Thieves' Highway

You might think drug smuggling is tough, or those barnstorming moonshine days during prohibition hair-raising. You might think people-smuggling a cut-throat trade, or border crossing a testing manner in which to make good on debts. Well, Jules Dassin and A. I. Bezzerides find something in Thieves' Highway that sounds quite prosaic on paper - buying and selling produce (namely - apples), which in this film can be cutthroat, and indeed deadly. When Nick Garcos (Richard Conte) returns from overseas there's direct evidence of this - his pop Yanko (Morris Carnovsky) has lost both of his legs after crashing his truck during a run where he had somehow been robbed of his money. Yanko, no longer able to drive, sold his truck - and has yet to receive full payment on that deal as well. Nick, his temper rising, goes to confront the new truck owner Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell) - and Ed strikes up a deal with him, giving Nick the scoop on a crop of Golden Delicious apples they can make a killing on.

Throughout the middle portion of the film Nick has to battle so many elements of this profession's varied challenges that he might be wishing he were back fighting the war. He risks his life battling fatigue, constantly drifting to sleep at the wheel of his truck. He nearly dies replacing a blown tire when the truck sinks and crushes him. He frets over the condition of Ed's truck, and whether to follow him, or trust him and lead the way. He's accosted by rival truck drivers, eager to beat him to the punch. When he gets to the San Francisco markets, he has to contend with unscrupulous buyers - and there's one among them, Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb) that screwed over his pop. In fact, Figlia's gang slash his truck's tire to keep it there, then hires sultry lady Rica (Valentina Cortese) to lead him away and distract him so they can steal the apples. I never thought the apple trade could be this dangerous and thuggish. That's not all - Ed's brakes fail - spelling disaster for him, and even though Nick forces a deal, he's soon robbed and beaten by Figlia's goons.

From time to time I have cause to yell at the screen - it's not often, but I do. When Nick has close to $4000 in his pocket what does he do? He tells a crowded diner to shush the hell up when on the phone, and loudly shouts to his lady-love back East that he has that much money on him, then tells her where he'll be and where he's going. Why not wear a large placard saying "ROB ME" in bright lettering? Nick's young and inexperienced - he's either crashing or full of exuberance. He's great with Figlia, sticking up for himself about getting paid - but while he's very forthright, energetic and pleasingly fair to everyone, he's also reckless, erratic and not nearly careful enough. That's the thrill of watching a film like Thieves' Highway though - we bite our lip, and every time Nick seems to make a mistake we want to have a quick word in his ear. It's a very suspenseful film, even without drawing tension out - the stakes are so high, and Nick's future seems to hinge on this hard-fought deal.

It's a dog eat dog world out there - and you never know whether the next stranger you're dealing with is a fair and honest, decent person or a cheat and scoundrel. Capitalism means competition, and competition mean there will be cheats - so when you're at the coalface of capitalism that means a battle on multiple fronts. First there are your rivals - hoping to be faster than you, do a better deal than you, have a better product or be more reliable. Then there are your customers, trying to give you as little money as they have to - and some using every means they have to cheat, swindle and take advantage of every little weakness you have. At least, that's how you have to look at it. Go out thinking everyone is as fair as you, and pretty soon the wolves will have you. Thieves' Highway shows what it often takes - the hard work, risks, dangers and smarts needed. Every type of endeavor has it's shortcuts, cheats, crooked dealing and pitfalls - all needing to be dealt with firmly, and hopefully lawfully.

I kind of got the feeling that Figlia's sneaky method came to him by accident one night. One night a truck genuinely broke down outside his produce warehouse, and the driver went off and got drunk - whereupon a fed up Figlia just up and stole whatever it was on it before having it towed and washing his hands of the whole deal. I think it dawned on him then - why not incapacitate the odd truck, and get a trusty gal to distract the driver for $50? I mean, once the truck is towed he can claim that the goods disappeared after it left his vicinity. Some business people will use every dirty underhanded trick they can to get ahead, and Lee J. Cobb really plays the type well. It was great casting, getting him for that role. I think the performances all-round are pretty good in Thieves' Highway, and the casting spot on. It's a very well-written story and directed film as well - it's almost like a blend of neorealism and film noir, with a very original premise and setting.

One vision I take away from the film, never to be forgotten, is the hill covered in spilled apples (almost like the truck's cargo was it's lifeblood) which leads to Ed's burning old rustbucket. Driven beyond it's limitations to try and save money, much in the way Ed and Nick drive themselves past their limitations, it's groaning and squealing (nice sound work all-round) feels like it's cries of agony. That ancient truck said all that needed to be said about the plight of the little guy threaded into the overall tsunami of money and trade these guys are riding. Like a surfer, they constantly fret wiping out - financially and physically. That constant danger, after the film works so well at getting us on Nick's side, is what drives our apprehensions throughout, and why it had me thrilled much of the time. There is a slightly underdeveloped love triangle there, which just manages to work as well - but most of all this is a tense film noir classic, well written, directed and performed by it's principles. I'll never look at an apple as a pretty much worthless commodity again, but as always, I cheer on the little guy with a truck and a dream.