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Together with Diabolique, The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a "French Hitchcock." In truth, Clouzot's ability to sustain suspense may have even exceeded Hitchcock's; when originally released, Wages ran 155 tension-filled minutes. Based on the much-imitated novel by Georges Arnaud, the film is set in Central America. The Southern Oil Company, which pretty much rules the roost in the impoverished village of Las Piedras, sends out a call for long-distance truck drivers. Southern Oil's wages of 2,000 dollars per man are, literally, to die for -- the drivers are obliged to transport highly volatile nitroglycerine shipments across some of the most treacherous terrain on earth. Through expository dialogue, tense interactions and flashbacks, we become intimately acquainted with the four drivers who sign up for this death-defying mission: Corsican Yves Montand, Italian Folco Lulli, German Peter Van Eyck, and Frenchman Charles Vanel. The first half of the film slowly, methodically introduces the characters and their motivations. The second half -- the drive itself -- is a relentless, goosebump-inducing assault on the audience's senses. The winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival, The Wages of Fear was remade by William Friedkin as Sorcerer (1977).
Condition: New
Actors: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Véra Clouzot, Folco Lulli
Directors: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Black & White, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
Language: French
Subtitles: English
Region: Region A/1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated:
Unrated
Not Rated
Studio: Criterion Collection
DVD Release Date: April 21, 2009
Run Time: 148 minutes
Cast & Crew
Yves Montand Mario
Charles Vanel Jo
Peter Van Eyck Bimba
William Tubbs Bill O'Brien
Véra Clouzot Linda
Folco Lulli Luigi
Dario Moreno Hernandez
Antonio Centa Camp Chief
Jo Dest Smerloff
Technical Credits
Henri-Georges Clouzot Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Georges Auric Score Composer,Musical Direction/Supervision
Jerome Geronimi Screenwriter
Madeleine Gug Editor
Etiennette Muse Editor
Louis Nee Cinematographer
René Renoux Production Designer
Henri Rust Editor
William Robert Sivel Sound/Sound Designer
Armand Thirard Cinematographer
Louis Wipf Producer
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