Thieves' Highway Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Thieves' Highway Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 13, 2016

Jules Dassin's "Thieves' Highway" (1949) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video essay and selected scene commentary by author Frank Krutnik; stills gallery; and the documentary feature "The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides". The release also arrives with an 18-page illustrated booklet featuring Alastair Phillips' essay "Motion Means Money" and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The partners

Shortly after Nick Garcos (Richard Conte, Assault on a Queen, Ocean's 11) returns home from war he discovers that his father, Yanko (Morris Carnovsky, Gun Crazy), has lost his legs while dealing with Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront), a notorious shady businessman from San Francisco. Determined to teach Figlia a lesson he won’t forget Nick teams up with tough guy Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell, Singin' in the Rain), who has purchased his father’s truck and is getting ready to sell a big load of apples in San Francisco. With Nick’s savings the partners purchase the apples from a Polish farmer and head to the West Coast with two separate trucks. The plan is to drive thirty-six hours straight so that the apples are delivered fresh.

But nothing seems to be working as planned. First Nick nearly dies after he gets stuck under his truck while trying to replace a flat tire and then Ed’s truck breaks down. Two of Ed’s former partners, Slob and Pete (Jack Oakie and Joseph Pevney), also show up with a load of apples which they intend to sell to the dealers in San Francisco.

Eventually, Nick reaches San Francisco’s market but fails to find a buyer willing to pay the price he has negotiated with Ed. Feeling exhausted, Nick leaves the truck near Figlia’s loading zone, and soon after meets the friendly prostitute Rica (Valentina Cortese, The Barefoot Contessa, Le Amiche) who offers to take him back to her hotel room. Not realizing that Rica has been paid by Figlia to keep him away from the truck for as long as possible, he reluctantly agrees so that he can take a quick nap.

Thieves’ Highway is the meanest film Jules Dassin directed. It has a healthy dose of the same pessimism that is present in Brute Force and the raw atmosphere that gives The Naked City its identity, but it is the only film in which the main characters say and do things to each other that truly make them feel miserable.

In real life one would stay as far away from them as possible. Even Nick, whose intentions seem admirable at first, emerges as an opportunist who routinely relies on his instincts and as a result makes many dangerous mistakes. The rest are desperate people and scam artists who wouldn’t hesitate to backstab anyone that has trusted them if they are to benefit in some way.

The introduction of Cortese’s prostitute effectively expands the narrative. Her presence is also used as a litmus test that exposes the true colors of the people around Nick and even his beautiful fiancée, Polly (Barbara Lawrence, A Letter to Three Wives), who at the end arrives in San Francisco convinced that she has secured a certain lifestyle which she has been eyeing for some time.

The positive finale is slightly underwhelming but it wraps up everything rather nicely.

The film is based on A.I. Bezzerides’ novel Thieves’ Market. Other classic films that are based on novels written by Bezzerides include Raoul Walsh’s They Drive by Night, Curtis Bernhardt’s Sirocco, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground, and Robert Aldrich’s hugely influential Kiss Me Deadly.

Thieves' Highway Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video.

NOTE: There appears to be a mastering error. On my release there are multiple dropped frames/skips that can be seen at 00.52.07, 00.52.17, and 01.22.47. At the moment I do not know how many discs are affected, but I have a final market version of this release. I have sent a request for additional information and will update our review when I receive it.

UPDATE: Arrow Video have confirmed that the errors mentioned above are present on the element Fox used to produce their master. (Fox scanned a fine grain positive at Cineric, New York, NY).

The release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration. Unsurprisingly, the film looks very healthy and vibrant, stable and clean. Well-lit and darker footage boast very pleasing depth, while fluidity is as good as one could expect it to be for a film that was produced more than 60 years ago. Grain us evenly distributed and quite well resolved. Some minor rebalancing work has been done, but there are no troubling anomalies. There are no traces of compromising sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is very good. Finally, there are no large damage marks, debris, cuts, stains, or torn frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Thieves' Highway Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Balance and separation are very good. Clarity is also pleasing, though there are segments where some minor native fluctuations emerge. Dynamic intensity is rather limited, but this isn't surprising. The dialog is stable, clean, and easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in our review.

Thieves' Highway Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides - this documentary feature takes a closer look at the life and work of writer A.I. Bezzerides. His novel Thieves' Market inspired Jules Dassin's film. The documentary features plenty of archival interviews and is narrated by A.I. Bezzerides, Jules Dassin, Mickey Spillane (author of Kiss Me Deadly), George Pelecanos (author of The Night Gardener), Jason Baldwin, and Barry Gifford (author of Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir). It was directed by Fay Efrosini Lellios. In English, not subtitled. (56 min).

• The Fruits of Labor - presented here is a brand new video essay by Frank Krutnik, author of In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity, which focuses on the production history of Thieves' Highway and its key themes and sytle. The essay was produced exclusively for Arrow Video. In English, not subtitled. (34 min).

• Trailer - original trailer for Thieves' Highway. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Stills Gallery - a gallery of stills from the film.

• Commentary - presented here is a select scene and character commentary by Frank Krutnik. The comments address the socio-political environment in which Thieves' Highway emerged, the dilemmas Nick Garcos faces after he returns home and discovers that his father has been cheated, some specific framing choices, the character played by Valentina Cortese and its importance for the film, etc. The commentary is broken into three sections. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. The Homecoming (13 min).
  2. Delicious Gold (8 min).
  3. Rica (11 min).

• Booklet - 18-page illustrated booklet featuring Alastair Phillips' essay "Motion Means Money" and technical credits.

• Cover - reversible cover.

Thieves' Highway Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Thieves' Highway is the meanest film Jules Dassin directed. In it a young man decides to travel to San Francisco and confront a shady businessman after he discovers that he has cheated his father. Soon after, however, his life begins to spin dangerously out of control. The film has been recently restored in 4K by Fox. Amongst the supplemental features is a very informative documentary about the life and work of writer A.I. Bezzerides. RECOMMENDED.