The Asphalt Jungle

Car 31, Ashton apartment building,

third floor.

Cars 31 and 36, 926 Ford Street.

Cars 31 and 36, 926 Ford Street.

Officers standing there now.

Attention, car 71.

Holdup, Hotel de Paris,

Camden Square south.

Holdup, Hotel de Paris.

Armed suspect, tall man, Caucasian,

wearing a dark suit and soft hat.

This is car 71. Roger.

Gus.

Gus.

What time this punk come in?

- I don't watch the clock.

I own the joint.

- No gun.

I'll search the joint.

You got a warrant?

- Look, why don't you cooperate.

Get a warrant.

- Take him in.

On what?

- We'll book him on vag.

All right. Come on, you.

Come on.

Smith, Karl Anton, age 37.

Arrested 6 p.m. Last night.

Phoned police station stating

he had murdered Mrs. Catherine Smith.

Doldy, William, age 22.

Possession narcotics.

Occupation, clerk.

No previous record.

Attempt suicide last night with necktie.

Handley, William Trevor,

alias Dix Handley, age 36.

Born Kentucky.

Occupation, none.

Arrested 1937, illegal possession firearm.

Sentence, one to five.

Escaped state prison, 1939.

Arrested 1940, released 1941.

That's enough.

Well, do you see the man

who pulled the stickup last night?

I don't know.

- What do you mean, you don't know?

He had a hat on.

Put on your hats.

Well?

He was tall, you say. He had on

a brown suit and a wide-brim hat.

All right. Don't you see him?

Well, come on. Is that him?

No, it isn't him.

Okay.

- That's all.

Lieutenant Ditrich, commissioner

wants to see you in his office right away.

Sit down, lieutenant.

Thank you, sir.

Thirty-nine thefts, 33 burglaries,

...five morals offenses in the past 30 days.

Quite a record,

even for the 4th Precinct.

We know the guy who's been pulling

most of the stickups.

Name's Dix Handley.

He was in the show-up this morning, but

our witness got cold feet and backed down.

What can you do?

- Lock up the witness. Scare him worse.

It's your job, knowing what to do.

The only merchants

safe from harm in your precinct...

...are those who take wagers on the horses.

I wanna know why those

parlors are still operating.

I close them down,

but they open up again.

You don't close them hard enough.

Rip out the phones, smash up the furniture.

People like to bet the horses,

and just because the law says...

I don't want your opinion of the law.

Is that all, sir?

- No, that's not all.

Where's Erwin Riedenschneider?

- I'm waiting to hear on that, sir.

You don't know where he is, do you?

No, but we ought to get

a word from our stoolies.

It was all dumped in your lap.

He left prison yesterday at 12 noon, took

a train for this city, time of arrival, 3:17.

All you had to do was stay with him

for 24 hours.

If he didn't register, lock him up.

What happens?

He loses you five blocks from the depot,

and a dangerous criminal...

...is at large in this city.

Two men on that detail

ought to get medals for dumbness.

They were assigned by you.

You should get one too.

Ditrich, I can do three things about you:

I can reduce you to patrolman,

send you down to Five Corners.

I can bring you up for trial

on charges of incompetence.

Or I can give you one more chance

to make good on your responsibilities.

I think that'll be

the greatest punishment of all.

Thank you, sir.

There's the number you're looking for,

but it's dark.

You want me to wait?

I wouldn't go parading around

this neighborhood with a suitcase.

Some of these young punks might clip you

just to get a clean shirt.

Yeah?

- I want to see Cobby.

Who are you?

- Just say Doc is here...

...and would like to see him.

Wait here.

You'd better be on the legit, pal.

Well, where the devil is he?

I'm a busy man.

What do you want?

I just got out today.

Oh, so that's it.

I'm tired of you guys putting a bite on me.

I'm no bank.

- I got a proposition for you.

All you guys have.

Maybe you didn't get who I was.

- I ain't never seen you before. What is it?

Maybe you've heard of me.

The Professor? Or Herr Doctor, maybe.

You mean, you are Riedenschneider?

Well, why didn't you say so?

Come on in, Doc. Come on in.

Sit down, Doc. Sit down.

Have a drink?

- Nothing to drink.

I got out of the habit behind the walls.

That's all it is, a habit.

Well, here's to the drink habit, the only one

I got that don't get me into trouble.

Well, Doc. What's on your mind?

I got a proposition. A big one.

How big is big?

- Too big for you, Cobby.

Now, wait, Doc. I don't like to brag,

but I'm doing all right.

Making book. I'm in the chips.

What kind of proposition is it?

A plan for a caper.

And it's a good one.

I could sell it for $ 100,000

on the open market...

...but that would be throwing money away.

I prefer to execute it myself and make...

- How much?

Half a million dollars.

Maybe even more.

I will have to do a little checking,

as the plan is some years old...

...but not much checking. Not much.

I need roughly 50,000 to operate.

Fifty thousand?

No, no, no. I don't see.

- Of course.

I thought maybe Mr. Emmerich...

What do you know about Mr. Emmerich?

Only what I heard in the walls...

...that he has money to invest and that

the way to get to him is through you.

Lf my information is not correct...

- Correct, sure. Sure. It's correct.

I just never thought of Mr. Emmerich

in connection with this kind of deal.

Excuse me a minute.

I'll be right back.

Hello, Dix. What do you want?

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