and the one on the loose is a hardened killer "without human feeling." Back at the wheel, the rolling green fields of Bluegrass country pass as Dix deliriously rambles about the sprightly colt he loved as a boy. Arriving at his childhood pasture he stumbles in and collapses. Doll runs for help, while horses gather to nuzzle the expiring man. Cast Sterling Hayden as Dix Handley Louis Calhern as Alonzo D. Emmerich Jean Hagen as "Doll" Conovan James Whitmore as Gus Minissi Sam Jaffe as "Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider John McIntire as Police Commissioner Hardy Marc Lawrence as Cobby Barry Kelley as Lt. Ditrich Anthony Caruso as Louis Ciavelli Teresa Celli as Maria Ciavelli Marilyn Monroe as Angela Phinlay William "Wee Willie" Davis as Timmons Dorothy Tree as May Emmerich Brad Dexter as Bob Brannom John Maxwell as Dr. Swanson Uncredited: Alex Gerry as Maxwell Tom Browne Henry as James X. Connery Don Haggerty as detective Andrews James Seay as detective Janocek Henry Rowland as Franz Schurz, German taxi driver Helene Stanley as Jeannie Strother Martin as man in police lineup Henry Corden as man in police lineup Source: Production The film was an adaptation by director John Huston and screenwriter Ben Maddow of the 1949 novel by crime writer W. R. Burnett. It was backed by the major film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where it was green-lighted by production chief Dore Schary, over the objections of studio head Louis B. Mayer. From the publication of Burnett's first novel, Little Caesar in 1929, Burnett had a strong track record of books that were adapted into films shortly after publication. Huston and Ben Maddow wrote the adaptation, which emphasized the crooks' story and reduced the police procedural aspect. Burnett was consulted as the shooting script was being written, and he approved the final version. The studio allowed the production a relatively free hand. Production on The Asphalt Jungle took place from October 21, 1949, to late December of that year. Location shooting took place in Lexington and Keeneland, Kentucky and in Cincinnati, Ohio. In shooting the film, Huston was influenced by European neorealist films such as Open City (1945) and Bicycle Thieves (1948). He combined the naturalism of that genre with the stylized look of film noir and Hollywood crime films. When the film was complete, Louis B. Mayer said: "It's trash. That Asphalt Pavement thing is full of nasty, ugly people doing nasty