Jules Dassin (director)
Arrow Films (studio)
Cert 12 (certificate)
94min (length)
19 October 2015 (released)
26 October 2015
It is clear from very early on that this minor opus adapted by A.I. Bezzerides, from his own novel ‘Thieve’s Market’, is based on subject matter that he clearly knew a great deal about.
Quite why a major Hollywood studio could initially be interested in such seemingly straightforward material (in the context of Film Noir that is) seems a little odd. However, the novel had sold reasonably well and Bezzerides earlier piece 'They Drive By Night' (starring Bogart and exploring similar territory) had done well at the box office.
Nico Garcos (Richard Conte), known to his friends simply as Nick, returns home to his parents who appear to be Greek immigrants (something the author could identify with). To his his horror he discovers that his dad Yanko, a long distance lorry driver, has lost his legs in a terrible road accident. Nick decides to step into his father's shoes, knowing that he'll never wear them again. Having something like a second sense he knows something stinks about this situation. And with Lee J. Cobb in the film you don't need a quarter of a brain to work out where that unpleasant odor is coming from. Nick soon pals up with Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell), a hard-nosed truck driver who has purchased his father's old jalopy of a truck. Ed can lay his hands on a huge consignment of Golden Delicious Apples that can be acquired at a very reasonable price and sold on at a huge profit. He just needs another guy with a truck to be his partner. There are a couple of other chancers interested who have a half decent truck but Ed doesn't trust them. Mind you, he's pretty shifty himself! The guy they intend selling these apples to just happens to be the rotten to the core Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb) who runs the wholesale/retail business at the major fruit and veg market and is, of course, indirectly responsible for the loss of Nick's father's legs. One of the problems (there are many) is the distance involved in transit-400 miles and staying awake at the wheel. Nick's partner, who has the two chancers (one of whom is comedic actor Jack Oakie in the role of Slob) virtually up his backside all the way crashes to his death when the brakes on his ancient truck fail. This leaves Nick to deal with the loathsome Figlia and shady cronies on his own. Naturally Figlia wants to buy these 'marvelous' apples but at a bargain price and he'll stoop to any level (it appears from this film that Golden Delicious apples were about as exotic as Beluga Caviar). This includes getting local but big-hearted prostitute Rica (Valentina Cortese) to pick Nick up in a trucker’s bar.
He's dog-tired and needs to kip for the night as someone has slashed his tyres. Nick is wise in many ways and ingenuous in others (this is a regular trait in Bezzerides’ writing) yet it takes him a while to 'wise up'. For example, he’s still not wise enough to keep his mouth shut after he’s managed to extricate a generous sum from Figlia, who has no real intentions to let him get away with it. Sure enough Nick gets beaten up while romancing Rica at a desolate railway station. This scenario makes things even more complex… The situation only succeeds in Nick getting his mind into full-throttle at long last!
And then you know who finally gets what's coming to him and Nick finds true romance but not with his snotty girlfriend Polly (Barbara Lawrence).
Tightly directed by Dassin, this film is unusually offbeat! As always with Bezzerides, we have characters who are all too real and they are characters that we CAN equate with. We get a good cast here as well: Conte (who later became a slick role model for many) is fine in a role that was originally allotted to another actor. As for Valentina Cortese, although she is believable in her part, wasn’t the first choice either (Bezzerides wanted Shelley Winters) and only got it as she was director Dassin’s girlfriend at the time. Of course, we are just waiting for 'big daddy' to make his appearance. You know exactly what to expect when Lee J. Cobb turns up and he doesn’t let us down.
Thieve’s Highway is somewhat of a curiosity and rest assured you'll never think about Golden Delicious the same way again!
There are SPECIAL FEATURES galore in this Blu-ray/DVD release, including an extended interview-doc with Bezzerides himself – as old as Methusela but still as quirky as they come and still pretty much on the ball!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• New 4K digital restoration by Twentieth Century Fox
* High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
* Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM Audio
* Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
* The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides, a 55-minute documentary portrait of Thieves’ Highway author and screenwriter, featuring contributions from Bezzerides, director Jules Dassin and writers George P. Pelecanos (The Wire), Mickey Spillane (Kiss Me Deadly) and Barry Gifford (Lost Highway)
* The Fruits of Labour, a new video essay about the genesis, production, reception and politics of Thieves’ Highway by Frank Krutnik, author of In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity
* Selected scene and character commentaries by Frank Krutnik
* Theatrical trailer
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
* Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Alastair Phillips (co-author of 100 Film Noirs), illustrated with original production stills