A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.
- Awards
- 1 win
Valentina Cortese
- Rica
- (as Valentina Cortesa)
Walter Baldwin
- Officer Riley
- (uncredited)
Robert Bice
- Announcer
- (uncredited)
Howland Chamberlain
- Mr. Faber
- (uncredited)
David Clarke
- Mitch
- (uncredited)
Roy Damron
- Motor Policeman
- (uncredited)
Jules Dassin
- Man in Freight Elevator
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to director Jules Dassin, Jack Oakie was completely deaf by the time of this film. "He caused absolutely no delays," Dassin said.
- GoofsAt the end, when Nick is confronting Mike, he hits Mike's hand with the small hatchet. The head of the hatchet can be seen flying off the end of the handle. However, in subsequent scenes, the head is back on the handle. (correction follows) Nick is holding the hatchet by the head and hits Mike with the butt end, at which time, some unidentified object already on the table bounces into the foreground. At this point, the entire hatchet head can still be seen in Nick's hand.
In the same scene, Mike can be seen nursing his injured, bloodied hand. Later, however, as Nick attacks Mike, there is no sign of blood on Mike's hand.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Fast and the Furious (1954)
Featured review
Beautiful, Haunting, Heartfelt Noir
I've seen hundreds of noirs and this small character study is one of the very best. If Dassin's simple but heartfelt story of betrayal and redemption doesn't tug at you hard, you must be made of stone. The acting triumvirate of Conte, Cortez and Cobb has never been better. I get angry just thinking about Cobb's brilliantly callous performance as the deceptive chiseler who destroys lives to make an extra buck. Cortez is subtle sexuality incarnate but she displays real range and sensitivity as the one who first destroys Conte's life then ultimately redeems it. The always reliable Conte is absolutely at his best as the desperately driven truck driver who sets out to right a terrible wrong but soon learns that you can't beat the system. The last shot of the fruit rolling down the hill has to be one of the most evocative and heartbreaking in all of noir.
Tiny budgeted movies sometimes suffer in translating reality, but much of HIGHWAY appears to have been shot on location, particularly in the produce warehouses, shoddy back alleys and winding country roads, which adds a ton of authenticity. The story takes about 15 minutes to get going, but from there it delivers amazing power and emotion. For decades it was one of those buried low budget classics almost impossible to find, but thankfully a couple years ago it finally got the DVD release it deserved. Trust me on this one, noir fans... Thieves' Highway is a haunting trip down a rocky road you want to take.
Tiny budgeted movies sometimes suffer in translating reality, but much of HIGHWAY appears to have been shot on location, particularly in the produce warehouses, shoddy back alleys and winding country roads, which adds a ton of authenticity. The story takes about 15 minutes to get going, but from there it delivers amazing power and emotion. For decades it was one of those buried low budget classics almost impossible to find, but thankfully a couple years ago it finally got the DVD release it deserved. Trust me on this one, noir fans... Thieves' Highway is a haunting trip down a rocky road you want to take.
helpful•5810
- secragt
- Apr 14, 2003
- How long is Thieves' Highway?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Richard Conte and Valentina Cortese in Thieves' Highway (1949)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjhhNTFhNTQtYTYzMS00YzU4LTkwMWUtZjJjNzYzNGQ5OGY3L2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc1NTYyMjg@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)