Turkish born (to Greek and Armenian parents) writer A.L. Bezzerides often wrote about experiences, he actually once drove trucks for a company his father started. Here, his story takes on the struggles of those 'little' trucking men to survive against BIG odds. The big odds being self seeking corruption amongst the soul-less fruit market wheeler dealers.
This film is a wild ride in any mans language! and ace Director Jules Dassin, just months before being foolishly hunted out of Hollywood by the House of Un-American Activities, holds the pace with near relentless energy...endless set backs mount throughout. Dassin was a rare kind of American Director, perhaps because of his Russian parentage he possessed a uniquely European style. In fact, he must be the only American to direct a French crime classic ('Rififi' 55) and reel it in on par with, if not better than, the French themselves! Check out other dynamic mood pieces by Dassin: 'Night and the City' 51 ~ 'Naked City' 48 ~ 'Phaedra' 62 (with Theodorakis's magnificent score) In '57 he also had the rare award winner 'He who must Die', etc....
He could hardly have had a better Director of Photography for 'Highway', than veteran Norbert Bodine. Bodine brings his years of experience to grace this film with moody, spectacular visuals, in the style of 'Kiss of Death '47 ~ 'Of Mice and Men' 39 and the now rare 'Little Man What Now' 34.
Performances are uniformly good, Conte the everyman, Cobb the evil thief, Cortese's first American film, (years later she would appear as the Mother in 1973's 'Brother Sun Sister Moon") there's also good support from several solid old reliables. This was not the first time writer Brezzerides had hit the highways, in 1940 he wrote that other road classic 'They Drive by Night'. He shows diversity with 'Beneath the 12 mile Reef' in '53. Fox's talented man of music, Alfred Newman added his familiar style with an exiting music score.
Then along came Darrel F. Zanuck's interfering hand, apparently re-writing, and re-shooting the ending...adding a silly tacked-on, overly 'sunny' closing. Why interfere when something is working as well as this...? The DVD I bought is the Fox Studio Classics release, it's OK, but the copy I have, has some disappointing digital pixels in the image. I've heard the Criterion disc is superior (the Criterion cover is better also). Who knows, they may even come up with the original ending...? Excellent story and overall film, pity about the ending.
