IMDb > Le salaire de la peur (1953)
Le salaire de la peur
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Le salaire de la peur (1953) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for The Wages of Fear on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
16 February 1955 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The complete restored version of the 1953 French classic [reissue] more
Plot:
In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins more
User Comments:
The Wages of Fear Vs. Sorcerer more (98 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Yves Montand ... Mario
Charles Vanel ... M. Jo
Folco Lulli ... Luigi
Peter van Eyck ... Bimba (as Peter Van Eyck)
Véra Clouzot ... Linda (as Vera Clouzot)
William Tubbs ... Bill O'Brien
Darío Moreno ... Hernandez (as Dario Moreno)
Jo Dest ... Smerloff
Antonio Centa ... Camp Chief (as Centa)
Luis De Lima ... Bernardo
Grégoire Gromoff
Joseph Palau-Fabre
Faustini
Seguna
Darling Légitimus (as Miss Darling)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Wages of Fear (UK) (USA)
Il salario della paura (Italy) (alternative title)
Vite vendute (Italy)
more
Runtime:
131 min | France:156 min | 148 min (director's cut)
Country:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Yves Montand and Charles Vanel both contracted conjunctivitis after filming in a pool of crude oil and being exposed to gas fumes. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The shock wave of the explosion arrives before the flash. more
Quotes:
Dick: When I was a kid, I used to see men go off on this kind of jobs... and not come back. When they did, they were wrecks. Their hair had turned white and their hands were shaking like palsy! You don't know what fear is. But you'll see. It's catching, it's catching like small pox! And once you get it, it's for life! So long, boys, and good luck. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Enterprise: Vox Sola (#1.22)" (2002) more

FAQ

What caused the nitro to explode?
Why they have to carry the nitroglycerin to that plant?
Is this movie based on a book?
more
27 out of 42 people found the following comment useful.
The Wages of Fear Vs. Sorcerer, 24 April 2005
9/10
Author: Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci (dtb) from Whitehall, PA

Georges Arnaud's novel LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR has been filmed twice, by Henri-Georges Clouzot as THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953) and by William Friedkin as SORCERER (1977). While both films are worth seeing, the earlier version is the one regarded as a classic, and rightly so. Although SORCERER goes into more detail about the political climate and the various misdeeds that led the four desperate protagonists to the South American hellhole where they accept high-paying but life-risking jobs driving nitroglycerin through treacherous terrain, WAGES... distinguishes the men's personalities better, giving the audience more rooting interest in them. Both films have excellent casts, with charismatic leads in Yves Montand (WAGES...) and Roy Scheider (SORCERER), plus WAGES... also provides feminine charm in the form of beguiling Vera Clouzot as the café waitress who loves Montand. Both films have tense action sequences as well, but somehow for all the staging and skillful editing, SORCERER's action scenes seem strangely slow, slogging along in the mud just like the protagonists in their less-than-state-of-the-art trucks. Both versions have enough good things in them to be worth a look, but if you only have the time and resources to check out one of them, it's WAGES... that really pays off!

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