Why is The Asphalt Jungle the mack daddy of all caper films? It’s co-written and directed by John Huston, who made the criminally good classics Key Largo and The Maltese Falcon. It’s based on a book by W.R. Burnett, who established his street cred with Little Caesar and High Sierra. It’s packed with underrated actors delivering peak performances: Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, and a newbie named Marilyn Monroe, swiping every scene as a shady lawyer’s

In the 1940s and ‘50s, Hollywood had an unofficial “caste” system of casting, with the plum parts going to a select few, like Bogie, John...

Growing up in a small town, local culture consisted of a drive-in theater (which featured more naughty action in the back seat of any...

...and by “some,” I mean “me.” I know, I know. I should be crazy about any film that tops most critics’ lists of classic comedies. Trust...