The O-town Scene

Vintage Video by Sam Benedict ‘The Asphalt Jungle,’ 1950, Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen “Like I’m always telling her: ‘If you want fresh air, don’t look for it in this town!’” Louis Cavelli (Anthony Caruso) exclaims. The crack safe exploder is recounting an increas- ingly contentious exchange with the missus, all for the benefit of his colleagues-in-crime. At anecdote’s end, Cavelli’s voice rises to an almost comical shout. That Louis doesn’t launch into the noise pollution of some “Guys ‘n’ Dolls” song- and-dance number is among “The Asphalt Jungle”’s many smart moves _ not to mention one of its precious few mercies. Its landscape comes to feature as many casu- alties as might litter your typically merciless “Spider-Man: The Musical” matinee. Despite the results of Lou’s informal EPA report (not to mention the smoldering arse- nal of cigarettes on parade), John Huston’s “Jungle” remains a mighty breath of fresh, rarefied air in the crowded genre of The Heist Picture. It’s a bottled black-and-white breeze that wafts to us all the way from 1950, a world of hard shadows and soft, spectral light _ Harold Rosson supplies the unforgettable cinematography. The un-incarcerated air is certainly clear enough for Doc Erwin Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe), who is himself fresh from a prison stay (in “Jungle”’s often-elegant code, folks refer to his tenure there as being “behind the walls”). The Rieden-meister loses little re- cidivist time in losing all cop supervision; his primary rehabilitation project entails dusting off a classic, (supposedly) sure-fire caper proposal, and getting it green-lit. Doc prescribes that he and a motley-team- to-named-later surgically extract as many specimens as possible from Belletier’s, a high-end jewelry emporium that surely won’t see the low-down crew coming. The film introduces the towering Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden) to us by way of police line-up. “Occupation: None,” the loudspeaker announces, letting us know that this eligible bachelor with the engraved scowl is a laid-back dude in his late 30s with a cell-block summer home who likes to keep his options open. Sterling Hayden is the perfect fit for Hand- This eligible bachelor is a laid-back dude in his late 30s with a cell-block summer home who likes to keep his options open. ley, the heavy who’s the film’s hardened, human excuse for a “hero.” The asphalt so thickly set into his face only softens when he’s talking to Doll (a terribly affecting Jean Hagen), or talking about Home. Or talking to Doll about Home. One of “Jungle”’s most brilliant highlights is its understated show-stopper of a heist se- quence, silently attempted like some solemn little mass in the broad dead-of-night. The movie knows to keep its yapper shut as its characters (and its drama) go to work. There’s no intrusion upon their intrusion, and the film-makers appear to take their cinematic cue from the criminals, not bring- ing anything they and the low-key occa- WUOW Featured Artist Steve Earle Steve Earle and his son, Justin Townes Earle, are this week’s WUOW featured artists. Each week, SUNY Oneonta-based NPR af- filiate WUOW features a worthy musician in its Friday Night Featured Artist radio program from 8 to 9 p.m. at 104.7 FM in Oneonta and online at wuow.org. For more than three decades, Steve Earle has helped define modern country music. At the dawn of his career, Earle helped bring about the term “new country,” and has been relent- lessly touring and recording ever since. Earle will perform at Brewery Ommegang on Aug. 5 as part of the inaugural Americana Festival. The Felice Brothers, Langhorne Slim and the Horseshoe Lounge Playboys will also perform. PARTIAL PLAYLIST Goodbye Is All We Got | City Of Immigrants Pancho And Lefty | White Freightliner Harlem River Blues sion don’t need: there’s no frenetic editing, no auto-tuned cover of “Welcome To the Jungle” crammed down our ear-drums, no overcompensating audience manipulation that might well mar any modern re-make. As a result, tension gathers organically, and we viewers (as implicated “lookouts”) keep our eyes peeled and ears perked for pins dropping. And our helplessly attuned senses pick up those ripples as the robbers do _ distant sirens and alarms that signal the first faint sign of trouble for even these incredibly discreet trouble-makers. Written by Ben Maddow and John Huston, and based upon W.R. Burnett’s novel, “Jungle” features no shortage of words you’ll want to etch into your memory’s ever-drying cement. It only loses a sliver of its impressive nerve near the end, as its unsettlingly hard-bitten Police Chief (John McIntyre) pontificates to the press about their eternal struggle against what he literally calls the city “jungle” (although he makes no reference to “asphalt”). Grade: A- July 21, 2011 O-Town Scene 19

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