Richard Conte travels down "Thieves' Highway"

Thieves’ Highway (1949) is an American film noir directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Conte, and Valentina Cortese. Lee J. Cobb, and Barbara Lawrence co-star. 

Nico “Nick” Garcos, a returning war veteran arrives home to find his father, a California fruit farmer, who lost his legs in an accident and was forced to sell his truck. Nick discovers that his father was crippled at the hands of Mike Figlia (Cobb), a corrupt produce dealer in San Francisco. Nick vows revenge. 

Nick goes into business with Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell), hoping to beat Figlia at his own game. Through a series of suspicious circumstances, Nick’s future at hauling and selling produce is jeopardized. Along the way, Nick meets a streetwalker named Rica (Cortese) who Garcos hired to distract Nick so he can undermine his ability to sell his haul. 

Eventually, Nick gets paid $4,000.00 for his haul by Garcos but while he is out one evening with Rica, he is beaten and robbed by two of Garcos’s stooges. 

Will Nick be able to get his money back and win justice for his father?

 

Valentina Cortese and Richard Conte

Jules Dassin (1911 – 2008) was an American film director. He got work as an assistant director at RKO and then moved to M-G-M where he directed short subjects. Dassin directed the film noir classics Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves’ Highway (1949). He was blacklisted because of his once being a member of the Communist Party so he left the United States for Europe where remained for the rest of his life. He was married to Greek film actress Melina Mercouri.

Richard Conte (1910 – 1975) was an American actor who came to prominence in the late 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. He co-starred with James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (1948) and had the lead role in Thieves’ Highway (1949) directed by Jules Dassin (Night and the City 1950), and played Gene Tierney’s husband in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Conte worked constantly and had major roles in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

Valentina Cortese (1923 - 2019) was an Italian actress. She graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome and began her film career in Italian films in 1940. She starred as Fantine and Cosette in an Italian production of Les Miserables (1948). In Europe, she worked with all the top directors including Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, and Francois Truffaut. She signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox and made several American films including Thieves’ Highway (1949), House on Telegraph Hill (1951), and The Barefoot Contessa (1954). She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Truffaut’s Day for Night (1973).

Thieves' Highway trivia

• Dana Andrews and Victor Mature were under consideration for the role of Nick.
• Richard Conte was a truck driver before he was "discovered" by Elia Kazan and John Garfield while acting on the stage in 1935.
• The film was filmed in San Francisco's Produce Market.
• Jules Dassin made his film debut as the man in the freight elevator with Figlia.
• Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, and Kasia Orzazewski all appeared in Call Northside 777.

To watch the movie on YouTube, click the link below.

To join the discussion on January 30, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to the discussion on Zoom

Discussion questions

1. Did this film feel realistic to you? 
2. This film is considered a film noir. Do you agree with that classification? 
3. What did you think of the performances? Had you ever seen the Italian actress Valentina Cortese in an American film before? What did you think of her performance?
4. The film had an impressive supporting cast. Did any of the supporting performances impress you more than the others?
5. Do you think the location shooting helped make the film more realistic? 
6. Would you recommend this film to a friend interested in classic movies?

Victor Mature and Richard Conte star in "Cry of the City"

Cry of the City (1948) is an American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Victor Mature and Richard Conte. Others in the cast include Fred Clark, Shelly Winters, Betty Garde, Debra Paget, and Hope Emerson.

Tough guy Martin Rome (Conte) is a criminal about to undergo surgery for leg wounds he receive in a shootout with a police officer that he killed. Police detectives Candella (Mature) and Collins (Clark) question Rome about a jewel robbery and murder. Candella and Rome were childhood friends who grew up in the same poor neighborhood. As an adult, Candella despises Rome for choosing a life of crime, disgracing his parents, and influencing his younger brother Tony (Tommy Cook) to follow in his criminal footsteps.

Rome escapes from the hospital where he tries to recover the jewels from a robbery where another man was killed. At the same time, he’s trying to run off with his girlfriend Teena Ricante (Paget).

Will Rome get the jewels, run off with Teena, and escape prosecution?

Richard Conte and Victor Mature

Robert Siodmak (1900 – 1973) had a very successful career in Hollywood and is best known for his thrillers and films noir. He signed a seven-year contract with Universal and directed The Killers (1946), the film that made Ava Gardner a star. He worked with some of the top movie stars during Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Yvonne de Carlo, Olivia de Havilland, and Barbara Stanwyck. Often compared to Hitchcock in his prime, he never got the recognition that the Master of Suspense did, but most of his films hold up remarkably well and are worth watching.

Victor Mature (1913 – 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who became a major movie star during the 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. Before his film career took off, Mature starred in Lady in the Dark (1941) on Broadway opposite Gertrude Lawrence. Some of Mature’s notable films include I Wake Up Screaming (1941) with Betty Grable, and The Shanghai Gesture (1941) with Gene Tierney. In 1942, he starred opposite Rita Hayworth in the musical My Gal Sal. Other notable films include Samson and Delilah (1949), and The Robe (1952), the first film released in the Cinemascope widescreen process. Mature was self-deprecating when it came to his acting. He said, “I’m no actor, and I’ve got 64 pictures to prove it.”

Richard Conte (1910 – 1975) was an American actor who came to prominence in the late 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. He co-starred with James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (1948) and had the lead role in Thieve’s Highway (1949) directed by Jules Dassin (Night and the City 1950), and played Gene Tierney’s husband in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Conte worked constantly and had major roles in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

Join the discussion on November 14, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, clicked here. Once you RSVP, you'll receive an invitation and a link to the discussion on Zoom.

Cry of the City trivia

• Victor Mature was originally cast as the killer and Conte was cast as the cop. The roles were reversed because Mature had played a few bad guys prior to this film.
• Alfred Newman's "Street Scene "is used in the opening and closing credits. This music was used in more Fox films than any other. It was first used in the movie Street Scene (1931).
• Debra Paget made her film debut at age fourteen in Cry of the City.
• Director Robert Siodmak was borrowed from Universal to direct this film.

Victor Mature and Fred Clark

Discussion questions

1. What did you think of Victor Mature's performance as the good cop?
2. The film was shot on location in New York City. Did it add to the film's realistic look?
3. The film has a very good supporting cast; did anyone supporting player stand out to you?
4. Did anything about the film surprise you?
5. Did this film remind you of any other films you've seen?

James Stewart decides to “Call Northside 777”

Call Northside 777 (1948) is a docudrama directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, and Helen Walker. The film is based on articles in the Chicago Daily Times.

P.J. McNeal (Stewart), a reporter the Chicago Times reluctantly takes the case of a man convicted of murdering a policeman in 1932 Chicago. Frank Wiecek (Conte) was sentenced to 99 years in prison. 

Wiecek’s mother (Kasia Orzazewski) puts an ad in the newspaper offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who finds the true killers of the police officer since she is convinced her son is innocent. McNeal’s reluctance begins to shift when he thinks Wiecek may be innocent.

Henry Hathaway (1898 – 1985) was an American film director and producer. Hathaway started working in silent films in 1925 as an assistant to established directors like Victor Fleming and Josef von Sternberg. His first solo directorial effort was Heritage of the Desert (1932) starring Randolph Scott. Hathaway, along with Scott, would be known for western movies. Besides Scott, Hathaway directed Gary Cooper in several films, including The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) which earned him his only Best Director Academy Award nomination. In 1940, Hathaway began working at Fox where he directed Tyrone Power in Johnny Apollo and Brigham Young (both 1940), Gene Tierney in China Girl (1942), Don Ameche and Dana Andrews in Wing and a Prayer (1944), and Call Northside 777 (1948) starring James Stewart and Richard Conte. After leaving Fox, he was one of three directors who worked on the western epic How the West Was Won (1962). He directed Steve McQueen in Nevada Smith (1966), directed John Wayne in True Grit (1968) which won Wayne his one and only Best Actor Academy Award.

James Stewart (1908 - 1997) was an American actor whose career spanned almost five decades and 80 films. Stewart often portrayed the ideal of the average American who was decent and honest. Stewart signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he appeared in a variety of supporting roles in B and A pictures. It wasn’t until he was loaned out to Columbia Pictures to costar in Frank Capra’s You Can’t Take It With You (1938) that his home studio began to take notice. Still, his best roles were on loan to other studios including Mr. Smith Goes to Washinton (1939) at Columbia again and Destry Rides Again (1939) at Universal. M-G-M eventually cast him in The Philadelphia Story (1940) where he won the Academy Award for Best Actor which cemented his reputation as a leading man and star. From there he went on to make The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and The Mortal Storm (1940). After serving in the United States Army from 1941 - 1945, Stewart returned to Hollywood where he continued as a popular leading man. During the 1950s, Steward made two films with director Alfred Hitchcock which are considered two of the director’s best films: Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958). Vertigo was voted the greatest film ever made by Sight & Sound in 2012.

Richard Conte (1910 – 1975) was an American actor who came to prominence in the late 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. He co-starred with James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (1948) and had the lead role in Thieve’s Highway (1949) directed by Jules Dassin (Night and the City 1950), and played Gene Tierney’s husband in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Conte worked constantly and had major roles in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

Call Northside 777 trivia:

• Leonarde Keeler, the man who administers the polygraph test was the inventor of the lie detector machine, played himself.
• This was the first movie to be filmed entirely on location in Chicago.
• Several Chicago landmarks including the Merchandise Mart, Holy Trinity Polish Mission, and the Wrigley Building are seen throughout the movie.
• The Chicago Daily Times merged with the Chicago Sun and became known as the Chicago Sun-Times.
• The beer that Stewart’s character drinks, Nectar Premium Beer of Chicago is no longer in business.
• Henry Fonda was initially announced as the lead.

 

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

Why watch this movie?

• It’s an early example of the docudrama film style that became popular in the late-1940s.
• It’s a time capsule of the Chicago of 1948.
• James Stewart was rebuilding his career after his service in World War II and this was his first box office success. 
• To hear, but not see the voice of Thelma Ritter who had her on-screen performance cut from the film.
• The film features one of the best early roles for Richard Conte who had been under contract to 20the Century-Fox since 1943.

To join the discussion on Monday, September 27, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation with a link to the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:

1. Did you enjoy the documentary film style?
2. What did you think of the performances of the leads?
3. Did any of the supporting characters stand out to you?
4. Were you impressed by the early technology utilized to crack the case?
5. Did the fact that this film was based on a true story impact you in any way?

Edward G. Robinson lives in a "House of Strangers"

House of Strangers (1949) is a film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, and Richard Conte. The cinematography is by Milton R. Krasner (Scarlet Street 1945).

Richard Conte (sitting), Paul Valentine, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and Luther Adler

Edward G. Robinson is Gino Monetti, an Italian-American banker whose business practices are questionable at best, against the law at worst. His four sons work with him at the bank. Gino dominates and belittles them at every opportunity, which causes deep resentments.

When Gino is put on trial for bank fraud, three of his sons take control of the bank with only Max (Richard Conte), a lawyer, taking his father’s side. Max bribes a juror in an attempt to keep his father out of jail, which leads to his disbarment and a seven-year prison term.

Richard Conte and Susan Hayward

Once out of jail, Max vows revenge on his brothers, especially older brother Joe (Luther Adler) who, like his father, controls his younger brothers Pietro (Paul Valentine) and Tony (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.).

Max’s quest for revenge threatens his relationship with Irene Bennett (Susan Hayward) a client he fell in love with. Will Max’s hatred and bitterness destroy him and his family or will he be able to create a new life with Irene.

Nineteen forty-nine was a great year for director Mankiewicz. That same year he wrote and directed A Letter to Three Wives, for which film he won two Academy Awards for directing and writing. He would win two more Oscars the following year for writing and directing All About Eve (1950). He is the only director to win back-to-back Academy Awards for writing and directing.

Edward G. Robinson (1893 – 1973) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Robinson is a true star from Hollywood’s Golden Age where he starred in the gangster classic Little Caesar (1931), Kid Galahad (1937), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), The Sea Wolf (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and Key Largo (1948). Robinson was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1973 but was never nominated for a competitive Oscar.

Susan Hayward (1917 – 1975) was an Academy Award-winning actress for her role as Barbara Graham in I Want to Live (1958). Hayward worked as a fashion model but traveled to Hollywood in 1937 to try out for the role of Scarlett O’Hara. She didn’t win that coveted role, but she secured a film contract. Hayward’s career took off in the late 1940s when she was nominated for Best Actress for Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947). She received four more Best Actress nominations for My Foolish Heart (1949), With a Song in My Heart (1952), I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), and I Want to Live. Later in her career, Hayward replaced Judy Garland as Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls (1967).

Richard Conte (1910 – 1975) was an American actor who came to prominence in the late 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. He co-starred with James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (1948) and had the lead role in Thieve’s Highway (1949) directed by Jules Dassin (Night and the City 1950), and played Gene Tierney’s husband in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Conte worked constantly and had major roles in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

Below is the YouTube link to House of Strangers. Be sure to use this link because there are several versions available on the channel. The quality of this one is terrific.

After you’ve watched the movie, join us on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. Central Time on Zoom for a discussion. The Zoom meeting link is below

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "House of Strangers"

Time: Jul 14, 2020 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72214920975?pwd=V1RjQXZMS1BDQzVZR0JYUFpkaWNvQT09

Meeting ID: 722 1492 0975

Password: 9skVd3

Questions for discussion:

1. Noir or not? How does this fit in with the genre in your opinion?

2. Did Edward G. Robinson’s character remind you of another famous character from the movies?

3. Some critics thought that Susan Hayward’s role wasn’t necessary for the film narrative. Do you agree with that assessment?

4. Were you surprised by anything? Did the movie end the way you thought it would?