Thieves' Highway (Arrow)

[Hatfield Peverel]

If anyone was wondering if certain claims in Svet's review (which have been addressed elsewhere in this thread) have had any real-world impact on people buying the release, well, here's a recent example.

[ravenus]

Screen-adapted by AI Bezzerides (Kiss Me Deadly) from his own novel Thieves' Market, this Jules Dassin potboiler is not for me in the same bracket as Rififi or Night & The City, but sufficiently engaging in its own right. A handsome Richard Conte (long before his iconic Barzini in The Godfather) plays a Greek trucker's son who returns home to find dad handicapped and cheated of money by unscrupulous produce wholesaler Lee Cobb. Conte gets into partnership with an old-hand trucker to carry two consignments of apples on a 36-hour non-stop haul into San Francisco to sell at profit. Elements of Wages of Fear come into play as the older man's truck threatens to come apart.

Conte reaches town earlier and is hassled by Cobb into selling his load for cheap, but he decides to wait for his trailing partner. Lured by a lady of the night (Valentina Cortese) to her room, a fatigued Conte falls into bed, later to realize that his haul has been surreptitiously off-loaded by Cobb. An angry Conte bulldozes Cobb into handing him the money, only to have it stolen almost immmediately after. Further events lead to a showdown in which Conte confronts Cobb to seek justice for his crimes.

Thieves' Highway was shot on market locations with locals serving as extras, and authentically re-creates the chaos and hubbub of the wholesale produce market. Without ever getting into dry exposition mode, the film explains the path of produce from farm to market, examining the exploitation that occurs at each stage. While Conte's clashes with Cobb form the bulk of the narrative, I was most fascinated with his interaction with streetwarker Valentina. By tradition the hooker with a heart of gold meets with a bad end (usually taking a bullet meant for the hero), but that convention is turned on its head here. The chemistry between the 2 actors is also racily palpable. Lee Cobb is in decent form, but his bullying bravado is cliche without nuance, and in the final act he comes apart all too easily.

Arrow's blu-ray gives a good visual presentation of this pulp with noir tones and shadowy cinematography. The mono audio track is limited but clear. Extras include a video essay on the film and an hour long documentary on Bezzerides, and the customary booklet.

[bigshot]

I screened this last week with some friends and we were all blown away by it. Reminds me a bit of Wages of Fear.

[eChopper]

Great film , but like Wages of Fear. Great scan and top tier encoding .

[Big Jim McLain]

This has disappeared from Arrows site, has it went OOP?

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Big Jim McLain

This has disappeared from Arrows site, has it went OOP?

Someone in a Fox thread a while back claimed that Arrow confirmed via a Facebook that “Thieves Highway” went OOP. It’s still reasonably priced at Deff:
https://deff.com/thieves-highway-blu-ray-dvd

[Big Jim McLain]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

Someone in a Fox thread a while back claimed that Arrow confirmed via a Facebook that “Thieves Highway” went OOP. It’s still reasonably priced at Deff:
https://deff.com/thieves-highway-blu-ray-dvd

Thanks, don’t want to miss out on this as it’s a Fox title.

I’m surprised this hasn’t had a US release yet, I thought maybe a label like Criterion would’ve released it by now.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Big Jim McLain

I’m surprised this hasn’t had a US release yet, I thought maybe a label like Criterion would’ve released it by now.

Criterion is notorious with upgrading DVD releases (“Thieves Highway”, “Pickup on South Street”) and/or have held onto licenses for years (they’ve supposedly had the license for “War of the Worlds” since 2015).

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by Big Jim McLain

Thanks, don’t want to miss out on this as it’s a Fox title.

I’m surprised this hasn’t had a US release yet, I thought maybe a label like Criterion would’ve released it by now.

The Naked City also returns a 404 PAGE NOT FOUND on Arrow’s website.

[Big Jim McLain]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

The Naked City also returns a 404 PAGE NOT FOUND on Arrow’s website.

Maybe we might eventually get the recent Criterion release, now that’s OOP.

[navydavey]

Originally Posted by Big Jim McLain

Maybe we might eventually get the recent Criterion release, now that’s OOP.

I was thoroughly impressed with The Naked City so might actually be tempted to upgrade if that happened. I'd still keep the Arrow version as the original art work is a thing of beauty as well as having a decent booklet and extras

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by navydavey

I was thoroughly impressed with The Naked City so might actually be tempted to upgrade if that happened. I'd still keep the Arrow version as the original art work is a thing of beauty as well as having a decent booklet and extras

Brute Force doesn’t return anything either. So that’s the fourth Dassin to go OOP this year after Night and the City.

[MillyD]

It still available at hmv at arrow sale price. I picked it up with Alien, and How green was your valley, a day or two ago.