Thieves’ Highway
Directed by Jules Dassin
Written by A.I. Bezzerides from his novel
1949/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Nico ‘Nick’ Garcos: Do you know what it takes to get an apple so you can sink your beautiful teeth in it? You gotta stuff rags up tailpipes, farmers gotta get gypped, you jack up trucks with the back of your neck, universals conk out…[/box]
Before the Blacklist bit down too hard, there were many of these exposés of cutthroat capitalism. This one takes the analogy out of the boxing ring and into the unexpected territory of bringing fruit and vegetables to the table in California.
Nick Garcos (Richard Conte) comes home from the war flush with the money that will allow him to start in business with the father of long-time girlfriend Polly. He is appalled to discover, however, that his trucker father has lost his legs in a trucking accident. This happened after a drunken night with notorious produce distributor Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb) and his boys. Nick’s father is sure that Figlia didn’t pay him for some tomatoes Figlia sold on consignment. After his accident, the father sold his truck to Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell) who likewise has not managed to pay.
Filled with righteous indignation, Nick heads off to repossess the truck and drive to San Francisco for a confrontation with Figlia. Instead, Ed convinces him to invest his nest egg in the first Golden Delicious apples of the season and join him in hauling the fruit to San Francisco. Nick survives a near-death experience with a flat tire on the journey and makes it there in one piece. Ed takes much longer with his rig, which is on its last legs.
On arrival, Nick seeks out Figlia who is desperate for the apples. Figlia uses every trick in the book to basically steal the fruit out from under him. One of these is the lures of the streetwise Rica (Valentina Cortese). Despite her callousness, though, Rica eventually becomes Nick’s one ally. With Jack Oakie and Joe Pevney as truckers who tail the convoy like vultures looking to cash in if the truck breaks down.
Filmed on location, this has a gritty documentary feel and some excellent acting. Every single person in it, even Nick, is looking to make a quick buck, not caring who gets hurt in the process. I wondered how Figlia could have stayed in business for more than a week using his tactics. This time around I was also bothered by the obviously tacked-on Hayes Code speech by a policeman on taking the law into one’s own hands and the rushed resolution of the Conte-Cortese romance. Even as I cut pictures a lot of slack for the time, I like my happy endings to be prepared for.
Trailer
