Brilliant noir. Every character is flawed, there is no real hero, and nobody ends up getting what they wanted.

Nice noir film, featuring one of Marilyn Monroe's early roles in a small part. A heist picture, which are often not my favorite types, but a very well made one. I can see shades of Mieville's later works in this

Classic crime thriller. Gets by almost entirely on the strength of its dialogue, which is something you never see anymore

# 315

Huston's theses of collective effort and nihilist failure were never more starkly dramatized than in this genre-creating caper film. Uniformly well acted by a nonpareil gallery of small-bracket losers; Lawrence was never better.

Great characterizations - Casting is a bullseye. No phony romance. Monroe plays some great airhead jailbait contrasting with Jean Hagen's desperate need for Hayden's affections.Jaffe is superb as the mastermind and Whitmore does a good job as the go between. Film has a great look with stark B&W segways.

The uber caper film!

i was bored

Not bad, but it's certainly not the best Huston by any means. It's a tad slow, but the ensemble is pretty great.

Prototypical caper film, rather hurried into the heist itself, and plodding through the calamitous aftermath. Huston's direction is mildly overemphatic and strongly oversentimentalized. But the bare bones (Burnett novel) are solid enough.

#288

Great movie about a bank job doomed from the start. Most caper films are about process; this one is about failure, and the character flaws that invite it. A fine ensemble cast.

This is not as much a "cool" noir as it is an earnest one. Huston treats his "bad guys" with dignity, implicitly revealing the tenderness behind their hard-boiled persona and, maybe, even suggesting that they are, at least some of them, "victims" of social and economic structures rather than "evil" creatures lurking in the dark... It's directed with astonishing composure and heart.

Great heist film, though without the great romance or unique twist that makes other classic noirs I've seen essential viewing.

Classic.

Huston's angular, foreshortened direction finds the characters, all memorable, in a cramped, suffocating maze, turning corner after corner only to find an endless string of dead-ends. Seminal, I'd think. The only detraction: Hayden is kind of goofy, though only when he opens his mouth.

306

From a neutral perspective this is a fairly good noirish-heist flick, with a common plot... but some good themes and moral decisions to add color and interest. The characterization was the biggest highlight, and there was a lot of depth for those who desire this. Lacked either flair or something else to distinguish it from the pack, though.

Just a really solid heist movie. No frills and rather straightforward, but that doesn't mean it's boring. Quite the opposite. Killer cast and pretty atmospheric.

This is the first John Huston picture where I've been impressed with his direction. It really captured the urban underground, "asphalt jungle" feel. Striking compositions and lighting. The story is a gripping heist tale, an obvious inspiration for Dassin and Melville and others. The way the plan builds and gradually unravels has a natural, inevitable feel to it. Quite a satisfying film.

This movie works because of its fantastic atmosphere. It's noir in a nutshell.

One of the great heist movies. A sumptuous feast for the eyes.