Thieves' Highway

Thieves' Highway

By

  • Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
  • Release Date: 1949-09-20
  • Runtime: 94 minutes
  • : 7.262
  • Production Company: 20th Century Fox
  • Production Country: United States of America
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7.262/10
7.262
From 103 Ratings

Description

Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his father was recently beaten and burglarized by mob-connected trucker Mike Figlia, and Nick resolves to get even. He partners with prostitute Rica, and together they go after Mike, all the while getting pulled further into the local crime underworld.

Trailer

Reviews

  • CinemaSerf

    7
    By CinemaSerf
    I think this might be the best effort I've seen from Richard Conte as his "Nick" character comes back from the war eager to pick up his life again with his father and girlfriend "Polly" (Barbara Lawrence). The problem is that in his absence, his dad has had an accident that's robbed him of the use of his legs and given he was a truck driver, his livelihood too. "Yanko" (Morris Carnovsky) explains that he was cheated by local nasty "Figlia" (Lee J. Cobb) and so his boy sees red and sets about seeking his revenge. He goes into business with another down-at-heel driver "Ed" (Millard Mitchell) delivering apples but that just attracts the attention of his nemesis and his thugs who set out to sabotage their operation. He's not a brute, is old "Figlia" - he tries a more subtle approach by using local hooker "Rica" (Valentina Cortese) to try to lure "Nick", but well let's just say nothing quite goes to plan as we build to a denouement that's obvious, but still fairly valid. What helps a lot here is the quality of the script. It's respectful of his wartime experiences and family loyalties without going overboard with angry rhetoric, indeed there's quite a measured yet still gritty performance here from both Conte and the young Cortese who also manages to imbue here character with an engaging degree of conflict and meanness. Cobb is just Cobb, never changing whatever the role - but he acquits himself fine here as does Lawrence and as the story advances we see a sort of general pattern emerge for so many demob-happy soldiers who returned from one theatre of war to one altogether more intricate.

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