Thieves' Highway is a 1949 film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides, based on his novel Thieves' Market. The film was released on DVD as part of the Criterion Collection in 2005. Plot A war-veteran-turned-truck driver Nico "Nick" Garcos arrives at home to find that his foreign-born father, a California fruit farmer, has lost his legs and was forced to sell his truck. He learns that his father was crippled at the hands of an unscrupulous produce dealer in San Francisco, Mike Figlia. Garcos vows revenge. Garcos goes into business with Ed Kinney, who bought the Garcos truck, and drives a truckload of apples to San Francisco, where he runs into Figlia when his truck is immobilized with a suspiciously cut tire, blocking Figlia's busy wholesale stand, and cannot be towed. Figlia hires a streetwalker, Rica, to seduce and preoccupy Nick in her room while his men unload the apples without Nick's permission. Figlia later pays Nick for his fruit, but that night his goons waylay and rob Nick of the cash. Meanwhile, Kinney is killed when his own truck mechanically fails, veers off the road, and burns after speeding out of control down a long hill. Polly, Nick's hometown sweetheart, then arrives in the city ready to marry him, but leaves disillusioned after she finds him recovering from his beating in Rica's apartment and with no money. Nick and a friend finally confront the cowed bully Figlia at a tavern, and have him arrested, restoring Nick's family honor. Nick and Rica happily drive off and plan to get married. Cast Richard Conte as Nico "Nick" Garcos Valentina Cortese as Rica Lee J. Cobb as Mike Figlia Barbara Lawrence as Polly Faber Jack Oakie as Slob Millard Mitchell as Ed Kinney Joseph Pevney as Pete Morris Carnovsky as Yanko Garcos Tamara Shayne as Parthena Garcos Kasia Orzazewski as Mrs. Polansky Norbert Schiller as Mr. Polansky Hope Emerson as Midge, a buyer Background Dana Andrews and Victor Mature originally were announced for the lead. The film was shot on location in San Francisco, and is noted for its accurate depiction of the vibrant fruit and produce market in that city, then located adjacent to the Embarcadero north of the Ferry Building. The Figlia Market is depicted on the corner of Washington and Davis Streets (clearly indicated by a street sign). The produce market was