Thieves' Highway [Criterion Collection]

Director: Jules Dassin Jules Dassin

Overview

Thieves' Highway is set in San Francisco and the surrounding countryside. Richard Conte plays Nick Garcos, an American GI who returns from WWII to find that his father Yanko (Morris Carnovsky), a produce trucker, has lost the use of both legs because of a fight with crooked truck driver Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb). Nick is a clean-cut guy who was set on marrying his sweetheart Polly Faber (Barbara Lawrence). Instead, Nick gets embroiled in his father's feud with Mike, buying a truck and falling deeper into racketeering. He delivers a truckload of apples to Mike as part of a scheme to expose his cheating. A prostitute, Rica (Valentina Cortesa), tells Nick that Mike has his own plot to trap him. Nick and Rica help Mike's henchmen learn that Mike has also been cheating them, and Nick eventually gets his revenge. But Nick has permanently lost Polly because of his involvement with the gangsters and his change in personality from a good guy to a more sinister businessman. Director Jules Dassin was blacklisted from Hollywood for supposed communist sympathies after making this 1949 picture, but he went on to have success with more caper movies while in exile in France.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/01/2005
UPC:	0715515015325
Original Release:	1949
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	19,484

Special Features

New, restored high-definition Digital transfer; Audio commentary by Alain Silver, editor of Film Noir Reader and author of Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles; New video interview with Jules Dassin; Trailer for The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides (2..4), a new documentary on Bezzerides, author of the screenplay for Thieves' Highway and the novel on which it was based; Original theatrical trailer; English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired; Plus: a new essay by film critic Michael Sragow

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Richard Conte	Nick Garcos
Lee J. Cobb	Figlia
Barbara Lawrence	Polly
Millard Mitchell	Ed
Jack Oakie	Slob
Joseph Pevney	Pete
Morris Carnovsky	Yanko Garcos
Tamara Shayne	Parthena Garcos
Kasia Orzazewski	Mrs. Polansky
Norbert Schiller	Polansky
Hope Emerson	Midgren
George Tyne	Charles
Edwin Max	Dave
David Clarke	Mitch
Walter Baldwin	Riley,Riley
David Opatoshu	Frenchy
Ann Morrison	Mable
Percy Helton	Proprietor
Maurice Samuels	Mario
Saul Martell	Stukas
Howland Chamberlin	Mr. Faber
Irene Tedrow	Mrs. Faber
Al Eben	Newman
Joe Haworth	Inspector
Dick Wessel	Cab Driver
Frank Kreig	Clerk
Mario Siletti	Pietro
Robert Bice	Announcer
Frank Richards	Pig
Roy Damron	Motor Policeman
Ted Jordan	State Highway Policeman
John Merton	State Highway Policeman
Valentina Cortese	Rica
Howland Chamberlain	Mr. Faber
Robert Foulk	Policeman
Alfred Newman	Composer

Technical Credits

A.I. Bezzerides

Jules Dassin	Director
Robert Bassler	Producer
Fred Sersen	Special Effects
A.I. Bezzerides	Screenwriter
Harry M. Leonard	Sound/Sound Designer
Alfred Bruzlin	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Logos/Opening Credits [1:21]
2. Mandarin Slippers [7:53]
3. Ed Kinney [4:30]
4. The Orchard [6:41]
5. Roadside Assistance [7:20]
6. Sleepy Time [2:43]
7. "Where Can I Find Mike Figlia?" [6:56]
8. Black Coffee and Cigarettes [2:50]
9. The Hotel Colchester [5:24]
10. "Fig's Got Apples!" [2:56]
11. Soft Hands, sharp Nails [4:37]
12. Business in the Office [6:52]
13. Phone Call to Fresno [2:55]
14. Apple Cider [1:34]
15. Wrong Side of the Tracks [5:55]
16. "That Guy's Got No Brakes!" [3:48]
17. Arrivals [3:35]
18. "Aren't Women Wonderful?" [4:57]
19. Four Bites a Box [3:20]
20. "Suddenly, I Like the Party" [5:56]
21. "What About My Future?" [1:53]
22. Color Bars [:00]
1. The Film's Participants [1:21]
2. Proletarian Myths [7:53]
3. Mitchell and Conte [4:30]
4. A.I. Bezzerides [6:41]
5. Noir Visual Style [7:20]
6. Montage [2:43]
7. Lee J. Cobb [6:56]
8. A Proletarian Femme Fatale [2:50]
9. "Chipped Glass" [5:24]
10. Comic Relief [2:56]
11. Rica Versus Polly [4:37]
12. Mathematical Order [6:52]
13. Polly's Parents [2:55]
14. "She Likes Money Too" [1:34]
15. Silhouettes [5:55]
16. Misdirection [3:48]
17. Polly in the Novel [3:35]
18. Veterans [4:57]
19. Twisted Freudianism [3:20]
20. Nick's Violence [5:56]
21. Selznick and Breen [1:53]
22. Color Bars [:00]

Menu

Side #1 --
   Play the Movie
   Dassin Interview
   Chapters
   The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides
      Play
   Commentary
      On
      Off
      Index
   Theatrical Trailer