Thieves' Highway (1949) :
Brief Review -
Money business successfully turned into monkey business. That's Jules Dassin's Trademark! You know, having seen the director's best works already makes you go loose on his other flicks. You start out underestimating things, and rightfully so, but some of them turn out to be pleasant surprises. Thieves' Highway was that experience for me. Having seen Dassin's top-rated films like "Brute Force" (1947), "The Naked City" (1948), "Night and the City" (1949) and the bestest from his filmography, "Rififi" (1955), I kind of figured out Thieves' Highway won't be anything up to their level. I was wrong, and am I happy to say that. I certainly am. That joy of an unexpected good film is like unexpected rain in the desert. Thieves' Highway may be too personal as a film, but it connects well with the universal laws of humanity. Unlike other dark-toned film noirs of that time, Jules Dassin has his own subgenre. His protagonist always looks like one of us, even if he is doing wrong things. Thieves' Highway has a similar lead character, who is hardly anything that you call a bad guy or a wrong guy, and so his revenge looks relatable. A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbery of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw. He himself gets trapped in his tunnel. Will he be able to fulfil his revenge with the help of his platonic-cum-permanent lover and a couple of temporary business partners is all you get to see here. Richard Conte has done a lot of film noirs in the 40s and 50s, so the genre and theme started suiting him. How could he go wrong in a tailor-made role? Say, from where did they find this Italian cheek, Valentina Cortese? What a stunning dame she was. Lee J. Cobb is just superb, man, and I didn't expect anything less from him. This one directly goes in my top 5 films of Jules Dassin. Do I need to say more?
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Money business successfully turned into monkey business. That's Jules Dassin's Trademark! You know, having seen the director's best works already makes you go loose on his other flicks. You start out underestimating things, and rightfully so, but some of them turn out to be pleasant surprises. Thieves' Highway was that experience for me. Having seen Dassin's top-rated films like "Brute Force" (1947), "The Naked City" (1948), "Night and the City" (1949) and the bestest from his filmography, "Rififi" (1955), I kind of figured out Thieves' Highway won't be anything up to their level. I was wrong, and am I happy to say that. I certainly am. That joy of an unexpected good film is like unexpected rain in the desert. Thieves' Highway may be too personal as a film, but it connects well with the universal laws of humanity. Unlike other dark-toned film noirs of that time, Jules Dassin has his own subgenre. His protagonist always looks like one of us, even if he is doing wrong things. Thieves' Highway has a similar lead character, who is hardly anything that you call a bad guy or a wrong guy, and so his revenge looks relatable. A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbery of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw. He himself gets trapped in his tunnel. Will he be able to fulfil his revenge with the help of his platonic-cum-permanent lover and a couple of temporary business partners is all you get to see here. Richard Conte has done a lot of film noirs in the 40s and 50s, so the genre and theme started suiting him. How could he go wrong in a tailor-made role? Say, from where did they find this Italian cheek, Valentina Cortese? What a stunning dame she was. Lee J. Cobb is just superb, man, and I didn't expect anything less from him. This one directly goes in my top 5 films of Jules Dassin. Do I need to say more?
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.