As another ‘Noirvember’ comes around, a 75th anniversary restoration of John Huston’s seminal heist picture, The Asphalt Jungle, heads up a month-long series exploring Film Noir in the ’50s at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Friday, November 7, at 6:00 pm, as part of a double feature (followed by Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard at 8:30 pm.)
“Sterling Hayden, recently released from prison, comes up with a plan to steal $1 million in jewels. To do so, he pulls together a team of lowlife criminals, who start to turn on one another as soon as things begin to get tough. The Asphalt Jungle was nominated for four Oscars, including best screenplay. ‘I played a vacuous, rich man’s darling attempting to carry herself in a sophisticated manner in keeping with her plush surroundings,’ Marilyn Monroe said of the film. ‘I saw her as walking with a rather self-conscious slither and played it accordingly.'”
– Carissa Mosness, Woman’s World
And Marilyn joins another double bill on Tuesday, November 11, with Clash By Night (1952) showing in a 35mm print at 6:00 pm, followed by Pushover (1954) at 8:30 pm – which gave another ’50s blonde, Kim Novak, her first screen credit.
“Waves crash violently, splitting against rocks, bringing turbulence onto the shore. There is a palpable unease as the credits roll. It is this; a foreshadowing that opens Fritz Lang’s Clash by Night (1952), which stars Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, and Marilyn Monroe … the first film in which Monroe is credited before a film’s title … Clash by Night is an intense film about adultery and betrayal – the kind that gets under your skin. It’s rather surprising given the cast and director that the film doesn’t get more attention other than for being Monroe’s first major role.”
The Marilyn Report 