as perfect for the role after her sensual audition. Another version, as supported by MGM archives, has Monroe as a "dark horse" contender for the role. Huston had reportedly already chosen blond actress Lola Albright for the role. When a very nervous Monroe auditioned for the part, Huston was not impressed. However, Albright had recently found success with a supporting role in Il grande campione (1949), so it was unlikely she would accept a small role in a crime melodrama. Huston tested eight other starlets, but Monroe stayed in the running, mainly because of the persistence of MGM talent director Lucille Ryman Carroll. Huston remained adamant that Monroe wouldn't fit the bill, until Carroll prevailed by taking advantage of an ironic coincidence.(imdb.trivia)
John Huston, an avid horseman, had a team of Irish stallions boarded and trained at MGM talent executive Lucille Ryman Carroll's ranch, and he happened to be $18,000 in arrears for payments to the ranch. On a Sunday afternoon in September, Carroll and her husband invited Huston out to the ranch and made him an offer he couldn't refuse, to borrow a line from another movie. Carroll informed Huston that if he did not allow Marilyn Monroe another shot at the role, the ranch would sell his stallions and collect the money due. Huston did not refuse the terms, and Monroe got another screen test, only this time she had the support of Louis B. Mayer and MGM chief hair stylist Sydney Guilaroff. When Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck saw the film, he again assumed her contract.(imdb.trivia)
Louis B. Mayer said about the film, "That 'Asphalt Pavement' thing is full of nasty, ugly people doing nasty things. I wouldn't walk across the room to see a thing like that."(imdb.trivia)
The film was colorized by Turner Entertainment Co. in the late 1980s. In July 1989 John Huston's heirs made an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a colorized version of the film from being broadcast on French television, but they lost their case in French court. The case pitted the country's longstanding legal protection of authors' rights against the legal standing of contracts signed in the US between directors and studios. The colorized version was broadcast in 1989, but in 1994 the appeals court in Versailles reversed the 1989 ruling and fined Turner 400,000 francs (then about $74,000) for having broadcast the colorized version.(imdb.trivia)
Georgia Holt, mother of Cher, tested for the role of Angela Phinlay.(imdb.trivia)
Identified by critic Thom Andersen as an example of "film gris", a suggested sub-category of film noir incorporating a left-wing narrative.(imdb.trivia)
A February 1950 "Daily Variety" news item noted that John Maxwell, who plays a doctor in the picture, "made such a hit with preview audiences" that MGM re-shot a portion of the title credits to include his name.(imdb.trivia)
Lola Albright was the first choice for Angela Pinlay, but she turned it down.(imdb.trivia)
Claudette Thornton tested for a role and Emerson Treacy was supposedly cast, but their appearance in the released film has not been confirmed.(imdb.trivia)
Notice the silhouette of the B-17 on the wall behind Sam Jaffe's head when the hired hands--Anthony Caruso and Sterling Hayden--are being paid off prior to the caper in Cobby's office.(imdb.trivia)
Dix returns to the farm in a dilapidated 1939 Plymouth coupe.(imdb.trivia)
Martin Scorsese is a fan of this movie.(imdb.trivia)
The October 1949 "Hollywood Reporter" production charts list James Mitchell in the cast, but he did not appear in the film.(imdb.trivia)
This film barely broke even at the box office, earning MGM a profit of only $40,000 according to studio records.(imdb.trivia)
In the opening credits, producer Arthur Hornblow Jr.'s name is spelled differently from all the others.(imdb.trivia)
This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.(imdb.trivia)
The musical scoring (by Miklós Rózsa) is extremely scant, occurring only for the main titles, continuing through the opening sequence up to the point where Handley enters the café, and then returns some 107 minutes later when Handley and Doll return to his boyhood farm. Total scoring just under 6 minutes.(imdb.trivia)
The censors had a conniption over Emmerich's suicide as written in the original script. In the rejected scene, he was to write a short, moving letter to his wife, then take a pistol out of his desk and do the deed. While suicide was a top no-no on the list of forbidden acts, what made the scene more objectionable to the censors was the fact that he was apparently in his right mind. They reasoned that no man in his right mind would commit suicide. According to John Huston, the rewritten suicide in the final film ironically made for a much better scene.(imdb.trivia)
The song "The Green Green Grass of Home", which was the first #1 hit for Tom Jones, was written by Curly Putman after he watched Sterling Hayden's death scene in this film.(imdb.trivia)
Brannom (Brad Dexter) is the first character to die in the film. Dexter later appeared as Harry Luck in I magnifici sette (1960). He was the first of the Seven to be killed.(imdb.trivia)
Sceneggiatura
Cast
Oltre all'attore Jack Warden, qui alla sua prima apparizione sullo schermo, nel film sono presenti non accreditati i caratteristi James Seay (l'agente Janocek, doppiato da Alberto Sordi), Don Haggerty (il detective Andrews, doppiato da Renato Turi) e Henry Rowland (il tassista Frank Schurz, doppiato da Vittorio Cramer) e due futuri volti televisivi come Gene Evans (un poliziotto nell'appartamento di Ciavelli) e Strother Martin (William Doldy). La parte di Jeannie (la ragazza nel ristorante) è interpretato da Helene Stanley, anch'essa non accreditata, nota per essere stata il riferimento live action per Cenerentola e altri personaggi femminili dei classici Disney.[1]
Riprese
Le riprese iniziarono il 21 ottobre 1949 e terminarono il successivo 21 dicembre. Il film fu girato negli MGM Studios di Culver City e a Los Angeles, tranne le sequenze iniziali e finali che furono girate, rispettivamente, a Cincinnati in Ohio e a Lexington nel Kentucky.[2]
Post-produzione
Distribuzione
La première si tenne il 1º giugno 1950 e il 23 agosto il film venne proiettato in concorso alla 11ª Mostra di Venezia.[3]
Date di uscita
- Stati Uniti d'America (The Asphalt Jungle) – 1º giugno 1950
- Canada (The Asphalt Jungle) – 15 giugno 1950
- Australia (The Asphalt Jungle) – 22 settembre 1950
- Regno Unito (The Asphalt Jungle) – 13 ottobre 1950
- Germania Ovest (Asphalt-Dschungel) – 20 ottobre 1950
- Svezia (I asfaltens djungel) – 13 novembre 1950
- Uruguay (Mientras la ciudad duerme) – 30 novembre 1950
- Francia (Quand la ville dort) – 6 dicembre 1950
- Spagna (La jungla de asfalto) – 18 dicembre 1950
- Italia (Giungla d'asfalto) – 11 gennaio 1951
- Belgio (Wanneer de stad slaapt...) – 9 marzo 1951
- Portogallo (Quando a Cidade Dorme) – 22 marzo 1951
- Danimarca (Asfaltjunglen) – 27 marzo 1951
- Finlandia (Asfalttiviidakko) – 11 maggio 1951
- Argentina (Mientras la ciudad duerme) – 7 febbraio 1952
- Turchia (Elmas Hirsizlari) – 8 ottobre 1952
- Hong Kong (The Asphalt Jungle) – 5 marzo 1953
- Giappone (アスファルト・ジャングル) – 11 marzo 1954
Home Video
Accoglienza
Incassi
Critica
Riconoscimenti
- Candidatura per il miglior regista a John Huston
- Candidatura per il miglior attore non protagonista a Sam Jaffe
- Candidatura per la migliore sceneggiatura a Ben Maddow e John Huston
- Candidatura per la migliore fotografia a Harold Rosson
- Candidatura per il miglior regista a John Huston
- Candidatura per la migliore sceneggiatura a Ben Maddow e John Huston
- Candidatura per il migliore fotografia a Harold Rosson
- Coppa Volpi al miglior attore a Sam Jaffe
- Candidatura al Leone d'oro a John Huston
- Candidatura per il miglior film internazionale
- Miglior regista a John Huston
- Top Ten Films
- Candidatura per il miglior regista cinematografico a John Huston
- Candidatura per il miglior film
- Candidatura per il miglior regista a John Huston
- Candidatura per la migliore sceneggiatura riguardante la scena americana a Ben Maddow e John Huston
- Candidatura per la migliore sceneggiatura drammatica a Ben Maddow e John Huston
- 1951 – Edgar Award
- Miglior film a Ben Maddow
Colonna sonora
La colonna sonora originale, registrata nel febbraio 1950 negli studi della MGM, è stata distribuita il 12 gennaio 2010 con la rivista Film Score Monthly, in un box set di 15 CD intitolato Treasury (1949-1968) in cui sono presenti le seguenti tracce:[4]
Note
- ^ Giungla di asfalto - Full Cast & Crew, su imdb.com, www.imdb.com. URL consultato il 3 maggio 2019.
- ^ Giungla di asfalto - Filming & Production, su imdb.com, www.imdb.com. URL consultato il 3 maggio 2019.
- ^ Giungla di asfalto - Release Info, su imdb.com, www.imdb.com. URL consultato il 3 maggio 2019.
- ^ Miklós Rózsa – Treasury (1949-1968), su discogs.com, www.discogs.com. URL consultato il 3 maggio 2019.
Bibliografia
Altri progetti
Collegamenti esterni
[[Categoria:Film polizieschi [[Categoria:Film noir [[Categoria:Caper movie [[Categoria:Film basati su opere di narrativa [[Categoria:Film diretti da John Huston [[Categoria:Film Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [[Categoria:Film conservati nel National Film Registry