The Wages of Fear (1953)
"Le salaire de la peur" (original title)

In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writers:

Georges Arnaud (novel), Henri-Georges Clouzot (adaptation),

Stars:

Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins.

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)

Storyline

In the South American jungle supplies of nitroglycerin are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivalry develops between the two sets of drivers and on the rough remote roads the slightest jolt can result in death.

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Plot Keywords:

oil | driver | american | truck | jungle | 

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Taglines:

The complete restored version of the 1953 French classic [reissue]

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French English Spanish German Italian Russian

Release Date:

16 February 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Wages of Fear

Filming Locations:

Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique (CICC), Filmsonor, Vera Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 148 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Henri-Georges Clouzot originally planned on shooting the film in Spain, but Yves Montand refused to work in Spain as long as fascist dictator Francisco Franco was in power. Filming took place instead in the south of France, near Saint-Gilles, in the Camargue. The village seen in the film was built from scratch.

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Goofs

The truck is clean after driving through oil.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Sweat (2002)

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Soundtracks

"The Blue Danube"
Composed by Johann Strauß

User Reviews

A gripping action film and a powerful study of failure

"The Wages of Fear" was awarded by unanimous verdict the Grand Prix at 1953 Cannes Film Festival where it won over 27 films, some of which were made by Jacques Tati, Alfred Hitchcock, and Luis Buñuel. Cluozot's own screenplay (based a novel by George Arnaud) focuses on four down-and-out European adventurers (Yves Montand, Folco Lulli, Peter Van Eyck, Charles Vanel) who stuck nearly penniless in a festering town in an unnamed South American country. An oil company need a load of highly dangerous and explosive nitroglycerin to be delivered to a remote well fire 300 miles away burning out of control. The route is through jungles and over crude and treacherous mountains and those men are desperate enough to take the chance. None of these men is heroic or generous, they are in for the money. The four were chosen by the managers of oil company because "if something happens to them, no one would care, they have nobody to worry about them". Henri-Georges Clouzot's view on humanity is not particularly optimistic but he finds a way to make a viewer care about disenchanted but desperate characters. Thanks to Clouzot's ability to create not only a gripping action film but a powerful study of failure, the four men will stay for long time in our memory.