The 1949 noir directed by Jules Dassin, “Thieves’ Highway” (also known as “Collision” and as “The Thieves’ Market”) was adapted by A. I. Bezzerides—who also wrote the noirish trucker movie “They Drive by Nigh”t (1940) and adapted Mickey Spillane’s “Kiss Me Deadly “(1953) for Robert Aldrich —from his own novel Thieves’ Market. If it had not already been used for the screen version of his novel The Long Haul, “They Drive by Night” would have been a descriptive title for this movie.
The story begins with Nico ‘Nick’ Garcos (Richard Conte) returning home to Fresno, in California’s Central Valley, from World War II service (in the Coast Guard, it is later established). He has brought presents for everyone, including Chinese slippers for his father, long-time long-distance truck-driver Yanko Garcos (Morris Carnovsky) and Nick’s fiancé Polly Faber (Barbara Lawrence) who materializes from the next room. The present for Nick’s father is spectacularly inappropriate, because Yanko was in an accident in San Francisco and lost his legs after being cheated by fruit-market mobster Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb).
Yanko’s truck was purchased by Ed Prentiss (Millard Mitchell), but Ed has not paid for it yet. Nick goes over to reclaim it and is convinced to go in on a deal with Ed to buy Golden Delicious apples and transport them to the San Francisco bay-front fruit market. Ed was supposed to work with Pete and “Slob” (Joseph Pevney and Jack Oakie) but lies to them about the deal having fallen through.
The next day, Ed and Nick go to the orchard to pick up the apples. Ed attempts to underpay the grower, but the noble Nick insists on paying them the full price price. After Ed and Nick have (over)loaded their trucks, Pete and “Slob” show up and buy part of a truckload. Nick and Ed have various mechanical problems driving by night (driving very fast on a two-way road—a speedometer shows a speed of 80+ m.p.h.— on the stand-in for California Route 99, which makes it very odd to me that the 192-mile drive is supposed to take 14 hours… ) Pete and “Slob” follow, offering to take Ed’s load for an increasing share of the proceeds.
I won’t reveal any more about their journeys. Nick arrives on the San Francisco waterfront as the produce market is at its peak. Mike Figlia wants his load and there is much jockeying that I will also not reveal. One gambit in it, however, involves having a loose woman (the Hollywood Production Code did not allow the existence of prostitutes to be shown), Rica (Valentina Cortese, decades before Truffaut’s “d Day for Night”) pick him up (that is, leave his truck unattended).
Most of the movie takes place at night, either on highways or on the San Francisco waterfront. No noir would be complete without a chase into an alley, or at least one late-night bar scene, a femme fatale (or more than one) for the hero to misplace trust in, etc. And some successful corrupt entrepreneurs. None of the ingredients is missing, and there are some very effective action scenes. (And at least one immortal line: “I’d rather go hungry one morning than for the rest of my life.”)
“Thieves’ Highway” was filmed on location in San Francisco’s produce market (bulldozed in 1959 to build the Embarcadero Freeway and the Embarcadero office-towers, which in turn was demolished in the 1990s) and Santa Rosa (standing in for Fresno) by Norbert Brodine (The House on 92nd Street, Kiss of Death, Boomerang.. and I Was a Male War Bride). Figlia’s warehouse has a street sign indicating that it is on the corner of Washington and Davis Streets; the Ferry Building is also the scene of a meeting.
Dassin soon after making “Thieves’ Highway” fled the country (after being named as a former member of the US Communist Party by fellow director Edward Dmytryk). Dassin had recently made the prison melodrama “Brute Force ” and the much-heralded “The Naked City” (with its pioneering New York City location-shooting and very dated voiceover narration), and would make one of the greatest of all noirs in London (“Night and the City,” 1950) and then the legendary heist movie Rififi,” before moving on to Greece and the long-running collaboration with and marriage to Melina Mercouri (appearing onscreen with her as a priggish, narrow-minded American intellectual in “Never on Sunday”).
I especially like the record of long-gone parts of San Francisco, the noir photography and ambiance, and the performances of Valentina Cortese and Jack Oakie. Millard Mitchell and Lee J. Cobb are also very good, though rather typecast. The part of Nick is a bit too idealized for anyone to have played, and it is hard to accept Richard Conte, who played so many mobsters over the years, as the hero.
Although I ‘m not usually bothered by continuity issues, I am bothered by the doubling of the distance between Fresno and San Francisco, and, even more so, by the slashed tired on Nick’s truck (to keep it parked in front of Figlia’s warehouse) fixing themselves, so that he can spin off in a morning pursuit.
The 2004 Criterion DVD produces the rich, clear picture for which Criterion has become celebrated. It includes an excellent commentary track by noir historian Alain Silver (editor of editor of The Film Noir Reader) that calls attention to framing and shooting as well as background on the milieu and collaborators in making the movie. There are further insights entertainingly delivered by Dassin (born 1911) and some recent footage of Bezzerides (born 1908), the latter’s from a documentary about him that is in process. Both are interesting characters, but Dassin also has interesting things to say about the making of the movie (and Darryl Zanuck’s interference, including the ending which Zanuck tacked on and Dassin did not see until the movie was released in the UK). The theatrical trailer gives away too much of the plot (a lot more than my review does!) and should not be watched before the movie.
© 2005, Stephen O. Murray
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