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

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writers:

Georges Arnaud (novel)
Henri-Georges Clouzot (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 February 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Oil | Driver | American | Truck | Jungle

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
René Baranger	...	(uncredited)
Pat Hurst	...	(uncredited)
Evelio Larenagas	...	(uncredited)
Jeronimo Mitchell	...	Dick (uncredited)
Ricardo	...	(uncredited)
François Valorbe	...	(uncredited)
Rico Zermano	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writing credits
Georges Arnaud		(novel)
Henri-Georges Clouzot		(adaptation and dialogue) (as H.G. Clouzot) and
Jérôme Géronimi		(adaptation and dialogue) (as Jérome Geronimi)

Produced by
Raymond Borderie	....	delegate producer (as R. Borderie)
Henri-Georges Clouzot	....	delegate producer (as H.G. Clouzot)

Original Music by
Georges Auric

Cinematography by
Armand Thirard

Film Editing by
Madeleine Gug
Etiennette Muse		(as E. Muse)
Henri Rust

Art Direction by
René Renoux

Set Decoration by
René Renoux

Makeup Department
Georges Bouban	....	makeup artist (as G. Bouban)

Production Management
Henri Jaquillard	....	unit manager (as H. Jaquillard)
Lucien Lippens	....	unit manager (as L. Lippens)
Louis Wipf	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michel Romanoff	....	assistant director
Roberto Savarese	....	assistant director: Italy

Art Department
Marc Desages	....	assistant set decorator (as M. Desages)
Pierre Tyberghein	....	assistant set decorator (as P. Tyberghien)

Sound Department
William Robert Sivel	....	sound
Arthur Van der Meeren	....	sound assistant (as A. Van Der Merren)
Pierre Zann	....	sound assistant (as P. Zann)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lucienne Chevert	....	still photographer
Jean Clouzot	....	still photographer (as J. Clouzot)
Jean Dicop	....	assistant camera (as Dicop)
Robert Florent	....	assistant camera (as Florent)
Robert Juillard	....	camera operator (as Robert Juilliard)
Jean Lallier	....	camera operator (as J. Lallier)
Louis Née	....	camera operator (as L. Née)
Bob Pater	....	assistant camera (as Pater)

Music Department
Georges Auric	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Charles Borderie	....	general administrator
Favre	....	studio manager
Lily Hargous	....	script girl
Lemoigne	....	studio manager
Vergne	....	studio manager

Production Companies

• Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique (CICC)
• Filmsonor
• Vera Films
• Fono Roma

Distributors

• Cinédis (1953) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Films Cinédis S.A.)
• Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Filmileijona (1955) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Home Vision Cinema (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Public Media (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Voyager Company, The (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Polyband (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Swenson (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Union Film (1954) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• VTI Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Cinarchives  film restoration (2002)
• Ciné-Titres  subtitles
• Dyonis Films  editing facilities
• Etablissements Rey Frères  special thanks
• Filmolaque  film restoration (2002)
• La Société Lobster  audio restoration (2002)
• Société Française de l'Amiante  special thanks
• Société Française des Glycérines  special thanks
• Son Artec  sound recording

Also Known As:

"Le salaire de la peur" - France (original title)

Runtime:

131 min | France:156 min | 148 min (director's cut) | West Germany:150 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English | Spanish | German | Italian | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 | UK:PG | Norway:16 | Australia:M | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 (2004) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique (CICC)

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the film, when Jo is leaning against Mario in the cab of the truck, the oil smear on Mario's right cheek changes between shots.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Wild Bunch (1969)

Soundtrack:

The Blue Danube

One of the greatest movies ever made

This movie is astonishing, a gritty story filmed in an ultra-real style that relies simply on the beauty of lighting and film to achieve its stunning effects. It seems from another world, which in a way, it is. The acting is superb: Montand's Mario is full of jerky movements and intense impulses but always maintains his Gallic savoir-faire, while Charles Vanel as Jo brings, at first at least, a type of macho to the screen that modern movie-makers simply do not comprehend. The rest of the cast, especially the camp chief, Luigi, and Peter van Eyck as Bimba are incredible, as is Vera Clouzot who is incomprehensibly but believably upbeat and innocent - and totally gorgeous - in the midst of the hellhole of a town they're all stuck in. Clouzot's directing is flawless - I don't think anyone has ever squeezed more tension with just a few essential scene elements. The trucks wheeze and grunt as well as they ever have in the movies - the only comparison is Spielberg's early gem, "The Duel", but Clouzot's automotive cinematics outdo even Spielberg. The stripped down existentialism of the characters, the starkness of their shared dilemma, the grim and grimy scenery, and the cinematography itself are all of a piece. The latter is what elevates this movie to the very top rank, including some of the most dramatic and effective black and white shooting I've ever seen. Yet it never becomes mannered or gratuitous - it is orchestrated with the rise - and rise! - of tension in the film. The final scene takes on a surreal as opposed to ultra-realistic quality that has its own logic. One last word about the acting - we don't see anything like it anymore. The self-conscious mannerism of method acting (which has had its own triumphs) and the toxic awareness of everyone from the actors to the audience, the camera, directors, etc. that each actor is a celebrity and potential artiste, has ruined that conviction that actors were once larger than life people before they went on-screen, that they came to acting as an outcome of living rough, unadorned, and yet imaginative lives as opposed to shooting for fame and fortune and celebrity within an artificial corporate star-making incubator.