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| Richard
Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Valentina Cortese, Barbara Lawrence,
Millard Mitchell, Jack Oakie |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Mike Figlia
(Lee J. Cobb): Let's
say you just rolled into town with a truckload of apples, you know.
Now what do you think would have been a fair price?
Nico 'Nick' Garcos (Richard Conte): Six and a half bucks a box.
Mike Figlia: Now six and a half is what I got. I'm talking about
your end.
Nico 'Nick' Garcos: Your end of nothing is nothing.
War veteran Nico takes it on the
road hauling fruit to avenge the death of his brother at the hands
of vicious and amoral produce shylock Mike Figlia. En route he
is "befriended" by beautiful and exotic Rica, who turns
out to be in league with Figlia and initially betrays Nico.
 American
film noir director Jules Dassin's penultimate Hollywood
picture before his lifelong exile following his blacklisted
status in 1950 remains one of his most remarkable achievements,
striking a rare note of social conviction together with emotional
authenticity. Almost impossible to read as anything other than
an indictment of the injustices of capitalism, Thieves' Highway manages
to create a believable, complex world on-screen that allows room
for various shades of grey across the moral spectrum. As in more
standard noirs, most characters are flawed in one way
or another, but few films make the underdog's struggle to make
good in a world run by ruthless racketeers like Figlia, played
with relish by Lee J. Cobb in one of his finest performances.
The only elements that ring false in this masterful exercise are
those that were imposed on the director by studio head Darryl F.
Zanuck: the one-dimensional girlfriend, whose betrayal is as predictable
as it is unbelievable, and the tacked-on ending, which seems to
bear little relation to the intricate, exciting and highly intelligent
tale that preceded it. |
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Available as a Region 1 release
from the Criterion Collection.
The fullscreen
image is framed at its original aspect ratio of approx. 1.33:1.
The transfer, obviously well preserved in the Fox vaults,
has been further cleaned up to near-immaculate levels, offering
gorgeous shades of grey with terrific contrast and hardly
any damage or detritus of any kind.
The monaural sound mix is also very impressive, uncluttered
by hiss, damage or distortion, offering clear, intelligible
dialogues and a detailed soundscape.
 The
most informative supplement on this solid disc is an audio
commentary track by author and film noir expert Alain Silver,
who offers a well prepared and hugely captivating analysis
of the film. Also on board is a 10-minute interview with
the elderly Dassin, who reminisces fondly about the picture
and points out what elements he was forced to change by the
studio. Author A.I. 'Buzz' Bezzerides is the focus of a feature-length
documentary called 'The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides', which
is apparently a work in progress, five minutes of which are
presented here. The trailer rounds out these rewarding extras.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
May 26, 2005
Click
here for IMDB info on Thieves'
Highway .
Click here
to return to the front page.
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