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Thieves' Highway (1949)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
10 October 1949 (USA) moreTagline:
Rackets Ride The Roads! morePlot:
A war-veteran-turned-truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw. | add synopsisUser Comments:
A huge David Lynch influence moreCast
(Complete credited 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 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Collision (USA) (working title)Hard Bargain (USA) (working title)
The Thieves' Market (USA) (original script title)
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Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
94 minCountry:
USAColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Filming Locations:
San Francisco, California, USAFun Stuff
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. moreQuotes:
Charles, dock henchman: Is the vehicle parked in front of our joint?Dave, dock henchman: Yeah.
Charles, dock henchman: Has it been parked there a long time?
Dave, dock henchman: Yeah.
Charles, dock henchman: Is it obstructing our place of business?
Dave, dock henchman: Yeah!
Charles, dock henchman: Well?
Dave, dock henchman: We unload!
Mike Figlia: Come on, we'll sell the stuff on consignment, I'll give the kid a fair shake. If that's against the law, I guess I'm a crook.
Charles, dock henchman: [simultaneously with Dave] Yeah!
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Soundtrack:
The Pact moreFAQ
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This film was a huge influence on David Lynch when he was studying film at AFI and you'll find references to it in every film he's made since then -- The grinding gears in Eraserhead, the downtown soundscapes of that film, Dune & The Elephant Man, orchard visuals in The Straight Story, and most directly Isabella Rossellini reprising Valentina Cortese in Blue Velvet.
I'd go so far as to say Blue Velvet is a scene-for-scene crib of Thieves Highway in theme and all its major details, with Dennis Hopper as Lee J. Cobb. Conte's legless father is mirrored in Jeffrey's stroke-ridden father. Both come back from independent lives of young adulthood to help their struggling families in a stultifying world of greed. Both have the corn-fed woman they love and the Italian demoiselle they sleep with. Both find their lives endangered by a corrupt crime boss. There, is that ten lines?