Thieves' Highway (1949)

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay)
A.I. Bezzerides (novel)

Release Date:

10 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

Rackets Ride The Roads!

Plot:

A war-veteran-turned-truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw. |

Plot Keywords:

Produce | Tire Jack | San Francisco California | Greek American | Jack

Cast

Richard Conte	...	Nick Garcos
Valentina Cortese	...	Rica (as Valentina Cortesa)
Lee J. Cobb	...	Mike Figlia
Barbara Lawrence	...	Polly Faber
Jack Oakie	...	Slob
Millard Mitchell	...	Ed Kinney
Joseph Pevney	...	Pete
Morris Carnovsky	...	Yanko Garcos
Tamara Shayne	...	Parthena Garcos
Kasia Orzazewski	...	Mrs. Polansky, the Apple Farmer's Wife
Norbert Schiller	...	Mr. Polansky, the Apple Farmer
Hope Emerson	...	Midge, a buyer

Also Known As:

Collision (USA) (working title)
Hard Bargain (USA) (working title)
The Thieves' Market (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #13530) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Lee J. Cobb (Mike Figlia) and Morris Carnovsky (Yanko Garcos) were both members of the famous Group Theater (1931-1940) and appeared together in the original Broadway production of Odets' "Golden Boy," Carnovsky played the father of the boxer. When the play was filmed with William Holden in his debut role, Cobb played the father.

Quotes:

Rica: [knowingly, after getting out of the shower, and hearing that Polly has walked out on Nick] Aren't women wonderful?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides (2005)

Soundtrack:

The Pact

Good movie, just saw it.

I had the good fortune of being able to see this movie on the big screen last night thanks to a local movie theater that sometimes plays movies that are either hard to come by or are not played in a theater any longer.

This movie was filmed in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, where I also happen to live. After the movie, there was a small lecture given by a local history professor, and even though his talk was interesting, he didn't really delve into any of the other symbolism which I found to be present in the movie: immigrants being pitted against each other, and exploited not only by each other but by the Capitalist system as well. It's too bad that more older movies aren't shown on a big screen, because I believe that you probably won't receive the full impact of older films on a television.