The Asphalt Jungle

"Experience has taught me never to trust a policeman. Just when you think one's all right, he turns legit."

"One way or another, we all work for our vice."

"Everything is here, from the observed routine of the personnel to the alarm system, the types of locks on the doors, the aging condition of the main safe, and so forth and so forth. Take my word for it, Mr. Emmerich, this is a ripe plum ready to fall...Perhaps you know my reputation. I've engineered some very big things."

"They'll be paid off like house painters - they'll be told nothing about the size of the take. Sometimes, men get greedy."

"They'll listen to reason. This is a very bad jolt for them. And it's possible they'll be willing to buy the jewels back, no questions asked, for as high as twenty-five percent of what they're worth."

"Put in hours and hours of planning. Figure everything down to the last detail. Then what? Burglar alarms start going off all over the place for no sensible reason. A gun fires of its own accord and a man is shot. And a broken down old cop, no good for anything but chasing kids, has to trip over us. Blind accident. What can you do against blind accidents? One thing I ought to have figured and didn't was Emmerich. I know why I didn't. I'm not kidding myself. It was the extra dough he promised. I got hungry. Greed made me blind."

"Home is where the money is."

"I haven't carried a gun since my twenties. You carry a gun, you shoot a policeman. Bad rap, hard to beat. You don't carry a gun, you give up when they hold one on you."

"Why don't you quit cryin' and get me some bourbon?"

"Are you a man, or what? Trying to gyp and double-cross with no guts for it. What's inside of you? What's keeping you alive?"

"Let me put it this way. It's not anything strange that there are corrupt officers in police departments. The dirt they're trying to clean up is bound to rub off on some of 'em, but not all of 'em. Maybe one out of a 100. The other 99 are honest men trying to do an honest job. Listen... [One by one, he flipped the switch on police radios behind him that broadcast crime reports] I know you're police reporters and you hear this all day long, but I want you to listen with your conscience, not just your ears. We send police assistance to every one of those calls 'cause they're not just code numbers on a radio beam, they're cries for help. People are being cheated, robbed, murdered, raped. And that goes on 24 hours a day, every day in the year. And that's not exceptional, that's usual. It's the same in every city of the modern world. But suppose we had no police force, good or bad. Suppose we had [he flipped off all four radios] - just silence. Nobody to listen, nobody to answer. The battle's finished. The jungle wins. The predatory beasts take over. Think about it. Well gentlemen, three men are in jail, three men dead, one by his own hand. One man's a fugitive - and we have reason to believe seriously wounded. That's six out of seven, not bad. And we'll get the last one too. In some ways, he's the most dangerous of them all. A hardened killer. A hooligan. A man without human feeling or human mercy."

"Dr. Swanson: He hasn't got enough blood left in him to keep a chicken alive."

"Cobby: Here's to the drink habit. It's the only one I got that don't get me into trouble."

"Cobby: How can things go so wrong? How is it possible? One man killed, two others plugged. I'm out thirty grand. We got a load of rocks we can't even peddle...I must be awful stupid. Here I am with a good business, money rolling in, I-I gotta get mixed up in a thing like this. I ought to have my head examined."

"Commissioner Hardy: [referring to Doc] He loses you five blocks from the depot and one of the most dangerous criminals alive is now at large in this city."

"Gus Minissi: Take my advice and knock off for a while. The happiness boys are on a rampage. Headquarters is givin' 'em a push...Go home, Dix, stay home. Don't get your flag at half-mast. Remember, you still got ol' Gus."

"Emmerich: I could tell them that I'd fence the stuff myself, you see, promise them cash on delivery. Then, when the time comes, I simply wouldn't have the cash, do you understand? I'd tell them it would take a few more days to raise it. I'm certain I could get them to leave the stuff with me while we're waiting...Well, then I'd disappear. I'd take a plane to another country, to another life. The gold and platinum, I could melt up and sell as bullion, you see. And the rocks - sell them one at a time. There'd be no hurry. They'd last a lifetime."

"Louis Ciavelli: I never saw a hooligan I did like. They're like left-handed pitchers, they all have a screw loose somewhere."

"Louis Ciavelli: If you want fresh air, don't look for it in this town."

"Angela Phinlay: Imagine me on this beach here in my green bathing suit. Yipe! I almost bought a white one the other day, but it wasn't quite extreme enough. I mean, don't get me wrong, if I really went in for the extreme extreme, I would have bought a French one. Run for your life, girls, the fleet's in. Oh, Uncle Lon, am I excited? Yipe! referring to the magazine's pictures of a tropical resort Look, Uncle Lon, isn't it romantic? Real palms and ocean and everything."

"Angela Phinlay: Haven't you bothered me enough, you big banana-head? Just try breaking my door and Mr. Emmerich will throw you out of the house!"

"Sterling Hayden - Dix Handley"

"Louis Calhern - Alonzo D. 'Lon' Emmerich"

"Jean Hagen - Doll Conovan"

"James Whitmore - Gus Minissi"

"Sam Jaffe - Erwin 'Doc' Riedenschneider"

"John McIntire - Police Commissioner Hardy"

"Marc Lawrence - 'Cobby' Cobb"

"Barry Kelley - Det. Lt. Ditrich"

"Anthony Caruso - Louis Ciavelli"

"Teresa Celli - Maria Ciavelli"

"Marilyn Monroe - Angela Phinlay"

"Dorothy Tree - May Emmerich"