Thieves' Highway

The hustle and bustle of a vibrant San Francisco produce market is the unusual setting for much of Jules Dassin’s Thieves Highway, which stars Richard Conte as Nick Garcos, a war veteran seeking revenge on the shady wholesalers who robbed and disabled his immigrant father Yanko (Morris Carnovsky), a fruit hauler in Fresno. Having befriended and teamed up with the man to whom Yanko sold his truck, Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell), Nick transports a load of apples to San Francisco where his truck’s tires are slashed while parked in front of the warehouse owned by bigwig Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb). While Nick waits for a repair, Figlia pays prostitute Rica (Valentina Cortese) to distract Nick, exhausted from his 36-hour drive, so he can sell off Nick’s truckload for his own profit. Unlike all of Figlia’s other victims, however, Nick fights back and demands full compensation, which sets off a long night of violent conflict throughout the working class neighborhoods of the Golden City. The performances are exceptional all around, the eternally underrated Conte carrying the film on his well-built shoulders, Nick’s antagonistic introduction to Kinney developing into a believable friendship that unfortunately will end tragically (the final image of Kinney prior to a second explosion is effectively horrible). Almost feline in her mannerisms, Cortese brilliantly alternates between false confidence and vulnerability as she learns Nick has a bride-to-be waiting at home; still, the chemistry between the two actors feels natural (a steamy petting scene with a shirtless Conte was whittled down by the Hays office). Note the presence of Joseph Pevney (as Pete) whose acting career was limited to six noirs, but who would go on to direct more than 30 feature films, including Shakedown (1950) and Female on the Beach (1955), before launching a successful television career.