You look like chipped glass
Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Thieves’ Highway (1949).
This Film-Noir is rated 7.6 on iMDB.com[1]. On rottentomatoes.com, it has 100 percent on the Tomatometer, with only seven ratings, and 78 percent on audience approval. Again, I think this movie is a little better than that.
When the film was released, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said, as a part of a larger review:
“But particular thanks for this crisp picture should go to the Messrs. Bezzerides and Dassin for their keen writing, well-machined construction and sharpness of imagery. Once again, Mr. Dassin, who directed “The Naked City,” has gone forth into actual settings for his backgrounds — onto the highways and the city streets, the orchards, and teeming produce markets of California and San Francisco. He has got the look and “feel” of people and places in the produce world. You can almost sense the strain of trucking and smell the crated fruit. More than that, he has got the excitement, and the tension of commerce today “Thieves Highway” is a. first-class melodrama which just misses — yes, just misses — being great.”[2]
and later he said:
“Valentina Cortesa, a smooth new actress from Italy, who plays the professional siren with tremendous fluency and feminine charm. A role that could have been banal is made adult and intriguing by her. Nor should we neglect Millard Mitchell, Jack Oakie, and Joseph Pevney in lesser roles as muscular, hard-bitten truckmen — nor, for that matter, all the cast.”
I couldn’t agree more with this last quote.
We have a lot of returning actors, so let’s get to it.
Actors – Thieves’ Highway (1949)
Returning
Richard Conte, who is always solid, played returning veteran Nick Garcos. He did seem a little long in the tooth for this part. Conte was first covered when he played a stinker in They Came to Cordura (1959).
Lee J. Cobb was great as the heel, Mike Figlia. Cobb’s performance was very believable. Cobb was first covered in another Film-Noir, The Garment Jungle (1957).
Millard Mitchell played small-time trucker, Ed Kinney. It was quite a change to see this amazing actor playing an on the edge street guy as I had only known him as the general for Twelve O’Clock High (1949), where he was first reviewed.
Morris Carnovsky was in a small role as the legless Yanko Garcos. This is another actor that I not seen often and only really know him from the review of Film-Noir Dead Reckoning (1947).
Percy Helton showed for a few seconds as a roadside bartender. It is always fun to hear his distinctive voice. Helton was first covered in the Film-Noir, The Set-Up (1949).
New
Valentina Cortese plays a hooker with a heart of gold, Rica. Cortese was born in Italy in 1923. According to her film list in iMDB.com, her first film was in 1941. That must have been hard to do considering all the lead that flying around at the time.
Cortese worked her way up through the Italian film industry until the late 1940s when she scored big with Les Misérables (1948) and Tempesta su Parigi (1948). Her first international film was the British movie The Glass Mountain (1949). She was then brought to Hollywood and did quite well in the Film-Noirs Thieves’ Highway (1949) and The House on Telegraph Hill (1951). Also, she was in the crime drama The Barefoot Contessa (1954).
Cortese returned to Europe, and from the mid-1950s into the 1970s, and she worked with the best directors such as Truffaut and Fellini. Films during this time included Le Amiche (1955), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), and Day for Night (1973). For the last of these, she was nominated for a best-supporting actress Oscar. She played Queen Ariadne/Violet in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which, if I remember correctly, is the crazy freeform moon scene with Robin Williams. Cortese died in 2019.
Story – Thieves’ Highway (1949)
Nick Garcos (Richard Conte) returns home from the Navy. He has a lot of money he has saved and is very happy. He hears his father Yanko Garcos (Morris Carnovsky) singing as he cooks. His mother Parthena Garcos (Tamara Shayne) is happy for his return. He asks about the whereabouts of his girlfriend, Polly Faber (Barbara Lawrence), and why his dad is not at work.
Polly comes in, and everyone is happy. He gives her a doll with an engagement ring and plans to use his money to go into business with Polly’s dad. When he pulls out a pair of slippers for his dad, there are some strange reactions. Yanko shows that he is in a wheelchair and doesn’t have legs.
Nick wants to know how it happened. Yanko says he left a load of tomatoes with Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb) on consignment. When he returned instead of getting the money, he gets a drinking party. Yanko wakes up with his truck crashed and no money. Figlia says he paid. All of the witnesses worked for Figlia. Since Yanko didn’t need the truck, he sold it to Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell). However, Ed has not paid for the truck.
Nick goes to see Ed so he can repossess his father’s truck. He plans on getting the money out of Figlia. Ed says he will pay in full in two days. Nick demands the keys back. Ed says he has a contract for the first load of Golden Delicious apples. Ed says he has two partners that are paying for the apples just to find the location of the first farm to produce.
Rather than fight Ed, Nick decides to partner with Ed and go after Figlia in San Francisco. As Ed’s two other partners, Pete (Joseph Pevney) and Slob (Jack Oakie), show up, Nick and Ed, make a handshake deal with Nick putting up $1,200 clams. Ed tells Pete and Slob that the deal is off because the farmer already sold.
Nick warns Ed not to try and double-cross him. Ed sends Nick to buy a war surplus truck. They plan on leaving early and will be on the road for 36-hours.
Ed and Nick pick up the apples from a hard-working Polish family. The universal joint on Ed’s truck is making noises. Ed gets $1,200 from Nick and only gives $900 dollars instead of the agreed-upon price of a dollar a box. The farmer freaks and starts ripping crates off the truck. Ed makes Nick pay the full price to the family. Pete and Slob show up and are a little sore about the deal being broken. Nick tells that they are going north, so the others should go south, and no city is flooded with apples.
Nick takes the lead in his truck. Pete realizes that Ed’s truck is having problems. Pete and Slob only get a partial load of apples. Nick drives into the night, always pushing the speed. One of Nick’s tires blows, and he runs off the road into the soft sand. Not quicksand. Nick starts changing the tire, but he doesn’t account for the soft sand when placing his jack. The jack slips and pins him under the truck. The tire pops, forcing his face into the sand. Right in time, Ed arrives and digs him out of the sand and removing him from under the truck. Ed uses the water bag from the front of his radiator to clean up Nick.
The trucks get back on the road with Nick fighting sleep every mile. He finally makes it into San Francisco and to the fruit market ahead of Ed. He has orders to wait for Ed to make a deal. Nick falls asleep in line and has to be shaken awake. A man that works for Figlia notices his name. Nick leaves his truck alone in a loading dock while he goes to check prices. In my limited Italian, I believe one man says Figla is a brutal animal. Midge (Hope Emerson) is wheeling and dealing with Figlia and wants apples. He doesn’t have any.
The man that saw the name tips off Figlia to Nick. Suddenly, Nick’s front tire is flat. Figlia and his men inspect Nick’s apples, and he finally sees the knife cut on the tire. Figlia offers to take the apples on consignment. Figlia offers two bucks a box, but Nick says he has to wait for his partner. Figlia threatens to have the truck towed, and Nick stands up for himself.
One-hundred fourteen miles out, Ed is broken down and putting more wire on his universal. Pete and Slob show up and offer to take his load. Ed sends them away and gets back on the road.
Nick is drinking coffee in a café when a lean hooker, Rica (Valentina Cortese), comes in and starts being extravagant in his direction. Fortunately, Nick is not interested. Rica invites Nick to her room so he can “rest.” Nick is dead on his feet and finally accepts the offer but only to sleep. Nick has a shot with Rica, which seems an odd thing to do for a sleepy guy. She starts rubbing his shoulders, but he shuts her down.
Nick passes out on Rica’s bed. She sees the wound on his neck and heads out, thinking he is going to die. Figlia is complaining to the cops about Nick’s truck being parked in front of his place. Rica shows up, and Figlia shoves her out of sight. She has been paid by Figlia to get Nick off the street, but she complains that he is hurt. He gives her money and says that Nick is her problem. The local cop sees the tire cut and won’t let the truck be towed right away. Figlia orders the men to unload the truck. Figlia starts selling the apples to buyers.
Rica goes back and wakes Nick. Rica treats his neck, and she likes him without his shirt on. They start getting kissy-face, and she tells him that Figlia is stealing his apples. Nick heads to his truck.
Ed is about 52 miles out and is still being followed by Pete and Slob. Midge makes Figlia tell Nick that he sold the apples for $6.50. Nick wants the entire amount and refuses to take half. Figlia figures out that Rica tipped Nick off. He tells Nick that he paid Rica to get him off the street. Figlia says Rica is planning on robbing Nick. Nick tells the story of his father being robbed. Figlia gives Nick some cash and a check for the rest.
Ed is still having trouble with his truck. Pete and Slob stop by to mock him. The offer to take his load for a little more than half.
Nick calls Polly and invites her to San Francisco to get married. Rica comes into the restaurant and hears the call. She makes him say he loves Polly, and all the men mock him. I lova ya so much; If I donta kiss your face soon, I’m gonna die.
Nick follows Rica out onto the street and wants to reward her by buying her a drink. They go to someplace that necessitates walking across the railyard. They know Rica at the bar. She is sad because she thought Nick was going to be her boyfriend. Rica says that Polly only wants money. After the drink, they walk back into the railyard. A couple of goons follow them. They start kissing, and the goons jump on Nick. His wallet falls out, and Rica runs away with it. The goons catch her, taking the wallet.
The beaten Nick slowly makes it to his feet and realizes he has been robbed. He heads to Rica’s place, but she is not there. Sometime later, she comes dragging in. She is very happy to see Nick and says she has been out looking for him. He chocks her and pulls her hair, demanding his money. He faints, and she later tells him the men worked for Figlia.
Ed’s truck is still struggling as he climbs a high hill. Pete and Slob know it is a matter of time until the truck breaks down, and they get his load. He crests the hill and starts down the steep slope. The universal joint on Ed’s truck breaks. He can’t downshift the truck. The brakes are not strong enough to stop the truck. At last, the truck flies off the road, turning side over side, and scattering apples all over. The truck burst into flames, and Ed is killed. Pete and Slob want to get to him, but they can’t.
Polly shows at the passenger pier in the morning. Rica comes to pick her up. Meow.
Figlia gives Pete and Slob $2 a box when they arrive. Slob feels sorry for Ed. Figlia entices Pete to go pick up Ed’s apples. Figlia offers ¢50 for the wrecked apples. Slob wants nothing to do with the crashed apples, and their partnership dissolves. Figlia and two of his men go with Pete to get the wrecked apples.
Rica is gigging Polly all the way to her apartment. She lets Polly know that Nick was robbed. Polly is making big plans for the wedding although Nick doesn’t have any money now. She has also quit her job. Rica is having a fun time in the shower. Polly acts like Rica didn’t tell about the robbery. She then rages on Nick like everything was his fault. She digs that she would go hungry for the rest of her life if she was with Nick. Polly walks out.
Nick starts raging on Rica. She recommends he go to the police rather than to go after the men that beat him and robbed her. When she tells how they kill, Nick realizes they are men who made his father lose his legs. Nick runs to Figlia’s, and Slob tells him what happened to Ed. He also tells that Pete is going after the remaining apples. Rica comes running down, begging Nick not to go. He can’t start the truck, so Slob gets in with him, and they head to the wreck site. Rica calls the police.
In a roadside bar, Pete, Figlia, and his two guys are celebrating. Pete doesn’t look too good. Figlia gives Pete the blood money. Nick and Slob come in, and Figlia laughs at him. Nick makes Figlia tell that he paid him $6.50. Figlia pulls a hatchet. Really. Slob beats it out of his hands. Nick gives Pete a lecture. Nick smashes Figlia’s hand with the handle of the hatchet and asks what about Ed. Nick is about to chop Figlia’s fingers off, but Pete stops him. Figlia runs, but Nick catches him and starts pitching him a beating. The bartender (Percy Helton), comes out and yells about the “drunks” doing damage. Figlia tries to pay his way out, but Nick keeps beating him until he is down.
The cops arrive, pushing a man that can identify Figlia. The cop tells Nick, he can’t take the law into his own hands. They arrest Figlia et al. and leave Nick free.
Back in San Francisco, Rica is drinking beers with a bunch of guys near the dock. Nick comes in and says, “she is with me.” He thanks her and tells her to come with him. They leave the bar laughing and ride away in his truck. Nick says they will be married when they get to his home.
Summary – Thieves’ Highway (1949)
According to iMDB.com[3], this film is in a sub-genre of Film-Noir known as “film gris.” This term meaning “gray film” was coined by Thom Andersen, and it includes films that have a left-wing leaning.[4]
These films are defined as gray if they:
“offer a leftist criticism of society in general, and of capitalism in particular. They typically examine such themes as the psychological damages of class, the false promises of middle class happiness, and the pitfalls of materialism.[5]
Two of the actors in this film were part of the Group Theater (1931-1940). Many people from the Group Theater were later called before the UnAmerican House Unamerican Activities Committee, including Lee J. Cobb and Morris Carnovsky.[6] Cobb named names, and Carnovsky refused to and was blacklisted[7]. So, it is reasonable to assume that this film has strong anti-capitalist leanings.
World-Famous Short Summary – hooker with a heart of gold, not the way to bet
Beware
the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041958/
[2] https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/09/24/86784916.html?pageNumber=8
[3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041958/trivia
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_gris
[5] Un-American” Hollywood: Politics and Film in the Blacklist Era edited by Frank Krutnik, Steve Neale, Brian Neve, Peter Stanfield-Google Books
[6] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041958/trivia
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Carnovsky
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