Thieves Highway

4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

CONTE AT HIS BEST

tina brooker from NORFOLK UK, 17th May, 2006

THIS FILM IS EXCELLENT.CONTE STARS FOR ONCE INSTEAD OF PLAYING BEST SUPPORT.ITS GOT IT ALL.HE STRUGGLES WITH BENT APPLE DEALERS/SHAKY LORRIES AND A BUBBLE HAIRED FEMME FATALE.THERES TENSION LUST AND SURPRISES IN THIS FILM.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Dark and moving

JeffreyJohnson from , 27th April, 2009

A true 'noir' from a master of the genre Jules Dassin (Riffifi). Visually noir with its saturated blacks like pools of oil you could fall into and never be seen again, noir in its script which shows the dark underbelly of capitalism and of man's brutal aspect. Richard Conte is driven and desperate, Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront) is heartless and scheming without being stereotyped. The film is not without its flaws, such as elements of the roles the women play in the story , however it is a scary metaphor in its dark and moving pitiless insight into a desperate era.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

We were robbed

barbi from , 6th April, 2007

This film has almost all the elements of a good film noir - as well as educating me about trucking and the Californian fruit industry. There's plenty of action, an air of dark foreboding, a woman of mystery, a hero who has wrongs to rights and a truly evil villian, Mike Figlia, boss of the fruit market, played with relish by Lee J Cobb So where did it go wrong for me? I think it was the casting of the hero - Richard Conte has a distinguished film history, but in this movie he seemed very wooden to me, lacking the spark to make us connect with his character, Nick. He was also, as far as I could see, far too old to be the youthful war veteran he was supposed to be. I checked, he was 39; for any degree of credibility in the character, he should have been, or been able to play, 10 years younger. It doesn't make it a bad film, just spoils it from being a great one.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

I'm the original tough luck kid.

Chester Dent from London, England, 25th August, 2006

Thieves Highway attacks postwar war American capitalism through the cutthroat world of transporting and selling fruit and veg. Almost every character is a crooked chiseller of some degree and the stink of corruption and treachery is choking throughout. Richard Conte (so good as the vicious Mr Brown in The Big Combo) is outstanding as are Lee Cobb as the devious Figlia and Valentina Cortese as prostitute Rica. The film can be rather melodramatic but this drama about betrayal and revenge is exceptional.

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