Truly Dreadful Film

The Worst Film Ever

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Best movie ever!

Richard Conte (Nick) returns home after serving with the military and he brings gifts from all over the world for his mother, father and girlfriend. They don't go down well, though. His father Morris Carnovsky (Yanko) has lost both his legs in a trucking accident and has no need for a pair of Chinese slippers. Conte sets out for revenge for those responsible for his father's condition. It involves teaming up with trucker Millard Mitchell (Ed) and selling apples to market trader and bully boy Lee J Cobb (Mike).I was a bit wary of this film when it started. A film about trucks. Not my thing. However, this is more than just a film about trucks. But it is unbelievable in parts and the main examples of this come with Conte's encounters with gangster Lee J. I'm afraid Conte would have been disposed of pretty sharpish and there is no way he would have got away with such an antagonistic manner towards the king of the thugs. Even in the final climax, Lee J is seen as a cowering wreck when face-to-face with Conte. It doesn't make sense.My favourite in the cast are street girl Valentina Cortesa (Rica) and fellow trucker Jack Oakie (Slob). They both deliver funny lines and give the most notable performances. They win the acting honours for me. I usually find Oakie an irritant and groan if I see him on any cast list. However, he has won me around with this performance. His character has a conscience - sort of!

THIEVES' HIGHWAY is one of the earliest road movies and, no two ways about it, one of the best. Jules Dassin surprises again with his own unique way of approaching a scene (the opening scene between Conte and his father, for example, or the scene where Conte lies pinned beneath his rig). Like WAGES OF FEAR, THIEVES' HIGHWAY never veers too far off course and we're along for the ride, riding shotgun- the best place to be in a road movie. Lee J. Cobb is on hand, warming up for his role in ON THE WATERFRONT, and my favorite scene in THIEVES' HIGHWAY is the barroom brawl, wherein Conte hammers Cobb senseless beneath a framed picture of Heavyweight Champion Bob Fitzsimmons. (Having earned a very meager living as a cab driver, I can relate to Conte's character's plight: when I collapsed in a service station parking lot one night- from a medical condition I didn't know I had, called "occult blood"- I had a guy try to pick my pocket quite literally while I was flat on my face. I stopped him by grabbing his wrist. He released my roll of bills- mostly ones- and kicked me in the head. There's ALWAYS somebody waiting to take advantage of a man when he's down...) (Prior to that, I'd written a three-day novel titled HACKS about cab-driving that could've served as the basis for a low budget independent feature itself.)

A returning war vet becomes a truck driver to avenge the maiming of his father.This is an outstanding movie. Written by the same person who wrote "They Drive By Night" (1941),A.I. Bezzerides. This tells the story of the cutthroat business of trucking, which still persist today. I definitely reacted when Richard Conte left his exposed truck load for a couple hours with a strange woman. Im screaming,"Some ones gonna take your cargo and strip your truck." But as we learn that was part of the plan. This was well written,acted, and directed.Millard Mitchell dives the Mack big truck.Richard Conte drives the Studebaker big truck.Joseph Peveny and Jack Oakie drive a separate Syudebaker big truck.Millard Mitchell,Richard Conte,Joseph Pevny, and Jack Oakie were permanent A list actors.Valentina Cortese,Barbara Lawrence, and Tamara Shayne were hot!!Joseph Pevenys' performance was outstanding!!!erldwgstruckermovies.com

I came awfully close to giving this film a 10 but I only reserve this for a very select number of films--and, at least in my semi-humble opinion, too many 10s are given out. A 10 implies a truly great film--the best among the very best. While "Thieve's Highway" is a great film, it didn't quite make it to this level...but it came darn close! Why, then, isn't it better known? It is terrific. Perhaps some of this might be that there are an awful lot of dumb people who just won't watch older black & white films. And, perhaps some of this is because the director, Jules Dassin, was blacklisted in the 1950s and lost favor among American audiences (though his reputation soared once he went o Europe to make films). Whatever the reasons, this film should be seen by more people--particularly young film makers, as they can learn a lot about how to make an exceptional and realistic film with a relatively low budget."Thieve's Highway" is, in many ways, like a Film Noir movie without cops or detectives. It's also a lot like the later film "The Wages of Fear"--another exceptional film. The camera angles and style are pure noir and the presence of an evil gangster-like "businessman" (Lee J. Cobb) really reminded me of this films style. I have always liked Cobb in films and he made a great heavy. Here, he is totally despicable as a produce wholesaler who isn't above stealing, beating up truckers or other underhanded behaviors to make a buck. His counterpart is Richard Conte--a highly underrated actor who had a knack for playing John Garfield-like guys--but with a touch more realism. To make things better, there are some wonderful supporting actors who make the film--such as Jack Oakie, Millard Mitchell (another underrated actor whose face you probably will recognize) and Valentina Cortese (rather unknown but very effective here). Also buried within the cast is Joseph Pevney--a guy whose real success came in directing such notable TV shows as "Star Trek" (such as "The Trouble With Tribbles") and a zillion other shows.The film begins with Nick (Conte) returning home to visit him immigrant parents. However, he's shocked to find that his father has lost his legs--and it's due to the scum-bag Mike Figlia (Cobb) whose thugs caused an accident that crippled him. To boot, Figlia then refused to pay him for the shipment--claiming he'd already paid him. Because of this, Nick is determined both to keep the family's trucking business going AND give Figlia his comeuppance. There is much, much more to the story than this, but I'll leave the rest of it for you to see for yourself.Suffice to say, the writing, acting and direction were first-rate and it's among the best of the late 1940s--and a definite must-see. Exciting, realistic and intelligently made from start to finish. See this movie!!