The Wages of Fear

1953 thriller film by Henri-Georges Clouzot

For the Tellison album, see The Wages of Fear (album).

The Wages of Fear

Promotional poster

Directed by| Henri-Georges Clouzot
Screenplay by| Henri-Georges Clouzot
Jérome Geronimi
Based on| Le Salaire de la peur
(1950 novel)
by Georges Arnaud
Produced by| Raymond Borderie
Starring|

* Yves Montand
* Charles Vanel
* Folco Lulli
* Peter Van Eyck
* Véra Clouzot

Cinematography| Armand Thirard
Edited by| Madeleine Gug
Etiennette Muse
Henri Rust
Music by| Georges Auric

Production
company

*     * Vera Film
* Filmsonor
* C.I.C.C.
* Fono Roma

Distributed by| Cinédis (France)

Release date

* 22 April 1953 (1953-04-22)

Running time

| 153 minutes
Countries| France
Italy[1]
Languages|

* French
* Spanish
* English
* Italian

Box office| 6,944,306 admissions[2]

The Wages of Fear (French: Le Salaire de la peur[a]) is a 1953 thriller film directed and co-written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, and starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck and Véra Clouzot. The film centres on a group of four down-on-their-luck European men who are hired by an American oil company to drive two trucks over mountain dirt roads, loaded with nitroglycerin needed to extinguish an oil well fire. It is adapted from a 1950 French novel by Georges Arnaud.

The film brought Clouzot international fame—winning both the Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or at the 1953 Berlin Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival, respectively—and enabled him to direct Les Diaboliques (1955). In France, it was the fourth highest-grossing film of the year with a total of nearly 7 million admissions.[2]

## Plot[edit]

Frenchmen Mario and Jo, German Bimba and Italian Luigi are stuck in the isolated town of Las Piedras. Surrounded by desert, the town is linked to the outside world only by an airstrip, but the airfare is beyond the means of the men. There is little opportunity for employment aside from the American corporation that dominates the town, Southern Oil Company (SOC), which operates the nearby oil fields and owns a walled compound within the town. SOC exploits local workers and takes the law into its own hands, but the townspeople depend on it and suffer in silence.

Mario is a sarcastic Corsican playboy who treats his devoted lover, Linda, with disdain. Jo is an aging ex-gangster who recently found himself stranded in the town. Bimba is an intense, quiet man whose father was murdered by the Nazis and who himself worked for three years in a salt mine. Luigi, Mario's roommate, is a jovial, hardworking man, who has just learned that he is dying from cement dust in his lungs. Mario befriends Jo due to their common background, having lived in Paris, but a rift develops between Jo and the other cantina regulars due to his combative, arrogant personality.

A large fire erupts at one of the SOC oil fields. The only way to extinguish the flames and cap the well is an explosion produced by nitroglycerin. With short notice and lack of proper equipment, it must be transported within jerrycans placed in two large trucks from the SOC headquarters, 500 km (300 miles) away. Due to the poor condition of the roads and the highly volatile nature of nitroglycerin, the job is considered too dangerous for the unionised SOC employees.

The company foreman, Bill O'Brien, recruits truck drivers from the local community. Despite the dangers, many of the locals volunteer, lured by the high pay: US$2,000 per driver. This is a fortune to them, perhaps the only way out of their dead-end lives. The pool of applicants is narrowed down to four drivers: Mario, Bimba and Luigi are chosen, along with a German named Smerloff. Smerloff fails to appear on the appointed day, so Jo, who knows O' Brien from his bootlegging days, takes his place. The other drivers suspect that Jo intimidated Smerloff in some way to facilitate his own hiring.

Jo and Mario transport the nitroglycerin in one vehicle; Luigi and Bimba are in the other, with thirty minutes separating them in order to limit potential casualties. The drivers are forced to deal with a series of physical and mental obstacles, including a stretch of extremely rough road called "the washboard", a construction barricade that forces them to teeter around a rotten platform above a precipice, and a boulder blocking the road. Jo finds that his nerves are not what they used to be, and the others confront Jo about his increasing cowardice. Finally, Luigi and Bimba's truck explodes without warning, killing them both.

Mario and Jo arrive at the scene of the explosion only to find a large crater rapidly filling with oil from a pipeline ruptured in the blast. Jo exits the vehicle to help Mario navigate through the oil-filled crater. The truck, however, is in danger of becoming bogged down and, during their frantic attempts to prevent it from getting stuck, Mario runs over Jo. Although the vehicle is ultimately freed from the muck, Jo is mortally injured. On their arrival at the oil field, Mario and Jo are hailed as heroes, but Jo is dead and Mario collapses from exhaustion. Upon his recovery, he heads home in the same truck. He collects double the wages following his friends' deaths and refuses the chauffeur offered by SOC. Mario jubilantly drives down a mountain road as a party is being held at the cantina back in town, where Mario's friends eagerly await his arrival. He swerves recklessly and intentionally, having cheated death so many times on the same road. Linda, dancing in the cantina, faints. Mario takes a corner too fast and plunges through the guardrail to his death.

## Cast[edit]

* Yves Montand as Mario
* Charles Vanel as Jo
* Folco Lulli as Luigi
* Peter van Eyck as Bimba
* Véra Clouzot as Linda
* William Tubbs as Bill O'Brien
* Darío Moreno as Hernandez
* Jo Dest as Smerloff
* Luis De Lima as Bernardo
* Antonio Centa as Camp Chief
* Darling Légitimus as Rosa

## Reception and legacy[edit]

The Wages of Fear was critically hailed upon its original release. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "The excitement derives entirely from the awareness of nitroglycerine and the gingerly, breathless handling of it. You sit there waiting for the theatre to explode."[3] The film was also a hit with the public, selling 6,944,306 tickets in France where it was the fourth highest earning film of the year.[4][5]

In 1982, Pauline Kael called it "an existential thriller—the most original and shocking French melodrama of the 50s. ... When you can be blown up at any moment only a fool believes that character determines fate. ... If this isn't a parable of man's position in the modern world, it's at least an illustration of it. ... The violence ... is used to force a vision of human existence."[6] In 1992, Roger Ebert stated that "The film's extended suspense sequences deserve a place among the great stretches of cinema."[7] Leonard Maltin awarded the film 3+1⁄2 out of 4 stars, calling it a "marvelously gritty and extremely suspenseful epic".[8] In 2010, the film was ranked No. 9 in Empire's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema."[9] The website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 47 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.90/10. Its critics consensus reads: "An existential suspense classic, The Wages of Fear blends nonstop suspense with biting satire; its influence is still being felt on today's thrillers."[10] Metacritic reports a score of 85 out of 100 based on 15 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]

The British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan was strongly influenced by The Wages of Fear for his film Dunkirk.[12]

## Restoration and home video[edit]

One of the best known and most successful of Clouzot's films, The Wages of Fear has been widely-released on every home video format.[13][14][15] However, with the exception of a French DVD (TF1 Vidéo, 2001) featuring the original 153-minute French theatrical version, until recently most releases only contained a slightly edited 148-minute version. A comprehensive 4K restoration, based on the original negative and supervised by cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman, was completed in 2017.[16] It has greatly improved audio and video quality,[17][18] and has been released on Blu-ray, DVD and DCP in France, (TF1 Vidéo), the UK (BFI) and Japan (IVC).

The film was colourised in 1996 with the approval of Clouzot's daughter.[19] It was subsequently broadcast on French television and released on French VHS.[20]

## Awards[edit]

Wins

* 3rd Berlin International Film Festival – Golden Bear[21]
* 6th Cannes Film Festival – Palme d'Or[22]
* 8th British Academy Film Awards – Best Film[23]

## Remakes[edit]

Violent Road (aka Hell's Highway), directed by Howard W. Koch in 1958, and Sorcerer, directed by William Friedkin in 1977, are American remakes, although the former is not credited as such. Friedkin described the latter as an adaptation of the original novel.[24]

The plot was adapted for an episode of the 1980s American TV series MacGyver, "Hellfire" (S01E08).[25][26]

A third remake was released in late March 2024 by Netflix. Directed by Julien Leclercq, the new film stars Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Ana Girardot and Sofiane Zermani.[27]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Le Salaire de la Peur". British Film Institute. London. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
2. ^ a b "Le Salaire de la peur (1953)". jpbox-office.com. 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
3. ^ "The Wages of Fear". rottentomatoes.com. 1 January 1953. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
4. ^ "Le Salaire de la peur (1953)". jpbox-office.com. 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
5. ^ "1953 at the box office". Box Office Story.
6. ^ Pauline Kael (1991). 5001 Nights at the Movies. New York: Holt Paperbacks. p. 821\. ISBN 978-0-8050-1367-2.
7. ^ Roger Ebert (6 March 1992). "The Wages of Fear Movie Review (1955)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
8. ^ Maltin, Leonard (2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Press. pp. 1512. ISBN 9780451418104.
9. ^ "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema: 9. The Wages of Fear". Empire. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
10. ^ "The Wages of Fear (1953)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
11. ^ "The Wages of Fear (1953) Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
12. ^ Leonard Pearce (28 February 2017). "Christopher Nolan Inspired by Robert Bresson and Silent Films for 'Dunkirk,' Which Has "Little Dialogue"". The Film Stage. The Film Stage, L.L.C. Retrieved 23 September 2021. "When asked about the Henri-Georges Clouzot masterpiece, Nolan said the following: "Yes, The Wages of Fear. Most of the crew didn't understand why I was screening them this movie. But it was the one that made the most sense. Pure suspense. Which talks about mechanics, procedure and physical difficulties. Look at the scene where the truck has to go back on the platform and the wheels doesn't respond anymore … That's what I had to look for Dunkirk! I wanted to show how you bring a truck on the jetty, what happens when the tires don't pass, when the wheels no longer respond. Pure physics.""
13. ^ "The Wages of Fear LaserDiscs". LaserDisc Database.
14. ^ "The Wages of Fear DVD comparison". DVDCompare.
15. ^ "The Wages of Fear Blu-ray comparison". DVDCompare.
16. ^ "Interview: Guillaume Schiffman". Ecran Total.
17. ^ "The Wages of Fear Blu-ray comparison". Caps-a-holic.
18. ^ "Le salaire de la peur Blu-ray Test". DVDClassik.
19. ^ "Le Salaire de la peur: Mais de quelle couleur étaient-ils donc?". Le Camion Club de France.
20. ^ "Le salaire de la peur VHS". Amazon.fr.
21. ^ "3rd Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
22. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Wages of Fear". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
23. ^ "Film in 1955". BAFTA.org.
24. ^ William Friedkin, The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir, HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. Memoir of the director.
25. ^ "MacGyver: Hellfire". macgyveronline.com. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
26. ^ "Hellfire". IMDb. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
27. ^ "Netflix Remaking French Classic 'The Wages Of Fear' With Julien Leclercq At Helm; Unveils First Look". IMDb. Retrieved 27 August 2023.

1. ^ The title is sometimes also translated as “The Salary of Fear”

## External links[edit]

* The Wages of Fear at IMDb
* The Wages of Fear at AllMovie
* The Wages of Fear at the TCM Movie Database
* The Wages of Fear at Rotten Tomatoes
* The Wages of Fear: No Exit an essay by Dennis Lehane at the Criterion Collection

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot

Feature films|

* The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942)
* Le Corbeau (1943)
* Quai des Orfèvres (1947)
* Manon (1949)
* Miquette (1950)
* The Wages of Fear (1953)
* Les Diaboliques (1955)
* Les Espions (1957)
* La Vérité (1960)
* La prisonnière (1968)

Short films|

* Return to Life (1949, segment "Le Retour de Jean")

Documentaries|

* The Mystery of Picasso (1956)

Other projects|

* Tout pour l'amour (1933)
* Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (1964)

Awards for The Wages of Fear

* v
* t
* e

BAFTA Award for Best Film

Best Film
from Any Source
1947-1967|

* The Best Years of Our Lives (1947)
* Hamlet (1948)
* Bicycle Thieves (1949)
* All About Eve (1950)
* La Ronde (1951)
* The Sound Barrier (1952)
* Forbidden Games (1953)
* The Wages of Fear (1954)
* Richard III (1955)
* Gervaise (1956)
* The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
* Room at the Top (1958)
* Ben-Hur (1959)
* The Apartment (1960)
* Ballad of a Soldier (1961)
* The Hustler (1961)
* Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
* Tom Jones (1963)
* Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
* My Fair Lady (1965)
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
* A Man for All Seasons (1967)

Best Film
1968-present|

* The Graduate (1968)
* Midnight Cowboy (1969)
* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970)
* Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
* Cabaret (1972)
* Day for Night (1973)
* Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
* Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1975)
* One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
* Annie Hall (1977)
* Julia (1978)
* Manhattan (1979)
* The Elephant Man (1980)
* Chariots of Fire (1981)
* Gandhi (1982)
* Educating Rita (1983)
* The Killing Fields (1984)
* The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
* A Room with a View (1986)
* Jean de Florette (1987)
* The Last Emperor (1988)
* Dead Poets Society (1989)
* Goodfellas (1990)
* The Commitments (1991)
* Howards End (1992)
* Schindler's List (1993)
* Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
* Sense and Sensibility (1995)
* The English Patient (1996)
* The Full Monty (1997)
* Shakespeare in Love (1998)
* American Beauty (1999)
* Gladiator (2000)
* The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
* The Aviator (2004)
* Brokeback Mountain (2005)
* The Queen (2006)
* Atonement (2007)
* Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
* The Hurt Locker (2009)
* The King's Speech (2010)
* The Artist (2011)
* Argo (2012)
* 12 Years a Slave (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* The Revenant (2015)
* La La Land (2016)
* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
* Roma (2018)
* 1917 (2019)
* Nomadland (2020)
* The Power of the Dog (2021)
* All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
* Oppenheimer (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Film

* Sunset Boulevard (1951)
* Monsieur Verdoux (1952)
* Forbidden Games (1953)
* The Wages of Fear (1954)
* East of Eden (1955)
* Gervaise (1956)
* La Strada (1957)
* The Old Man and the Sea (1958)
* 12 Angry Men (1959)
* On the Beach (1960)
* Two Women (1961)
* The Grapes of Wrath (1962)
* Sundays and Cybele (1963)
* Lilies of the Field (1964)
* Mary Poppins (1965)
* A Man and a Woman (1966)
* Lenny (1975)
* Taxi Driver (1976)
* Rocky (1977)
* Conversation Piece (1978)
* The Deer Hunter (1979)
* Kramer vs. Kramer (1980)
* The Tin Drum (1981)
* E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
* Flashdance (1983)
* The Right Stuff (1984)
* Witness (1985)
* The Color Purple (1986)
* The Untouchables (1987)
* Wings of Desire (1988)
* Die Hard (1989)
* Field of Dreams (1990)
* The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
* JFK (1992)
* Jurassic Park (1993)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
* Seven (1996)
* Titanic (1997)
* L.A. Confidential (1998)
* Life Is Beautiful (1999)
* Dancer in the Dark (2000)
* Joint Security Area (2001)
* Shaolin Soccer (2002)
* Infernal Affairs (2003)
* Mystic River (2004)
* Million Dollar Baby (2005)
* Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
* Dreamgirls (2007)
* The Dark Knight (2008)
* Gran Torino (2009)
* District 9 (2010)
* Black Swan (2011)
* Les Misérables (2012)
* Gravity (2013)
* Jersey Boys (2014)
* Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
* Rogue One (2016)
* Hidden Figures (2017)
* Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
* Joker (2019)
* Parasite (2020)
* No Time to Die (2021)
* Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
* The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or

1939–1975|

* Union Pacific (1939)
* No festival held (1940–1945)
* Brief Encounter (1946)
* The Last Chance (1946)
* The Lost Weekend (1946)
* María Candelaria (1946)
* Men Without Wings (1946)
* Neecha Nagar (1946)
* Pastoral Symphony (1946)
* The Red Meadows (1946)
* Rome, Open City (1946)
* Torment (1946)
* The Turning Point (1946)
* Antoine and Antoinette (1947)
* Crossfire (1947)
* The Damned (1947)
* Dumbo (1947)
* Ziegfeld Follies (1947)
* No festival held (1948)
* The Third Man (1949)
* No festival held (1950)
* Miracle in Milan (1951)
* Miss Julie (1951)
* Othello (1951)
* Two Cents Worth of Hope (1952)
* The Wages of Fear (1953)
* Gate of Hell (1954)
* Marty (1955)
* The Silent World (1956)
* Friendly Persuasion (1957)
* The Cranes Are Flying (1958)
* Black Orpheus (1959)
* La dolce vita (1960)
* The Long Absence (1961)
* Viridiana (1961)
* O Pagador de Promessas (1962)
* The Leopard (1963)
* The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
* The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965)
* The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)
* A Man and a Woman (1966)
* Blowup (1967)
* Festival cancelled while in progress (1968)
* if.... (1969)
* M*A*S*H (1970)
* The Go-Between (1971)
* The Mattei Affair (1972)
* The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1972)
* The Hireling (1973)
* Scarecrow (1973)
* The Conversation (1974)
* Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975)

1976–2000|

* Taxi Driver (1976)
* Padre Padrone (1977)
* The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
* Apocalypse Now (1979)
* The Tin Drum (1979)
* All That Jazz (1980)
* Kagemusha (1980)
* Man of Iron (1981)
* Missing (1982)
* Yol (1982)
* The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
* Paris, Texas (1984)
* When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
* The Mission (1986)
* Under the Sun of Satan (1987)
* Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
* Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
* Wild at Heart (1990)
* Barton Fink (1991)
* The Best Intentions (1992)
* Farewell My Concubine (1993)
* The Piano (1993)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* Underground (1995)
* Secrets & Lies (1996)
* The Eel (1997)
* Taste of Cherry (1997)
* Eternity and a Day (1998)
* Rosetta (1999)
* Dancer in the Dark (2000)

2001–present|

* The Son's Room (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* Elephant (2003)
* Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
* L'Enfant (2005)
* The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
* 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
* The Class (2008)
* The White Ribbon (2009)
* Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
* The Tree of Life (2011)
* Amour (2012)
* Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
* Winter Sleep (2014)
* Dheepan (2015)
* I, Daniel Blake (2016)
* The Square (2017)
* Shoplifters (2018)
* Parasite (2019)
* No festival held (2020)
* Titane (2021)
* Triangle of Sadness (2022)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
* Anora (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear

1951–1975|

* Cinderella (1951)
* Four in a Jeep (1951)
* In Beaver Valley (1951)
* Justice Is Done (1951)
* Without Leaving an Address (1951)
* One Summer of Happiness (1952)
* The Wages of Fear (1953)
* Hobson's Choice (1954)
* Die Ratten (1955)
* Invitation to the Dance (1956)
* 12 Angry Men (1957)
* Wild Strawberries (1958)
* Les Cousins (1959)
* El Lazarillo de Tormes (1960)
* La Notte (1961)
* A Kind of Loving (1962)
* Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
* To Bed or Not to Bed (1963)
* Dry Summer (1964)
* Alphaville (1965)
* Cul-de-sac (1966)
* The Departure (1967)
* Who Saw Him Die? (1968)
* Early Works (1969)
* The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971)
* The Canterbury Tales (1972)
* Distant Thunder (1973)
* The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
* Adoption (1975)

1976–2000|

* Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
* The Ascent (1977)
* Ascensor (1978)
* Las truchas (1978)
* What Max Said (1978)
* David (1979)
* Heartland (1980)
* Palermo or Wolfsburg (1980)
* Deprisa, Deprisa (1981)
* Veronika Voss (1982)
* Ascendancy (1983)
* La colmena (1983)
* Love Streams (1984)
* Wetherby (1985)
* The Woman and the Stranger (1985)
* Stammheim (1986)
* The Theme (1987)
* Red Sorghum (1988)
* Rain Man (1989)
* Larks on a String (1990)
* Music Box (1990)
* The House of Smiles (1991)
* Grand Canyon (1992)
* The Wedding Banquet (1993)
* Woman Sesame Oil Maker (1993)
* In the Name of the Father (1994)
* The Bait (1995)
* Sense and Sensibility (1996)
* The People vs. Larry Flynt (1997)
* Central Station (1998)
* The Thin Red Line (1999)
* Magnolia (2000)

2001–present|

* Intimacy (2001)
* Bloody Sunday (2002)
* Spirited Away (2002)
* In This World (2003)
* Head-On (2004)
* U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005)
* Grbavica (2006)
* Tuya's Marriage (2007)
* Elite Squad (2008)
* The Milk of Sorrow (2009)
* Honey (2010)
* A Separation (2011)
* Caesar Must Die (2012)
* Child's Pose (2013)
* Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)
* Taxi (2015)
* Fire at Sea (2016)
* On Body and Soul (2017)
* Touch Me Not (2018)
* Synonyms (2019)
* There Is No Evil (2020)
* Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021)
* Alcarràs (2022)
* On the Adamant (2023)
* Dahomey (2024)

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* France
* BnF data
* Catalonia
* Germany
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef

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