THE WAGES OF FEAR (LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR) (1952) B/W 140m dir: Henri-Georges Clouzot

w/Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Vera Clouzot, Folco Lulli, Peter Van Eyck, William Tubbs, Dario Moreno, Jo Dest, Antonio Centa, Luis de Lima

From The Movie Guide: "Excellent, but nasty stuff. When the powerful oil company that controls the poverty-stricken Central American village of Las Piedras is faced with a well-fire disaster 300 miles away, they call for drivers to haul a load of highly volatile nitroglycerine across the dangerous terrain to the disaster site. After the driving skills of the applicants are tested, four men are chosen --- Mario (Yves Montand), a French-raised Corsican; Luigi (Folco Lulli), his husky Italian roommate; Bimba (Peter Van Eyck), a cold and egotistical German; and Jo (Charles Vanel), a fifth choice who has gotten rid of the man before him. Driving two trucks at a snail's pace, they must overcome numerous obstacles to reach their destination, including a rickety wooden platform suspended over a deep ravine, a giant boulder that blocks the road and must be destroyed with a nitro charge, a swamp of oil and their greatest natural danger --- fear. A superb suspense film that eats at one's nerves for its entire last half, THE WAGES OF FEAR can almost be thought of as two movies. While director Henri-Georges Clouzot, relying on visuals, devotes the latter portion of the film to the passage of the trucks, he spends the first half building characters and atmosphere --- the sweaty, dusty, hellish existence in Las Piedras, which is little better than death. From the opening shot --- of four frantic beetles that have been strung together by a mischievous child --- it is clear that the four characters are prisoners of the place. Remade in 1977 by William Friedkin as the crummy SORCERER."