The Lawbreakers
| The Lawbreakers | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joseph M. Newman |
| Produced by | Jaime del Valle |
| Screenplay by |
Paul Monash W. R. Burnett |
| Based on | The Lady and the Lawyer episode of the television series The Asphalt Jungle |
| Starring |
Jack Warden Vera Miles Robert Douglas Arch Johnson |
| Music by | Johnny Mandel |
| Edited by | Ben Lewis Herbert W. Wrench |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Lawbreakers is a 1961 film directed by Joseph M. Newman. Made in a film noir style, the crime drama is based on the pilot episode of the 1961 television series The Asphalt Jungle and stars an ensemble cast including Jack Warden, Vera Miles, Robert Douglas, and Arch Johnson.
The film tells the story of a scheme to double-cross the syndicate and steal its money, and of a police commissioner's efforts to investigate homicides that take place as the scheme unfolds while also fighting corruption in the city government and police department.
Allen Bardeman (Robert Douglas) is a prominent, married lawyer who collects money from the numbers racket for the syndicate. His legal secretary, Angela Walsh (Vera Miles), is also his mistress, and he provides her with a house of her own, where Sam Henry (Robert Bailey) – a corrupt New York City administrator who acts as a "bag man" for the syndicate – makes a weekly visit to pick up money from Bardeman. Bardeman's lavish lifestyle and tax problems have placed him deeply in debt. Angela urges him to solve his money problems by staging a robbery of the syndicate's money, using a man he knows will play the role of armed robber for him. She then visits Ed Rackin (Ken Lynch), a nightclub owner who looks out for the syndicate's local interests and who Henry also visits to collect syndicate numbers proceeds. Their conversation reveals that Bardeman is unaware that they know one another, and that Angela and Rackin are scheming to take Bardeman's money after the staged robbery and run off together.
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